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Hey everyone,

As of late, I have been taking my practice tests at home. With the December test coming up, I am really trying to push out an extra few hours of uninterrupted studying, every day. That said, I've never really been able to take a practice test under ideal conditions. My family is rather loud, and for some unknown reason they seem to enjoy making noise just as I'm about to start a PT. I understand that ideally, a PT should be taken with some noise in the background (to account for noises heard during the actual exam - e.g paper shuffling, pencils moving, sneezing, etc.). However, the noises that are present when I take my PTs are not noises that you're likely to hear during the actual exam.
Here is a list of places that I've tried:

Home (Not so great. I can hear the TV from downstairs, sibling running around, vacuum cleaner, phone calls, etc. Asking my family to quiet down doesn't help much)

Public library (Even worse. I've tried 3 so far. None have a designated "study area." All of them have their "kids zone" placed right next to the study tables. As you can imagine, it get's quite noisy when the kids start running around, playing, and reading out loud).

University library (Best so far, but not the greatest. Students tend to make a ton of noise - e.g. tons of laughing, random phone calls, etc.)

Should I just suck it up and deal with the noise?
There is a university, about 45 miles from where I live. It's owned by the university that I used to attend and tends to look like a ghost town. Unfortunately, the drive is not pleasant and gas is pricey.

I would say University Library is your top choice. It also prepared you for what you can experience on test day.

I took the test three times at three different locations in the DC area. I don't think studying under actual test conditions is as important people make it out to be. In fact, it is an impossible goal. I took a few PTs at libraries and I found it to be way more distracting than the actual testing environment. No one is going to start talking loudly during the test. Its very unlikely a proctors phone goes off and even if it does, who can train to tune out a lone cell phone going off in a silent room?

I recommend you take tests at home with headphones in with ambient background noise. I used this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjCyhMJ9Z4M I took my tests in the walk in closet of my one bedroom apartment on a tray table and folding chair. The ambient noise filtered out my gf walking around. Hopefully it filters out your family. I didn't find that I got to the test and was at any point distracted by the fact their were other people there or by papers shuffling or anything else.

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Thanks everyone. I'll stick to the quiet floor of my university's library.
I do my best to avoid headphones. For some reason, as mentioned above, they create a sound that I'm not particularly accustomed to -it's not actually a "sound," but the feeling of having my ears plugged is odd and distracting.

I seriously regret not doing prep tests in a public place like a library. The different threw me off on my first take.

I did one PT on an Amtrak.

For tests I will go to the university library that is not too far away. I go to the quiet study floor but I still do them close to the elevator so you get the occasional conversation or giggling school girls. I want to have some noise because there is always something on test day. I will also do the occasional section at starbucks and I've surprised myself at how well I can block out noise.

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I live in a large metropolitan city which means that even my apt can be pretty noisy (weekend constructions, noisy neighbors etc)

I do PTs at coffee shops or at work (super quiet so it's ideal) i dont use headphones because I worry that I'll get used to them. I put on some relaxing music when I BR though. But oh boy, it's ridiculous how much money I have to pay in order to study in relatively quiet place.

My recent worst study-at-home experience was when the neighbors across from me threw a huge family party with heavy base on Sunday night 6pm until 3am (made several noise complaints-- yes I was the scrooge) At one point, I opened my windows and screamed "SHUT UPPPPPPPPP"

pleadthafif wrote:Headphones aren't ideal but I find them necessary, mostly because people these days are just rude as fuck. Even when I go to quiet floor of the university library, people talk on their phones or eat chips or decide to clip coupons out of a pile of newspapers or whatever.

Couldn't agree more. I managed to snag a private study room at my university's library. Immediately I thought to myself, "finally, an uninterrupted test." I kid you not, 15 minutes into section 1 I hear talking from two guys in the private room next to mine. It honestly felt like I was sitting right next to them. I had to end my PT early - loud noises, and was feeling extremely nauseous for some reason. Anyhow, I've come to realize that the more noise I can put up with during PTs, the better off I'll be on test day. There's a good chance I'll have to retake in June since I am only scoring in the 155 (+-3) range, and I am aiming for UCLA (165 absolute minimum). That said, I'll have some time to explore and find new study spots.

december1205 wrote:I live in a large metropolitan city which means that even my apt can be pretty noisy (weekend constructions, noisy neighbors etc)

I do PTs at coffee shops or at work (super quiet so it's ideal) i dont use headphones because I worry that I'll get used to them. I put on some relaxing music when I BR though. But oh boy, it's ridiculous how much money I have to pay in order to study in relatively quiet place.

My recent worst study-at-home experience was when the neighbors across from me threw a huge family party with heavy base on Sunday night 6pm until 3am (made several noise complaints-- yes I was the scrooge) At one point, I opened my windows and screamed "SHUT UPPPPPPPPP"

Couldn't agree more. Unless I only PT on the weekends, I have to pay $8 just to take a PT at my university's library -I'm not longer a student there. Coffee shops end up costing $2-$3, since I only drink black coffee...still, kind of pricey.

Your neighbors are just like mine. Most of mine are families with kids in their mid to late 20's. They start partying at 8 P.M, and stop at around 1. The partying doesn't bother me. Rather, it's the after-party gathering that they all find necessary. They just stand outside their home, and talk until 4 A.M. It drives me mental.

I split my PTs pretty evenly between my apartment, a café, and the beach. I didn't notice a difference in scores based on where I took the test, and I think that aspect is overblown for most people.

I got lucky one time and managed to snag an empty classroom at uni (not an option for everybody, but if you're at school and pull late nights sometimes it's viable).

Otherwise I did most of my studying at coffee shops. The noise was irritating but I got used to it and managed to drown it out. Turns out it was perfect prep; at my actual LSAT there was jackhammering and road construction going on outside, and I was like "I got this."

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