The Routine Freakout Forum

[mjsjr]

I've always watched other posters have meltdowns about a month prior to their administration date, and now it's time for my own test-tragedy.

After focusing on LR for a long time, I started to hit scores in the -2 - -0 range. The sections just started to feel easier and I felt confident when I approached almost all of the questions, even during my initial timed approach of the section. Things have changed.

I've been drilling through PTs 53-59 the past week for LR, and I've been having a miserable experience. All of the sudden I keep missing questions because of mistakes I thought I had eliminated from my approach (making unwarranted assumptions to justify incorrect ACs, misreading or skipping over a crucial word such as "only", etc.). I've been consistently missing 3-5 questions on each LR section now, and my morale is very low. I had a great week prior to this shoring up some smaller adjustments on LG, but this recent LR trend has taken me by surprise because my performance on earlier LR sections was starting to increase significantly.

I've seen other posters suggest that individuals experiencing decreases in scores take time off, but I'm afraid to take time away from the test because I will be writing in December. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

[seagan823]

I sat for the test in February, June and October of 2015. Ended up going 167, 169 and finally 173. After the first two tests I took time off from studying while waiting for my scores. After I received each of those scores, having not touched any LSAT material for a month, I took a random PT. I scored a 171 after my February exam and a 174 after my June exam. I didn't believe I had earned a true 171 on the first test after Feb exam, kept looking for reasons why I got lucky. I studied really hard from March - early May, consistently scoring from 172-176. Then, in the last three weeks before the exam I got a 168 and a 167 right in a row. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I hadn't done much differently in those two weeks. The questions weren't markedly different but I worried myself sick. What if the next test has two pattern games on it? What if I really do suck at RC now when I didn't before? I went into the June test worried and underperformed as a result.

I thought about my Juen performance over the next month and realized I probably did have the skills I was just got anxious and choked. When I got that 174 on my next PT after not having studied for a month I again didn't believe I hard earned it. I must have gotten lucky. Then I tried to look objectively at the situation. When I took the tests after the exams I didn't feel pressure because I was taking it cold. I wasn't caught up in the minute details of how to solve a particular type of grouping game or worrying about whether or not my conditional logic was truly right. I didn't question myself or the skills I had built through months and months of studying. So, against every instinct I had been relying on, I resolved to study by only focusing on historic weaknesses and taking one PT a week. I cut hourrs way down and finally just stopped all together in the last two weeks. It was hard to resist the urge to study but two weeks out how much can you really do? Your mental state becomes the most important factor in your success on the test. I focused on being calm, realizing that if I didn't get a 170+ it wasn't the end of the world and worst case scenario I could do something else with my life if 169 didn't get me some decent money at schools.

All of this is to say at the very least consider that you might be burned out and allow yourself to recuperate. It might be the best thing for your score.

[mjsjr]

I sat for the test in February, June and October of 2015. Ended up going 167, 169 and finally 173. After the first two tests I took time off from studying while waiting for my scores. After I received each of those scores, having not touched any LSAT material for a month, I took a random PT. I scored a 171 after my February exam and a 174 after my June exam. I didn't believe I had earned a true 171 on the first test after Feb exam, kept looking for reasons why I got lucky. I studied really hard from March - early May, consistently scoring from 172-176. Then, in the last three weeks before the exam I got a 168 and a 167 right in a row. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I hadn't done much differently in those two weeks. The questions weren't markedly different but I worried myself sick. What if the next test has two pattern games on it? What if I really do suck at RC now when I didn't before? I went into the June test worried and underperformed as a result.

I thought about my Juen performance over the next month and realized I probably did have the skills I was just got anxious and choked. When I got that 174 on my next PT after not having studied for a month I again didn't believe I hard earned it. I must have gotten lucky. Then I tried to look objectively at the situation. When I took the tests after the exams I didn't feel pressure because I was taking it cold. I wasn't caught up in the minute details of how to solve a particular type of grouping game or worrying about whether or not my conditional logic was truly right. I didn't question myself or the skills I had built through months and months of studying. So, against every instinct I had been relying on, I resolved to study by only focusing on historic weaknesses and taking one PT a week. I cut hourrs way down and finally just stopped all together in the last two weeks. It was hard to resist the urge to study but two weeks out how much can you really do? Your mental state becomes the most important factor in your success on the test. I focused on being calm, realizing that if I didn't get a 170+ it wasn't the end of the world and worst case scenario I could do something else with my life if 169 didn't get me some decent money at schools.

All of this is to say at the very least consider that you might be burned out and allow yourself to recuperate. It might be the best thing for your score.

I appreciate your story. A lot of it resonates strongly with my situation. You're certainly right about one thing: every instinct tells me to keep studying. But I think I should take a couple days off regardless. It doesn't feel like I've been studying too much, though, which is why I always continue to study. I always convince myself that I could be getting better if I put more time in (honestly some days I only study for an hour or two).

[libertttarian]

I had the same kind of drop. What I ended up doing was making a concerted effort to use all my time.

So whereas I started studying for the LSAT trying to minimize the time I needed for each section, about 2-3 weeks before the actual test I started practicing using all of my time to ensure that I wouldn't make stupid mistakes. This helped me because I was routinely finishing LR and LG sections in 23-25 minutes, but as a result I would sometimes miss 1/2 questions due to reading comp mistakes. Taking the extra time allowed me to go slow and steady, and approach the sections with a more relaxed but also more focused mindset.

[GMW77]

Very inspiring story. I burnt out myself right before October test by doing 20+ games per day and ended up scoring unprecedentedly low in the real test. Glad that I read your post when I'm freaking out for December test. Thanks for sharing and congrats on your LSAT score!

I sat for the test in February, June and October of 2015. Ended up going 167, 169 and finally 173. After the first two tests I took time off from studying while waiting for my scores. After I received each of those scores, having not touched any LSAT material for a month, I took a random PT. I scored a 171 after my February exam and a 174 after my June exam. I didn't believe I had earned a true 171 on the first test after Feb exam, kept looking for reasons why I got lucky. I studied really hard from March - early May, consistently scoring from 172-176. Then, in the last three weeks before the exam I got a 168 and a 167 right in a row. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I hadn't done much differently in those two weeks. The questions weren't markedly different but I worried myself sick. What if the next test has two pattern games on it? What if I really do suck at RC now when I didn't before? I went into the June test worried and underperformed as a result.

I thought about my Juen performance over the next month and realized I probably did have the skills I was just got anxious and choked. When I got that 174 on my next PT after not having studied for a month I again didn't believe I hard earned it. I must have gotten lucky. Then I tried to look objectively at the situation. When I took the tests after the exams I didn't feel pressure because I was taking it cold. I wasn't caught up in the minute details of how to solve a particular type of grouping game or worrying about whether or not my conditional logic was truly right. I didn't question myself or the skills I had built through months and months of studying. So, against every instinct I had been relying on, I resolved to study by only focusing on historic weaknesses and taking one PT a week. I cut hourrs way down and finally just stopped all together in the last two weeks. It was hard to resist the urge to study but two weeks out how much can you really do? Your mental state becomes the most important factor in your success on the test. I focused on being calm, realizing that if I didn't get a 170+ it wasn't the end of the world and worst case scenario I could do something else with my life if 169 didn't get me some decent money at schools.

All of this is to say at the very least consider that you might be burned out and allow yourself to recuperate. It might be the best thing for your score.

[seagan823]

Very inspiring story. I burnt out myself right before October test by doing 20+ games per day and ended up scoring unprecedentedly low in the real test. Glad that I read your post when I'm freaking out for December test. Thanks for sharing and congrats on your LSAT score!

I sat for the test in February, June and October of 2015. Ended up going 167, 169 and finally 173. After the first two tests I took time off from studying while waiting for my scores. After I received each of those scores, having not touched any LSAT material for a month, I took a random PT. I scored a 171 after my February exam and a 174 after my June exam. I didn't believe I had earned a true 171 on the first test after Feb exam, kept looking for reasons why I got lucky. I studied really hard from March - early May, consistently scoring from 172-176. Then, in the last three weeks before the exam I got a 168 and a 167 right in a row. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I hadn't done much differently in those two weeks. The questions weren't markedly different but I worried myself sick. What if the next test has two pattern games on it? What if I really do suck at RC now when I didn't before? I went into the June test worried and underperformed as a result.

I thought about my Juen performance over the next month and realized I probably did have the skills I was just got anxious and choked. When I got that 174 on my next PT after not having studied for a month I again didn't believe I hard earned it. I must have gotten lucky. Then I tried to look objectively at the situation. When I took the tests after the exams I didn't feel pressure because I was taking it cold. I wasn't caught up in the minute details of how to solve a particular type of grouping game or worrying about whether or not my conditional logic was truly right. I didn't question myself or the skills I had built through months and months of studying. So, against every instinct I had been relying on, I resolved to study by only focusing on historic weaknesses and taking one PT a week. I cut hourrs way down and finally just stopped all together in the last two weeks. It was hard to resist the urge to study but two weeks out how much can you really do? Your mental state becomes the most important factor in your success on the test. I focused on being calm, realizing that if I didn't get a 170+ it wasn't the end of the world and worst case scenario I could do something else with my life if 169 didn't get me some decent money at schools.

All of this is to say at the very least consider that you might be burned out and allow yourself to recuperate. It might be the best thing for your score.

Thanks and no problem. I think American culture, particularly the consulting/banking/legal culture that many on this forum aspire to join, relies far too much on the assumption that the more you put in the more you get out. We discount the effect that overwork has on stress and in turn the effect that stress has on the quality of our work. Trust your skills, focus on your mental health and crush that December test. Good luck!