How to deal with emotions of preparation Forum

[Theopliske8711]

Over the past few weeks, I have been going up in score steadily (started at 154 now at 164; aiming for 170), but I cannot help feeling various surges and declines in confidence. I literally go from having confidence that I know I can nail it; I know that I can get it, to "What if I can't? Perhaps I'm just not able". I have started to live and breath LSAT (on the subway ride to work I couldn't stop thinking about a hard sufficient assumption question that managed to trick me (PT36S1Q18). Did you guys go through this; how did you deal with it?

[Poo-T]

It's easy

[sunynp]

You should meditate as part of your practice. Find something that works for you. It will even help you control panic on the exam itself.

[Theopliske8711]

I do boxing in the morning before work a few days a week, which I find helps calm my nerves, lowering anxiety in general. I am afraid that I would be able to do that during the November period, which may mean my nerves going haywire, especially as anxiety surges go up.

[vanwinkle]

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but as a recent law graduate, you should trust me on this: If you can't handle the emotions of LSAT prep, then you should seriously consider taking some time off and/or not pursuing law school. Unless you get into one of the few schools without normal grades (e.g. HYS), then 1L exams will be more stressful than the LSAT was, and all of that will pale in comparison to bar prep.

You should at the very least start working on your stress-related issues now. Therapy, meditation, routine exercise, something.

Edit: I see you mentioned boxing. If you can't do boxing then find something else physical to do that calms your nerves. Any kind of physical exercise can help; consider joining a gym and just doing treadmill and weights.

[Theopliske8711]

The weird thing is, regular work doesn't bother me. I took a hefty load work as an undergrad (I majored in two classical languages, which gave me each about 3-4 hours of work daily, this continued for most of my 4 years). Its LSAT kind of standardized testing that gets to me. Having a test at the end of a year is something I can get used to (it would have been the same for graduate school for Classics, they throw tests at you to see how much you know the language and if you don't pass, you can actually get thrown out). Also, whatever the case is, I take things one step at a time; so, while the 1L work will undoubtedly be hard to bear, I will bear it when I arrive at it.

[Nova]

Stop being emotional. Be a machine. Look at the situation objectively, figure out how you messed up and how to address the problem.

[Theopliske8711]

Stop being emotional. Be a machine. Look at the situation objectively, figure out how you messed up and how to address the problem.

But how do I deal with the fact that, as a human being, I am inevitably an emotional being, with reasoning being largely an illusion there to justify my actions!

[vanwinkle]

Its standardized testing that really gets to me. Having to read 300 pages in four days or three days is fine, I can bear that, but the thought of a 35 minute section deciding my law school future really knocks me around.

In law school, it's not the reading that stresses people out the most, it's that their 1L grades decide their legal employment future... and grades will be based 100% on your final exam answers. That means that for all the thousands of pages of reading you'll do as a 1L, your future is decided pretty much by four three-hour tests in the fall, with some chance of improving things in the spring. Then, if you survive those three years of law school, whether it was worth it all gets decided by a single two-day test that will grill you on every single legal subject you've studied and some that you haven't.

I'm just warning you about this now so you don't get "knocked around" later. If you still want to go ahead, then go ahead, but just know that your future is by far not settled by a single LSAT administration. Looking back, the LSAT was the easy part, and unlike in law school, retaking it is easy.

[Theopliske8711]

Its standardized testing that really gets to me. Having to read 300 pages in four days or three days is fine, I can bear that, but the thought of a 35 minute section deciding my law school future really knocks me around.

In law school, it's not the reading that stresses people out the most, it's that their 1L grades decide their legal employment future... and grades will be based 100% on your final exam answers. That means that for all the thousands of pages of reading you'll do as a 1L, your future is decided pretty much by four three-hour tests in the fall, with some chance of improving things in the spring. Then, if you survive those three years of law school, whether it was worth it all gets decided by a single two-day test that will grill you on every single legal subject you've studied and some that you haven't.

I'm just warning you about this now so you don't get "knocked around" later. If you still want to go ahead, then go ahead, but just know that your future is by far not settled by a single LSAT administration. Looking back, the LSAT was the easy part, and unlike in law school, retaking it is easy.

Touche. Yea, actually, that made me feel a lot better now... for some reason. The awareness that the LSAT is simply the beginning does put me somewhat at ease.

[Cerebro]

You could always try drugs or alcohol.

[PeanutsNJam]

Stop being emotional. Be a machine. Look at the situation objectively, figure out how you messed up and how to address the problem.

But how do I deal with the fact that, as a human being, I am inevitably an emotional being, with reasoning being largely an illusion there to justify my actions!

spoken like a true Meyer Briggs feeler. Hi-thinkers-five Nova. I'm a hardcore thinker so I'd just say deal with it and move on after you've understood your mistake, but I know it's different for feelers. You guys have to reach enlightenment or attain inner peace with each question you get wrong, huh?