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How many hours before the test did you get up, and what was your schedule in the days/weeks prior to the test?

QuincyWagstaff wrote:How many hours before the test did you get up, and what was your schedule in the days/weeks prior to the test?

You have funny posts.

I work, so I basically woke up at my normal time around 6:00 a.m., got the coffee in my system, no schedule change necessary. If I were still an undergrad sleeping till 10 every morning I would def. change my sleep habits a couple weeks before the test, and be awake for at least 2 hours before test. And eat lean protein that morning.

yoga in the parking lot prior to the test was a crucial part of my regimen. headstands are particularly beneficial.

I got a 173, my preparation was awful. Under no circumstances copy what I did

175 here. Didn't sleep well the night before, probably about 5 hours. I think I got up at like, 5:30? 6? I don't remember. Drank an extra strength 5-Hour Energy and did some aerobics before the sign-in process began, to make sure I was fully awake. (Disclaimer: I have a pretty extreme caffeine tolerance, so energy drinks don't really affect me that much. Your mileage may vary.)

thederangedwang wrote:I got a 173, my preparation was awful. Under no circumstances copy what I did

I already have one of those. I did about 2 weeks of PTs, and I performed much better in the late afternoon/evening. I'm also a VERY heavy coffee drinker. I got up at about 6am, and drank a french press of coffee. Despite multiple bathroom trips, I had to piss like a race horse by the end of section 2 (LR 1). I got to the end of that section with 10 minutes or so to spare, and saw, through LSAC's thin-ass paper, that an RC section was up next. I sprinted to the bathroom instead of using that time to re-work a couple of tougher questions. Ended up with -2 on that LR, which I would normally -0. The RC was experimental.

Now that I'm gearing up for a February retake, I'm seriously considering reversing my sleep schedule for the next month. I wanted to test whether there was a correlation between very early risers and scores between 175-180.

ryemanhattan wrote:yoga in the parking lot prior to the test was a crucial part of my regimen. headstands are particularly beneficial.

Fuck that http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magaz ... wanted=all

QuincyWagstaff wrote:

thederangedwang wrote:I got a 173, my preparation was awful. Under no circumstances copy what I did

I already have one of those. I did about 2 weeks of PTs, and I performed much better in the late afternoon/evening. I'm also a VERY heavy coffee drinker. I got up at about 6am, and drank a french press of coffee. Despite multiple bathroom trips, I had to piss like a race horse by the end of section 2 (LR 1). I got to the end of that section with 10 minutes or so to spare, and saw, through LSAC's thin-ass paper, that an RC section was up next. I sprinted to the bathroom instead of using that time to re-work a couple of tougher questions. Ended up with -2 on that LR, which I would normally -0. The RC was experimental.

Now that I'm gearing up for a February retake, I'm seriously considering reversing my sleep schedule for the next month. I wanted to test whether there was a correlation between very early risers and scores between 175-180.

Asking on TLS isn't a very good test. Why don't you just shoot for june. It's the only test at noon

Edit: Also, why do you need a 175+. How extreme of a splitter are you?

thederangedwang wrote:

QuincyWagstaff wrote:

thederangedwang wrote:I got a 173, my preparation was awful. Under no circumstances copy what I did

I already have one of those. I did about 2 weeks of PTs, and I performed much better in the late afternoon/evening. I'm also a VERY heavy coffee drinker. I got up at about 6am, and drank a french press of coffee. Despite multiple bathroom trips, I had to piss like a race horse by the end of section 2 (LR 1). I got to the end of that section with 10 minutes or so to spare, and saw, through LSAC's thin-ass paper, that an RC section was up next. I sprinted to the bathroom instead of using that time to re-work a couple of tougher questions. Ended up with -2 on that LR, which I would normally -0. The RC was experimental.

Now that I'm gearing up for a February retake, I'm seriously considering reversing my sleep schedule for the next month. I wanted to test whether there was a correlation between very early risers and scores between 175-180.

Asking on TLS isn't a very good test. Why don't you just shoot for june. It's the only test at noon

Edit: Also, why do you need a 175+. How extreme of a splitter are you?

*PM'd

I'm taking the June test, and am considering (1) finding god, (2) radicial life change involving yoga, deep breathing or some variant, (3) drinking the night before the test, (4) ambien, which should wear off by 12pm? I read so many stories about people just not sleeping. Sort of feel like a bunch of beers may be the least risky. Also, not joking. thoughts?

For the sake of science:

I got up at 5:45am and went for a quick 3.5 mile run. I came home, showered, made breakfast and coffee and ate what I could while I pounded down water and got to the testing center at about 8:00am.

I ended up with a 177.

I did condition myself for getting up that early for a month and a half prior, however.

thelong wrote:For the sake of science:

I got up at 5:45am and went for a quick 3.5 mile run. I came home, showered, made breakfast and coffee and ate what I could while I pounded down water and got to the testing center at about 8:00am.

I ended up with a 177.

I did condition myself for getting up that early for a month and a half prior, however.

Gonna have to agree with this. Anything out of routine your body will be performing slightly less than perfectly..like taking a test with jet lag...so I do think you need to prepare waking up early and being awake a few weeks before Feb.

One beer, maybe two will help, but a bunch is definitely a bad call. Even if you aren't full blown hungover the next morning, you won't be 100%. You might also have to get up to piss randomly during the night. If you are hellbent on an alcohol regimen though, just be sure to test it first.

Just because some people got up early and did well doesn't mean that everyone who gets up early did well and it also doesn't mean that everyone who did well got up early. The best preparation is practice for the actual material. Just be responsible and get up on time. The more you change your habits the more freaked you'll get because your putting that much more pressure on the test. Relax.

1234567890 wrote:Just because some people got up early and did well doesn't mean that everyone who gets up early did well and it also doesn't mean that everyone who did well got up early. The best preparation is practice for the actual material. Just be responsible and get up on time. The more you change your habits the more freaked you'll get because your putting that much more pressure on the test. Relax.

Yeah, no shit. But when your attempting to score above 175, you really can't afford to leave anything within your control to chance.

QuincyWagstaff wrote:

1234567890 wrote:Just because some people got up early and did well doesn't mean that everyone who gets up early did well and it also doesn't mean that everyone who did well got up early. The best preparation is practice for the actual material. Just be responsible and get up on time. The more you change your habits the more freaked you'll get because your putting that much more pressure on the test. Relax.

Yeah, no shit. But when your attempting to score above 175, you really can't afford to leave anything within your control to chance.

Exactly. And it is a chance that getting up early may help you or it may not. Good luck on that reading comprehension and logical reasoning.

Unless your a very calm person who has no problem sleeping whatever the circumstances, I would try to set yourself to a sleep schedule that works for the test, stick to it a couple weeks beforehand, but sleep in on the day before the test. You will probably won't sleep much the night before the test if your like most people, so getting a good amount the night before that will help you at least stay in the zone for the first half of your day before the lack of sleep kicks in. If your using caffeine/energy drinks during prep, it might be worth considering taking significantly less on test day. Your body will already be pumped up knowing its the real deal, and taking your usual dose of whatever might be too much.

Definitely do not stick to a normal routine of sleeping past 10, and then getting up at 6 for the test and expecting to score in your PT range. If you have ever trained athletically for anything you know your body can perform at drastically different levels depending on your sleep and nutrition. Your brain is just as much as an organ as your heart and lungs and muscles, and must be prepared accordingly if you want it to perform at its highest potential.

176 here.
For three weeks prior, I was taking a nap from about 9AM until 3PM, then doing schoolwork until 11PM, then doing PTs until like 3AM.
I didn't take one the day before test.
On day of test, I got up early, took the train out to Central Islip, and got to the Islandia Marriott about 45 minutes early.

BTW: The Islandia Marriott is the HYS of LSAT centers.

ben4847 wrote:176 here.
For three weeks prior, I was taking a nap from about 9AM until 3PM, then doing schoolwork until 11PM, then doing PTs until like 3AM.
I didn't take one the day before test.
On day of test, I got up early, took the train out to Central Islip, and got to the Islandia Marriott about 45 minutes early.

BTW: The Islandia Marriott is the HYS of LSAT centers.

If you are actually serious on sleeping habits, please do explain. Also, what's so good about the test center? Live in nyc and need to choose.

inthebeginning wrote:

ben4847 wrote:176 here.
For three weeks prior, I was taking a nap from about 9AM until 3PM, then doing schoolwork until 11PM, then doing PTs until like 3AM.
I didn't take one the day before test.
On day of test, I got up early, took the train out to Central Islip, and got to the Islandia Marriott about 45 minutes early.

BTW: The Islandia Marriott is the HYS of LSAT centers.

If you are actually serious on sleeping habits, please do explain. Also, what's so good about the test center? Live in nyc and need to choose.

Well, it was the only time I would have a quiet private place to practice. (Also, maybe I was hiding the fact that I was taking it from some of my friends.)

It is the best LSAT center. This has been discussed on these forums, but I literally just stumbled on it. And had never heard of this website.

Why is it so good? Wish there was a search funtion on the site.

inthebeginning wrote:Why is it so good? Wish there was a search funtion on the site.

It is a large hotel ballroom, with large tables set up. You are not crowded, and have lots of space for your test and stuff. Also, since it is a hotel, they have cups of ice water set up for you, and people to point you to the bathrooms during the break, and nice place to relax before and during the break. And concierges to give you free rides to the train station afterwards, or call you cabs if you don't want to wait.

Informal research may show a 3 point average increase in score between that center and the national average.

I think the most important thing would be sleeping well in the days leading up to the test. (like 9 hours a night) That way if/when you can't sleep more than a few hours the night before, it's not a big deal.

Thats what I read to do when I ran the Boston Marathon a few years back-- didn't sleep much the night before but I was fine for race day since I had slept so much during the week to compensate. Similar instances of waking up super-early etc.

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Got up 2.5 hours early, pounded a Red Bull, and I was good to go.

I don't see how it would help to know when others woke up the day of the test. Everyone's body is different....just make sure you wake up early enough to ensure that you're wide awake by the time you arrive at the testing center. That should be common sense. If you can't grasp that, you probably won't be getting a 175+. Just sayin......