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Today is day 4 as a former smoker. Today was also the first LSAT PT after quitting. And today's score was SEVEN POINTS lower than my rolling average. ARRRRRGGGGHHHHH.

I didn't even feel strong cravings during the exam, but I guess I was less focused overall. Fortunately, I'm not taking until June, so nicotine withdrawal should not be an issue.

knicker wrote:Today is day 4 as a former smoker. Today was also the first LSAT PT after quitting. And today's score was SEVEN POINTS lower than my rolling average. ARRRRRGGGGHHHHH.

I didn't even feel strong cravings during the exam, but I guess I was less focused overall. Fortunately, I'm not taking until June, so nicotine withdrawal should not be an issue.

Being a smoker non-smoker smoker again, I don't think quitting smoking is something that should be done if you are completely serious about the LSAT. It can be a stressful task in and of itself which takes away attention/concentration from where it needs to be (LSAT). I would quit at a time when you have a little more leeway/leisure with your time. When I quit smoking during school (about 4 weeks), I had serious problems concentrating and my grades fell. Plus, smoking helps short-term memory. Of course, none of this applies if you're already going to quit and know you can do it without long-term adverse effects.

Good luck.

I quit a week before my LSAT. It sucked, but I got a 5 point increase from my previous score. For June, you'll be totally fine. Yes, you'll be 'fuzzy' for a bit but in the end I had a lot more focus.

Good luck both with quitting and the LSAT!

Captainunaccountable wrote:

knicker wrote:Today is day 4 as a former smoker. Today was also the first LSAT PT after quitting. And today's score was SEVEN POINTS lower than my rolling average. ARRRRRGGGGHHHHH.

I didn't even feel strong cravings during the exam, but I guess I was less focused overall. Fortunately, I'm not taking until June, so nicotine withdrawal should not be an issue.

Being a smoker non-smoker smoker again, I don't think quitting smoking is something that should be done if you are completely serious about the LSAT. It can be a stressful task in and of itself which takes away attention/concentration from where it needs to be (LSAT). I would quit at a time when you have a little more leeway/leisure with your time. When I quit smoking during school (about 4 weeks), I had serious problems concentrating and my grades fell. Plus, smoking helps short-term memory. Of course, none of this applies if you're already going to quit and know you can do it without long-term adverse effects.

Good luck.

If I get to late feb/early march and I'm still scoring under my pre-quitting average, I guess I'd have to consider this point. But I'd be really surprised if this was more than a temporary blip. I mean, it's not like my brain is incapable of operating without nicotine long-term...i hope.

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Funny enough, I had a fucking LSAT question about smoking and memory! It was an LR question. The upshot was that nonsmokers do better on memory tests, but smokers who have smoked recently perform better than smokers who are deprived in the short term. In other words: if you quit, stick with it.

PS, this seems to be verified by actual science.

(By that I mean, if you quit, stay quit! Which you can and should)

I don't think you should quit. I found myself smoking more and more as the test crept closer.

Stress man. You gotta do what you gotta do to cope. If you can quit, that's good for you. But I don't think I would have remained sane for the last month without smoking.

Worst comes to worst, quit after.

meegee wrote:I don't think you should quit. I found myself smoking more and more as the test crept closer.

Stress man. You gotta do what you gotta do to cope. If you can quit, that's good for you. But I don't think I would have remained sane for the last month without smoking.

Worst comes to worst, quit after.

Nice try, tobacco lawyer. I took another PT today--scored back at my median only 6 days after quitting.

Ozzy Osborne said that of all the drugs and addictions he had, smoking was by far the hardest thing to quit.

You will struggle.

You can win.

Two words: Don't smoke.

All the rest is commentary.

Yes you can.

Relax.

knicker wrote:
Nice try, tobacco lawyer. I took another PT today--scored back at my median only 6 days after quitting.

Ha! And major kudos. As a former smoker who has been tempted by LSAT stress to start again, I am definitely rooting for you.

Quitting was maybe the best decision I have made in my life so far . . . I love being addiction-free, except for a much-more-socially acceptable, less expensive, and safer coffee habit.

Pray.

And don't believe that a lack of nicotine will negatively impact your performance: It won't, unless you believe it will.

..

It may be far enough away from the LSAT that you can still do this. Nonetheless, the more stressed you are the more you'll be tempted to light one up. I am assuming this was a New Year's resolution, but when you think about it January 1 is really just an arbitrary date to make changes that has no real basis in logic. You can change maladaptive behaviors on any time of any day that is convenient for you, including post-LSAT.

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Have you tried using those e-cigarette things? I wouldn't know how effective they are since I strictly smoke bath salts, but seriously it may help you quit.

Try psycho analysis...it seems to me your mom let you stick your fingers in your mouth too much when you were a child.