Scared SHITLESS of the lsat!!!!! Forum

[Lovely_Lady_In_Red_]

I have been paralyzed by this fear of taking the lsat for 5+ years now.

I'm starting to think this level of anxiety is out of control. I have bought several books, even registered for a Kaplan course (that I did not complete due to fear and distraction)

When I do LR I get a lot of questions wrong even though I think they're right. Then 2-4 questions in (I'm getting 1/3 right) I get frustrated and give up.

Also, I need to do VERY well because my ugpa is 2.75 with lots of F's and repeats. (I was in a car accident and couldn't walk got F's the entire semester)

When reading questions, I'll completely space out and my mind will wonder. So I end up reading and re-reading questions over and over again. I have a lot of personal problems in life like PTSD, Anxiety, depression, and most likely undiagnosed ADHD.

I take care of my physically disabled grandfather and that might have something to do with it too.

I'm so angry at myself, I see people I've graduated with become lawyers, getting married and living their lives, and here I am in the same spot as 5 years ago.

[rnoodles]

When you're scared just remember there's hundreds, if not thousands, of people on this site alone that improved their scores substantially and who may have been in the same situation as you GPA wise, OP.

It's a very learnable test. You've got this!

[LitigatingLiar]

I'm so angry at myself, I see people I've graduated with become lawyers, getting married and living their lives, and here I am in the same spot as 5 years ago.

Im 38 years old. I never knew I liked law till well afterI graduated college. About 6 years ago I started studying but my wife became pregnant shortly there after. I stopped because going to school with a baby wasn't a good idea. Here I am again. This is what I want and I'm going to do it. You have plenty of time, relax.

[lawat43]

Man, I got an anxiety condition and you sound more nervous than me! This will be my first ( and hopefully only) time taking the test. One thing I know about situations like this though is that you have to go into it with a positive attitude. You need to psych yourself up. Sounds like you are doing the right things so just believe in yourself. Peace, and good luck!

[banjo]

Is this post for real? OP I think you should address some of the serious issues in your life before turning your attention to LSAT strategies. Even if you get past the LSAT, law school will throw constant high-stakes hurdles at you (1L exams, write-on, interviews, bar exam, etc.). One step at a time.

[Shib26]

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[Mikey]

L

[TLSModBot]

Your anxiety is all in the wrong places, OP. The worst thing that could happen to you is getting a good score, because with your GPA and transcript red flags, you might get accepted to a lot of places but I'd be surprised if you got significant scholarships at said schools. You have the opportunity to not go to law school and do literally any other career that might net you long-term more income, better job prospects, and better work/life balance.

What have you done these past 5 years? Unless you were literally just sitting around in your parents' basement, then you aren't "behind" your friends, you've just followed a different path.

I'm just saying: maybe consider keeping on that path or choose a different from law school. Not really advice targeted specifically at you OP but just in general, don't do law kids!

[railyard]

Get the Powerscore Bibles, should be A LOT better than Kaplan

[87mm]

I have been paralyzed by this fear of taking the lsat for 5+ years now.

I'm starting to think this level of anxiety is out of control. I have bought several books, even registered for a Kaplan course (that I did not complete due to fear and distraction)

When I do LR I get a lot of questions wrong even though I think they're right. Then 2-4 questions in (I'm getting 1/3 right) I get frustrated and give up.

Also, I need to do VERY well because my ugpa is 2.75 with lots of F's and repeats. (I was in a car accident and couldn't walk got F's the entire semester)

When reading questions, I'll completely space out and my mind will wonder. So I end up reading and re-reading questions over and over again. I have a lot of personal problems in life like PTSD, Anxiety, depression, and most likely undiagnosed ADHD.

I take care of my physically disabled grandfather and that might have something to do with it too.

I'm so angry at myself, I see people I've graduated with become lawyers, getting married and living their lives, and here I am in the same spot as 5 years ago.

I first attempted LSAT prep back in 2011. I got maybe.... a 130ish on my first test. I got discouraged and continued my life doing something else. I once again considered the LSAT at the tail end of 2014. I started going through books and my first diagnostic was a 145ish. I spent an entire year preparing (even taking a prepcourse) and finished with a 167. It isnt the 170+ people here seem to get, but you can improve your score.

You wont get anywhere if you tell yourself "I cant do X because I have A B C". You will have to make the time to prepare and figure out what works best for you. You will definitely improve if you stick with it. I would highly recommend the LSAT Trainer to start. Then I would look at either the cambridge packets and/or taking the manhattan prep course (which I did and it really helped me boost up from a 160-->167). If I had more time to prepare I could have broken 170.

If you put too much pressure on yourself, unless you're one of those types who loves pressure, you will doom yourself. Your mindset is everything. I can only speak for myself, but I ended up spending my lunch breaks studying LSAT. I would go to the gym less per week and study 1-3 hours each night after work. I sacrificed entire weekends and would never go out to have fun. It was worth it in the end.

Dont freak out and just start studying. If you get stressed, try and take time away from the test or switch focus areas. I performed much worse when I was stressing myself out.

[MAPP]

I have been paralyzed by this fear of taking the lsat for 5+ years now.

I'm starting to think this level of anxiety is out of control. I have bought several books, even registered for a Kaplan course (that I did not complete due to fear and distraction)

When I do LR I get a lot of questions wrong even though I think they're right. Then 2-4 questions in (I'm getting 1/3 right) I get frustrated and give up.

Also, I need to do VERY well because my ugpa is 2.75 with lots of F's and repeats. (I was in a car accident and couldn't walk got F's the entire semester)

When reading questions, I'll completely space out and my mind will wonder. So I end up reading and re-reading questions over and over again. I have a lot of personal problems in life like PTSD, Anxiety, depression, and most likely undiagnosed ADHD.

I take care of my physically disabled grandfather and that might have something to do with it too.

I'm so angry at myself, I see people I've graduated with become lawyers, getting married and living their lives, and here I am in the same spot as 5 years ago.

Kaplan is a bag of garbage, switching to the Trainer or Manhattan for LR will help you out. Hang in there and fight on!

[rinkrat19]

Deal with your shit. Seek help and get all that anxiety and PTSD and ADHD and whatever else under control. Easier said than done, obviously.

The LSAT will be there 2, 5, 10 years in the future, but whether you ever take it or not, the crippling fear and anxiety you are describing is going to fuck with whatever you try to do in life. You owe it to yourself to take care of your issues so that WHATEVER you choose to pursue in the future, you'll be able to bring everything you have to the table, not 25% of your energy because 75% of it is just dealing with unresolved issues.