Advice for taking the LSAT a third time Forum

[Rimmock123]

I have taken the June 2014 as well as the June 2015 LSATs and am disappointed in my scores. I did marginally better this year (june '15) but was only able to move from the middle of my "score band" to the upper part of it. I am planning to retake a third time in October of this year and wanted to know if anyone had some advice for retaking. At this point I think it is more about habits & lifestyle changes outside the LSAT than actually understanding concepts.

My PT average was the upper 160s - 170 (on a good day). I only barely broke 160 on the most recent june test, however. At this point I understand the concepts well and think that test day anxiety just got the better of me the last two times. I found it hard to fall asleep the night before each LSAT administration (I am naturally an anxious person) and I definitely felt fatigued towards the end of the test as a result of this. This fatigue made me rush questions and not apply the tactics for attacking specific game/passage/question types that I had during prep. During my prep I always started my tests around 12-1 just as would be the case during the June administration, always used an analogue watch for timing, used HB pencils, used bubble sheet, etc.

If anyone could offer some help it would be appreciated! Useful ways to reuse prep materials? Tips on reducing stress levels? Tips on simulating test day conditions down to the last details?

I want to apply in fall 2015, so I will have to retake in October or I'm screwed.

[thunderbug]

I once met someone who said she did two or three practice exams in a row (like NO rest in between) on her practice exam days. This way, when she took the real thing, it seemed way more manageable. Like overtraining for an endurance event. Personally, I thought she was insane, but maybe this could help someone like you... not that I'm calling you crazy or anything.

[ltowns1]

I have taken the June 2014 as well as the June 2015 LSATs and am disappointed in my scores. I did marginally better this year (june '15) but was only able to move from the middle of my "score band" to the upper part of it. I am planning to retake a third time in October of this year and wanted to know if anyone had some advice for retaking. At this point I think it is more about habits & lifestyle changes outside the LSAT than actually understanding concepts.

My PT average was the upper 160s - 170 (on a good day). I only barely broke 160 on the most recent june test, however. At this point I understand the concepts well and think that test day anxiety just got the better of me the last two times. I found it hard to fall asleep the night before each LSAT administration (I am naturally an anxious person) and I definitely felt fatigued towards the end of the test as a result of this. This fatigue made me rush questions and not apply the tactics for attacking specific game/passage/question types that I had during prep. During my prep I always started my tests around 12-1 just as would be the case during the June administration, always used an analogue watch for timing, used HB pencils, used bubble sheet, etc.

If anyone could offer some help it would be appreciated! Useful ways to reuse prep materials? Tips on reducing stress levels? Tips on simulating test day conditions down to the last details?

I want to apply in fall 2015, so I will have to retake in October or I'm screwed.

I've found talking to myself really helps . Going through the steps one by one, and projecting overall confidence helps a lot, and I have major anxiety so I def. relate. If you truely think its just about a confidence thing than give it a try.

Here is a link that should help that you should look at as well that elaborates on this https://blog.crew.co/under-pressure-her ... l-with-it/

[tiannarkai]

I've taken the LSAT only twice and, like you, am planning on taking it in the coming October. I found that over training definitely helped me prepare mentally for the LSAT and it showed big improvement in terms of my confidence from the first time to the second. For example, I did around 6-7 sections everyday, so when the test date came, which only requires 5, I had the endurance to easily deal with 5 sections. I am also an anxious person and can get really nervous when I am put into a new and strange environment. If it is possible for you, you should try to find out where the LSAT test taking site is (for example in a university classroom), and use that classroom as your studying room, so that on test date, that place is familiar and comfortable like home for you (haha it worked for me). Good luck!

[Rimmock123]

I've taken the LSAT only twice and, like you, am planning on taking it in the coming October. I found that over training definitely helped me prepare mentally for the LSAT and it showed big improvement in terms of my confidence from the first time to the second. For example, I did around 6-7 sections everyday, so when the test date came, which only requires 5, I had the endurance to easily deal with 5 sections. I am also an anxious person and can get really nervous when I am put into a new and strange environment. If it is possible for you, you should try to find out where the LSAT test taking site is (for example in a university classroom), and use that classroom as your studying room, so that on test date, that place is familiar and comfortable like home for you (haha it worked for me). Good luck!

Yeah, I think I'll try to scope out the classrooms during the summer at my test center. I thought about doing that during the prep for my previous administrations but it was tough since mostly classes/exams and summer classes are occupying the rooms up until June-July each year. Obviously it will be more likely to be empty in the middle of the summer. Were you able to do a thorough review of those 6-7 sections in the same day? I'm also worried about remembering answers from previous LSAT prep tests. That wasn't an issue the second time because there was a year in between, but if I start studying for October, questions will still be fresh in my mind. Any thoughts on getting around this?

I've found talking to myself really helps . Going through the steps one by one, and projecting overall confidence helps a lot, and I have major anxiety so I def. relate. If you truely think its just about a confidence thing than give it a try.

Here is a link that should help that you should look at as well that elaborates on this https://blog.crew.co/under-pressure-her ... l-with-it/

That article is helpful, thanks!

Anyone else want to share their two cents on reducing anxiety in preparation for the LSAT or have any general tips on reusing older LSAT PTs?

[tiannarkai]

Yeah, I think I'll try to scope out the classrooms during the summer at my test center. I thought about doing that during the prep for my previous administrations but it was tough since mostly classes/exams and summer classes are occupying the rooms up until June-July each year. Obviously it will be more likely to be empty in the middle of the summer. Were you able to do a thorough review of those 6-7 sections in the same day? I'm also worried about remembering answers from previous LSAT prep tests. That wasn't an issue the second time because there was a year in between, but if I start studying for October, questions will still be fresh in my mind. Any thoughts on getting around this?

In terms of a thorough review, no. I essentially treated and did 6-7 sections as I would do on test date, with the exact same timing and breaks as the actual test date e.g. 4 sections back to back, 15 min break, 2 sections back to back, one more section if I was in the mood. The thorough review came on the day after, where I would sit down and mark these sections and go through all the questions I got wrong, or had difficulty with.
Remembering answers is definitely a problem I had as well, especially in LR and RC. LG is pretty easy to forget the answers so I wouldn't worry about that section. For LR and RC, the only thing that can really be done is to start with the one's that you haven't done for the longest then work up to the one's you've completed most recently. Doing the sections out of order also helped me, as my mind and memory can be triggered by the order of how the questions come. Hope that helps!

[FloridaCoastalorbust]

i took it 4 times. reuse material until you're in the low-middle 170s on PTs. i scored my highest by being pretty chill about it. i took only 4 PTs before my final sitting and went to the bar a lot and played sports in my spare time. didn't really focus on the LSAT honestly, which was a big change up until then. it helped a lot bc i had a "don't give a fuck" attitude and crushed it come test day (by my low standards). before that i was a gung-ho LSAT freak and was really stressed out so i think i underperformed by a few points. in the end i still underperformed on test day (sucked on LG -- whiffed and missed 4 of 5 on one game, no yale for me) but was in the end good enough to get me where i wanted to go.

[Rimmock123]

Yeah, I think I'll try to scope out the classrooms during the summer at my test center. I thought about doing that during the prep for my previous administrations but it was tough since mostly classes/exams and summer classes are occupying the rooms up until June-July each year. Obviously it will be more likely to be empty in the middle of the summer. Were you able to do a thorough review of those 6-7 sections in the same day? I'm also worried about remembering answers from previous LSAT prep tests. That wasn't an issue the second time because there was a year in between, but if I start studying for October, questions will still be fresh in my mind. Any thoughts on getting around this?

In terms of a thorough review, no. I essentially treated and did 6-7 sections as I would do on test date, with the exact same timing and breaks as the actual test date e.g. 4 sections back to back, 15 min break, 2 sections back to back, one more section if I was in the mood. The thorough review came on the day after, where I would sit down and mark these sections and go through all the questions I got wrong, or had difficulty with.
Remembering answers is definitely a problem I had as well, especially in LR and RC. LG is pretty easy to forget the answers so I wouldn't worry about that section. For LR and RC, the only thing that can really be done is to start with the one's that you haven't done for the longest then work up to the one's you've completed most recently. Doing the sections out of order also helped me, as my mind and memory can be triggered by the order of how the questions come. Hope that helps!

OK. I assume the core 4 sections you were doing were coming from the Prep test that you were doing and that the rest were just like...experimental sections or sections of weak points you were working on? I was thinking of starting my prep by going back to some older PTs in the 20s-40s (after doing some drilling of course) that I have't done since my first LSAT administration.