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When I woke up this morning as I was laying in bed enjoying the first morning of sleeping in I have had in a while, I was thinking about all the lessons learned from yesterday's LSAT.

These lessons may be beneficial to others (as well as myself if i have to re-take).

1. You WILL be nervous on the exam. I have skydived and mountain climbed but I was still extremely nervous for this test. No matter how much I kept telling myself "it's just a test"..."if you have to re-take its no big deal" etc. etc. I was still VERY nervous sitting in the room and taking the OFFICIAL test. It took me about 10 minutes to get into a groove and start answering questions as if it were a PT.
The first section I had was LR and I had to keep re-reading each question in order to even comprehend what it was saying. After about 15 questions It went a lot smoother but I am sure this had a detrimental affect on my score.

2. you WILL have trouble sleeping. My sleep schedule was pretty much set, along with my exercise routine but as soon as it came time to sleep I could not. Little noises were bothering me, I would have an "itch", couldn't get comfortable etc. I woke up so many times in the night thinking I slept in past my wake up time. I had four alarms set and a wake up call, but still could not sleep...Again this probably affected my test score

3. There will be noise in the testing room. You have a bunch of people around you and they will be all be simultaneously erasing, breathing, blowing their noise, groaning etc. I used the SIMUGATOR app whenever I did PT's and the test center was WAY more quiet than the test center in the app, so this was good training and made testing a breeze. I think this may have increased my score/ allowed me to concentrate easier.

other tips:

Get there plenty early... I saw a few guys rush in late and they are starting off on the wrong foot
Drive to the test center the night before...knowing where you are going eliminates stress
Exercise/yoga...helps to release endorphins and calm the mind


This is all I have so far anything I missed or any other experiences of test day....please feel free to add your own. I hope this was helpful!

Warming up with LG before you sign in or whatever at the front desk.

Bring more food than you think you'll need - I made sure to eat before I walked in to the room AND during my break. Testing while hungry is probably the worst.

Pee as much as you can before you walk in to your testing room... minimize water intake the morning of

My nerves were on over drive for the first section but I really calmed down and settled in about 7 questions in and so from there on I was pretty relaxed. The key for me is find your grove. Just see it as on more practice test. It shouldn't be seen as anything bigger than it is.

Taking it a second time I think helped me a lot. Last time I had LG first and my nerves got to me and I fucked up bad and ran out of time, this time I knew exactly what to expect, sat in almost the exact same seat and with almost all the same people and knew I had a score that would at least get me into some T14's, so there was a lot less pressure. So for those retaking in the future, IT GETS BETTER.

In response to #3: I took about half of my full, timed, practice tests in a noisy-ass Starbucks. I was able to get my highest score while blocking out a baby screaming next to me (literally). I rotated where I took the test as well; sometimes at the 'bucks, the library, home, a friend's house, etc.. I also drilled most of the sections with my daughter chasing my dogs around the table.

When it came time to take the actual test I didn't hear anyone around me.

So I definitely suggest that if noise is an issue, studying in a lot of it can desensitize you to it.

foundingfather, I agree. Your suggestion would have helped me for sure! It took awhile to get into my "groove", so jumpstarting my brain would have been better than staring at the first question while zoning out for two minutes. Ha!

These are great tips. The first time is always a rush. I think a good amount of nerves go away on retakes. I have yet to take the LSAT well rested. Do what you can to knock out (exercise, staying up the night before, sleep aids). It's very stressful to lie in bed for knowing that you jeopardize your score every hour you lay awake.

Also, especially if you're taking it in December, be aware of the coughing and throat-clearing that you're going to hear. I PTed in near silence because noise has never bothered me, but after a while the coughing can get to you.