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I took the LSAT twice. I first took it in December and retook the February LSAT.

I was consistently scoring around 175 on PTs before the first take and the retake. My February score was 169. I can't help but feel disillusioned. For some reason, I choke on the real thing but do well on PTs. I'm pretty sure I bombed LR in February as LG was pretty easy and I'm sure I got a -0 on it. I was confident with my RC answers. But LR threw me off. My problem is that I can't sleep well the night before. I slept at 10 and woke up at 3. I guess it's nerves. I also hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. This happened both in December and February. My brain wasn't at its peak. I'm guessing this made some difference but I don't know. I just wish I had broken 170 at least. I've never done this bad on PTs. When I started studying, I was scoring -2 per LR section. It's so frustrating to know that I regressed and did worse than when I started studying. What in the world is my problem? I basically self-studied. Should I take a course? I will retake.

You should not take a class. You're already PTing at 175, so there's really nothing mechanically that you cannot do on the test. I suggest taking six weeks off from the LSAT altogether and picking up some books on anxiety control and if there's anything specific about test anxiety I'd definitely get that. There might be some exercises you can learn that will calm you down and allow you to perform at your native proficiency level on the actual exam.

First of all 169 is a great score, so don't be too hard on yourself. Remember that half the people who took the test are pulling 150 and under!

Sounds like your are getting too amped up. Do you drink coffee? Try laying off coffee/ caffeine the day before. I got major jitters my first take and dropped 5 or 6 points off my PT score, I realized it was from drinking coffee (both the day before which made it hard to sleep, and the morning of which gave me jitters). I had never been nervous for a test before, but I spazzed hard. I started drinking a lot of coffee while I was studying a without any issue, but coffee combined with LSAT stress had major negative effects. Same with my mid-terms, I drank coffee to study and couldn't sleep the night before, then drank coffee in the morning and was way more nervous that I should have been. Ended up with B,B+,B+ mid terms. Switched to no coffee the night before finals and slept fine, switched to tea the morning of and had about 80% less jitters. Ended up with A,A,A- on finals.

Just a suggestion, but being very conscientious about caffeine intake worked wonders for me.

You don't need a class. You know the LSAT. What you need to learn is how not to psych yourself out/relax.

You sound a lot like me, and I struggled with a couple of takes before nailing the real thing as well as my PT average. I second the advice that you probably need to step back and take a break. In fact, when you come back to PTing in a few weeks you might even score higher. That was the case for me.

Also, my problem was that I wasn't amped up enough for the real thing. Every noise in the room distracted me, I'd re-read an individual word I got hung up on multiple times, etc. For me, I needed to get fired up and really attack the test, which I failed to do the first couple of times. Also for me, drinking caffeine before the test made a huge positive difference. So you'll have to best determine if you're too amped up or not enough and adjust accordingly.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm wondering if I should take the June test? It's in the afternoon so that could work to my advantage.

I know it sounds like some hippy voodoo type of stuff, but I did some meditations before the LSAT. I was PTing in the 170s and got a 160 on my first take. Retook with a sounder mind and got a 169 (which I am more or less satisfied with).
I would listen to the "guided relaxation" or "guided meditation" tracks on spotify (youtube has a plethora, too). If you've never tried it, I recommend it. The introductory variety are very calming and help teach you how to clear your head. You get better and better at it, until you can turn your mind into the equivalent of a room-temperature glass of water.
I slept for about 45 minutes before my first take - nerves. Slept 7-8 before my second test.

Meditation is not "hippy voodoo stuff." Meditating is good, really helps to relax your mind and body.

Hey, I remember you from the Dec. thread. You were destroying this shit! But I also recall that you hadn't done all that many PTs in total (correct me if I'm wrong). If true, that is a good thing, by the way. First of all, are you taking it again in June? IMO you should (as opposed to retaking in September). This is coming from personal experience - I took the LSAT three times in a row and ended up being happy with my score only the third time. Here's how you will destroy June and score in your PT range:

1) Start a meditation regiment immediately. There's lots of great literature out there on how to get started. You can't really go wrong with which book/method you read up on. I'll just recommend one: "Wherever you go, there you are" by Jon Kabat-Zinn. I've heard good things about that book, but personally haven't read it yet. I started off with 8 Minute Meditation by Victor Davich. I didn't actually read all that much of it though - just enough to get me started. Meditating is a lot about what works best for you. What I do recommend is starting off at only 8-10 minutes a day. You don't want to overdo it at first unless it comes super easy to you. But let me say this: Meditating is a lot like going to the gym and working out. If you are actually going to attain results, you have to give it a genuine effort, and you have to put in a consistent effort. This means meditating every day.

Meditating will help with just about every aspect of your life (seriously). It will fucking change your life for the better in so many key facets. You will become aware of what you are doing, who you are being, who you are becoming. You will be able to control your life more consciously. You will be more relaxed at all times, you will not stress out about things - about anything. You will appreciate things more, you will control how both how you react to situations and how you present yourself during them. You get the picture - there are so many benefits for such a simple task. But even though it's simple, it's not easy. When I say put in a genuine effort, you will know what I mean soon enough. You can half-ass your way through a meditation session pretty easily. But please, don't.

2) Keep up with your other intangibles. Some examples are: Working out, eating healthy, getting enough and consistent sleep, reading challenging material outside of LSAT studying, doing Sudoku/other types of logic puzzles outside of drilling LG. These things are important for making sure you are in a consistent state of mind-body (the two aren't separate, by the way).

3) Be fucking confident (and other stuff). The attitudes that I maintained throughout my LSAT studying were: Being relaxed, confident, focused, aware and deliberate. These words may very well have a different meaning for you than they do to me, but I think that they are unique enough to have their own contribution to the state you are in while you are taking the LSAT. Believe in yourself, legitimately. This part shouldn't be so hard for you because you've destroyed so many PTs. Know that the LSAT is easy for you, because, well, it IS. You've already proven that a number of times. All you have to do is bring that state into the real test, which you will do by being as consistent as possible.

4) Analyze and articulate your strategies. This is on each level of the test - have consistent strategies that you will use for all three sections of the test (are you going to eliminate each wrong answer choice before choosing the correct one? are you going to read the questions and answers word for word?); have consistent strategies at the level of RC vs LG vs LR (are you going to read RC passages/do LG in order?); have consistent strategies within each of those (consistent strategies for different types of games, different strategies for each type of LR question). Make a word document and write out all of these strategies. As you take your PTs and BR them (which you should also be doing) analyze what is working for you and what isn't. If you aren't able to articulate what it is you are doing for basically every aspect of the test, you aren't being as consistent as you could be. This consistency is key to performing at your PT average on the real test.

5) Take a break. I'm not sure if you took a break after February, but if you haven't, I would recommend taking about 2-3 weeks off. Don't even think about the LSAT. Start meditating and working on the other non-LSAT points above - you can still read the challenging material and shit because that will keep your brain engaged, but there is no need to even think about the LSAT itself during this time. When you return from the break, make that word document, take a PT, and get yourself on a regular schedule of PTing/BRing/drilling.

Loquitur Res wrote:Do you drink coffee? Try laying off coffee/ caffeine the day before.

This is honestly terrible advice. If you are normally an every day coffee drinker, you should absolutely not stop drinking it the day before the lsat. If you want to cut down on your caffeine consumption going into the test, you should start a few weeks beforehand at the very least.

btw i know you're not completely pleased with it, but 169 is a really great score and you should definitely be proud of that accomplishment, even while working to top it.

good stuff bruh - like someone said above, you know the LSAT, just keep it going.

jfiaff wrote:

Loquitur Res wrote:Do you drink coffee? Try laying off coffee/ caffeine the day before.

This is honestly terrible advice. If you are normally an every day coffee drinker, you should absolutely not stop drinking it the day before the lsat. If you want to cut down on your caffeine consumption going into the test, you should start a few weeks beforehand at the very least.

Hey worked for me. I drink a couple strong cups every day. But it does not help me under pressure. It made me jittery with an elevated heart rate and unable to focus. It also prevented me from getting a good nights sleep before. Those things stopped when I dialed the coffee back. Everyone reacts differently to caffeine. I am a morning person, and I typically have a lot of energy first thing. I wake up at 5 and don't have my first cup till around 9 or so. Maybe OP reacts similarly to me, maybe not. But from the facts of the story it sounds like he may be getting too pumped up. A lot of people drink too much coffee and wonder why they are anxious and can't sleep. Just because you regularly drink that much does not mean it is optimal, especially under extreme pressure.

I had trouble sleeping the night before my Dec test. A main reasons I chose a June retake is because the test is administered at 1230p. Hoping the extra time will help my rest if I have a sluggish night.

Google: Transcendental Meditation. You have to relax your mind.

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I was in a sort of similar position but worse. I was consistently PTing in the mid to high 160s (which at the time was sufficient for my goals, it's a long story that I'm happy to relay over PM). I scored 157 on my first LSAT. I really don't know what happened, I didn't have a good excuse, it just sucked. I was especially confused because I've never really suffered from test taking anxiety (in fact quite the opposite, I normally think I do better on standardized tests than I should).
So I took time off and tried to self-study, but I knew my only real problem was logic games, so I only focused on those. I PTed once at 173 and thought I was done.
lolnope. My next LSAT was 158.
As you can imagine I was feeling pretty similar to you. I felt like a failure too because I'd tried to study myself. My boss (an attorney) told me to hire a tutor, but after thinking about how I learn best I opted for a class, and I don't regret it. My 'final' LSAT score was 174, higher than any PT I'd done.

Don't discount the benefits of a class, if you can afford one, just because your scores are good/high. There are courses out there designed for high-scoring individuals, and test day prep is something they should/will cover, especially if you tell them your situation. General anxiety management will probably help, but honestly I got so wrapped up in the test I needed to do concrete things regarding it. Having a specific time and place set aside every week, where other people would be and a teacher was 'waiting' for me, motivated me to do all of the work every week, too. Considering I have a more than full time job that extra motivation was really really important, and probably worth the money I paid in and of itself.

Do you PT yourself alone? having 'test-day' conditions (external timekeeper, other test takers) helped me feel more prepared come actual test day too. Feeling prepared is going to help lessen the anxiety the night before.

(eta misremembered my first 2 LSAT scores, fixed)

TheKisSquared wrote:I was in a sort of similar position but worse. I was consistently PTing in the mid to high 160s (which at the time was sufficient for my goals, it's a long story that I'm happy to relay over PM). I scored 158 on my first LSAT. I really don't know what happened, I didn't have a good excuse, it just sucked. I was especially confused because I've never really suffered from test taking anxiety (in fact quite the opposite, I normally think I do better on standardized tests than I should).
So I took time off and tried to self-study, but I knew my only real problem was logic games, so I only focused on those. I PTed once at 173 and thought I was done.
lolnope. My next LSAT was 159.
As you can imagine I was feeling pretty similar to you. I felt like a failure too because I'd tried to study myself. My boss (an attorney) told me to hire a tutor, but after thinking about how I learn best I opted for a class, and I don't regret it. My 'final' LSAT score was 174, higher than any PT I'd done.

Don't discount the benefits of a class, if you can afford one, just because your scores are good/high. There are courses out there designed for high-scoring individuals, and test day prep is something they should/will cover, especially if you tell them your situation. General anxiety management will probably help, but honestly I got so wrapped up in the test I needed to do concrete things regarding it. Having a specific time and place set aside every week, where other people would be and a teacher was 'waiting' for me, motivated me to do all of the work every week, too. Considering I have a more than full time job that extra motivation was really really important, and probably worth the money I paid in and of itself.

Do you PT yourself alone? having 'test-day' conditions (external timekeeper, other test takers) helped me feel more prepared come actual test day too. Feeling prepared is going to help lessen the anxiety the night before.

which was this course?

appind wrote:
which was this course?

Griffon Prep - a small independent place in DC.

i_wish_i_was_smart wrote:For some reason, I choke on the real thing but do well on PTs. I'm pretty sure I bombed LR in February as LG was pretty easy and I'm sure I got a -0 on it. I was confident with my RC answers. But LR threw me off. My problem is that I can't sleep well the night before. I slept at 10 and woke up at 3. I guess it's nerves. I also hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. This happened both in December and February. My brain wasn't at its peak. I'm guessing this made some difference but I don't know. I just wish I had broken 170 at least. I've never done this bad on PTs. When I started studying, I was scoring -2 per LR section. It's so frustrating to know that I regressed and did worse than when I started studying. What in the world is my problem? I basically self-studied. Should I take a course? I will retake.

The problem with the Feb LSAT is you really never know how well you did. I wouldn't rely on remembering or feeling how well you did on each section because it's too subjective. You'll see this in law school too but often the stuff we struggle with ends up being our best sections, and the parts we feel most confident about end up being our worst sections.

Lack of sleep is a problem and you should definitely take the suggestions of other posters here. Meditation can work wonders. But you can still do well on the exam without sleeping well the night before--I don't think this is the main obstacle.

Someone earlier mentioned that you didn't take all that many PTs. Are you being honest with yourself when you say you were scoring in the mid-170s on PTs? I'm not trying to be mean here but it's one thing to have scored 170-175 on your last 10 preptests. It's another to have 170, 175, 175. There is too much variability with the latter due to a small sample size, and your "true" score may have actually been in the high 160s or low 170s. There was one time I took the LSAT with >10 PTs in the mid 170s and ended up with a 166. This kind of stuff happens on the regular.

So for you before running off to take a course I would take several (5+) practice tests to see where your mistakes are. If you continue scoring around 175 then Feb was just a fluke. If so, just re-take. If your scores fall, then you should stop taking practice tests and work exclusively on your weak spots by doing lots of drills.

Thank you guys. You've all been very helpful. Unfortunately I have not been studying at all since I got my February scores. Do you think I still have enough time to study for the June exam? Thanks