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Hi Guys,

I know this has been said a thousand times but I am beyond frustrated with the LSAT. I took a preptest and got a 167, went in for the real test freaked out and did terrible. Ever since then I haven't been able to reproduce anything close to my 167 score and I just keep freaking out. Was my 167 just a fluke? Any tips on how to overcome this anxiety? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

It's often difficult to predict whether a score here or there is a "fluke." Was this a single, cold preptest, strictly timed that yielded the 167? Did you preptest after that but prior to sitting for the exam? Opinions are diverse on this forum concerning the necessity and utility of a cold diagnostic, but there is a near consensus that this test is too tricky to reliably gauge your abilities from a single preptest. Trends within 15-20 practice tests (some would say more) is a more reliable indicator as to where you are going into the exam and where your strengths and weaknesses are.

But as an aside, frustration with the lsat is a rite of passage. Don't be dissuaded. As a matter of fact, you are welcome to join us in the June thread (should you choose to study and retake), there are retakers and first-timers like myself in there all working together and even putting together a Skype meeting for review tough LR questions in the coming weeks!

mojones1990 wrote:Hi Guys,

I know this has been said a thousand times but I am beyond frustrated with the LSAT. I took a preptest and got a 167, went in for the real test freaked out and did terrible. Ever since then I haven't been able to reproduce anything close to my 167 score and I just keep freaking out. Was my 167 just a fluke? Any tips on how to overcome this anxiety? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I tutor the LSAT and I want to just back up what Bing says in that the exact conditions of your preptest will say alot about whether the 167 was a reflection of your current proficiency or was as you say more flukish. The further you depart from strict timing, especially, the more your score is going to skew so as to be unreliable. Remember the LSAT also has an inherent 3 point measurement error, so even a "real" 167 reflects 164-170 potential scores. How far off of 167 did you actually score?

I also believe that roughly 80% of students who freak out on test day so much that they see their score skew wildly from expectation aren't suffering horrible test anxiety, they are watching their preparation falter under pressure. The better prepared you are, the less likely you are to freak out, generally speaking. Again, Bing's advice is golden...lots of practice tests, lots of drilling, and lots of exposure to the test will help you find your accurate proficiency level and will also reduce your risk of suffering too much anxiety on test day.

Removed.

fliptrip wrote:

mojones1990 wrote:Hi Guys,

I know this has been said a thousand times but I am beyond frustrated with the LSAT. I took a preptest and got a 167, went in for the real test freaked out and did terrible. Ever since then I haven't been able to reproduce anything close to my 167 score and I just keep freaking out. Was my 167 just a fluke? Any tips on how to overcome this anxiety? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I tutor the LSAT and I want to just back up what Bing says in that the exact conditions of your preptest will say alot about whether the 167 was a reflection of your current proficiency or was as you say more flukish. The further you depart from strict timing, especially, the more your score is going to skew so as to be unreliable. Remember the LSAT also has an inherent 3 point measurement error, so even a "real" 167 reflects 164-170 potential scores. How far off of 167 did you actually score?

I also believe that roughly 80% of students who freak out on test day so much that they see their score skew wildly from expectation aren't suffering horrible test anxiety, they are watching their preparation falter under pressure. The better prepared you are, the less likely you are to freak out, generally speaking. Again, Bing's advice is golden...lots of practice tests, lots of drilling, and lots of exposure to the test will help you find your accurate proficiency level and will also reduce your risk of suffering too much anxiety on test day.

Thanks guys! The test was timed. Well I'm not sure if I do have these anxiety or not because every time I study now I freak out so badly that I start to cry and I just eventually close the book altogether. I try again a few days later, freak out, close the book, and the cycle continues. On test day I completely froze when I opened the test booklet. My score dropped by 25 points. It was the worst score I have ever gotten.

I've been studying on and off over the last year and a half but because I freak out so often it's just taken me a lot longer to push through. How many tests do you recommend taking?

How did you do on tests in UG? Was test anxiety a thing for you before, or did it suddenly show up out of nowhere?

mojones1990 wrote: Thanks guys! The test was timed. Well I'm not sure if I do have these anxiety or not because every time I study now I freak out so badly that I start to cry and I just eventually close the book altogether. I try again a few days later, freak out, close the book, and the cycle continues. On test day I completely froze when I opened the test booklet. My score dropped by 25 points. It was the worst score I have ever gotten.

I've been studying on and off over the last year and a half but because I freak out so often it's just taken me a lot longer to push through. How many tests do you recommend taking?

I'm no expert, but the bolded would strongly suggest anxiety. If you can't even study because of how terrified you are of the test, then you might want to consider getting some help outside of standard LSAT prep. In order to throughly prepare, you've got to live and breathe LSAT--that's not going to be possible if you're having a major emotional battle each time you sit down to study.

I believe that the most thorough preparation would involve you taking every test since PT-52, making 25 tests, since we are up to PT-76 being published. I suspect PT-77 will be published soon.

fliptrip wrote:I'm no expert, but the bolded would strongly suggest anxiety. If you can't even study because of how terrified you are of the test, then you might want to consider getting some help outside of standard LSAT prep. In order to throughly prepare, you've got to live and breathe LSAT--that's not going to be possible if you're having a major emotional battle each time you sit down to study.

I believe that the most thorough preparation would involve you taking every test since PT-52, making 25 tests, since we are up to PT-76 being published. I suspect PT-77 will be published soon.

PT77 is available now. As for anxiety, the best advice I can give is to simply normalize the idea of the LSAT. Read about it, do things that don't involve a book at first like doing work on the computer, and gradually working your way back into a routine.

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