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So, I underperformed this last June on my lsat. I got a 169 which is about 5 points less than my average. I chalk it up mostly to nerves. I did poorly on the reading comprehension question which was the first section of the test. People that have retaken, did you generally feel less nerves? I personally feel like I won't gain too many points from studying more, though I will maintain my skills by taking practice tests weekly. Anyone have any tips on getting into "the zone" and limiting nervousness. I'm trying to meditate daily but I don't know if that will affect my calmness during the test.

Best,
Notsolawful.

I guess it's nicer to have been through the process and know what to expect but I'm not sure my nerves were any less or more the second go around.

notsolawful wrote:So, I underperformed this last June on my lsat. I got a 169 which is about 5 points less than my average. I chalk it up mostly to nerves. I did poorly on the reading comprehension question which was the first section of the test. People that have retaken, did you generally feel less nerves? I personally feel like I won't gain too many points from studying more, though I will maintain my skills by taking practice tests weekly. Anyone have any tips on getting into "the zone" and limiting nervousness. I'm trying to meditate daily but I don't know if that will affect my calmness during the test.

Best,
Notsolawful.

Also work on breathing techniques (that can calm you in a short amt of time) and having positive/instructional self-talk. A lot of people actually tend to have negative self-talk. (In case you're not aware, self-talk is well... basically what it sounds like. That little voice in your head that talks to you telling you you're doing well, or poorly, or telling you to pay attention, etc. etc.)

i scored 8 points below my preptest average the first time due to nerves. The second time my nerves were not a problem and i hit my average score.

I suffered from nerves on my first take. When studying the second time around, I learned to recognize my personal early signs of an anxiety attack during the test- for me, palms getting sweaty and my heart beginning to race- so that if and when it happened I could shut it down early and save time on the test. I freaked out during the games section of the retake, but recognized it early and ordered myself to snap out of it and focus. I still lost some valuable time, but was able to recover and my score went up 3 points.

I was MUCH less nervous on my first retake than on my first LSAT. Familiarity helps, and knowing that you have something (albeit, not the score that you want) to fall back on if you absolutely bomb it and get a 140-150. Knowing that a floor has been established actually does help, even if subconscious.

Thanks guys. This makes me feel much better. I know the sample may be biased but you all are making good points. I think having a good base score to fall back on will relieve the most pressure as 169 isn't a bad score by any means. Much love

Not to be a Debbie Downer or anything, but my nerves were worse the second time around. I had been solidly in the 170s with PTs, so scoring below that on my first attempt was shocking. I had felt pretty confident writing the LSAT the first time around. The second time was worse because I was aware of the very real possibility of scoring below my PTs, even though my practice leading up to my second attempt had me scoring higher on PTs than the first round. I majorly mentally panicked on the LG section of my second attempt, but still ended up scoring higher the second time around, although never as high as I was PTing. Second time was worse, nerves wise, for me : /

Keep meditating (and put legit, consistent effort into it) and believe in yourself and you'll be all good.

Literally in thte same boat OP; we've got this

I can't believe I am even typing this because I used to be the biggest yoga skeptic ever, but doing yoga before I arrived at the test center, and doing it during my break, I think helped. I wasn't a re-taker, but I knew I had a weakness for letting nervous people around me freak me out. So I blocked all that out and focused just on the yoga moves. In fact I did a yoga warm up before I started my exercises while I studied, so it was pretty natural day of.

Anything along those lines of calming techniques can be good, but definitely integrate them throughout the course of your studying. Good luck!

galadriel3019 wrote:I can't believe I am even typing this because I used to be the biggest yoga skeptic ever, but doing yoga before I arrived at the test center, and doing it during my break, I think helped. I wasn't a re-taker, but I knew I had a weakness for letting nervous people around me freak me out. So I blocked all that out and focused just on the yoga moves. In fact I did a yoga warm up before I started my exercises while I studied, so it was pretty natural day of.

Anything along those lines of calming techniques can be good, but definitely integrate them throughout the course of your studying. Good luck!

I was probably one of those nervous people; girl I knew from high school tried to talk to me, and I just stared at her lol. Couldn't even talk to her.

Definitely going to try out yoga though.

RamTitan wrote:

galadriel3019 wrote:I can't believe I am even typing this because I used to be the biggest yoga skeptic ever, but doing yoga before I arrived at the test center, and doing it during my break, I think helped. I wasn't a re-taker, but I knew I had a weakness for letting nervous people around me freak me out. So I blocked all that out and focused just on the yoga moves. In fact I did a yoga warm up before I started my exercises while I studied, so it was pretty natural day of.

Anything along those lines of calming techniques can be good, but definitely integrate them throughout the course of your studying. Good luck!

I was probably one of those nervous people; girl I knew from high school tried to talk to me, and I just stared at her lol. Couldn't even talk to her.

Definitely going to try out yoga though.

I just started using this site http://palousemindfulness.com/ . It's free and really good. I also downloaded the headspace app on my phone. Not sure if it's worth subscribing after the 10 days of free trial but it's worth trying out.