Hi, I took the official LSAT twice and received a 162 in June and today i got my September score and it was another 162. I assumed the first score was low due to my anxiety since it was my first test and I was less prepared. However, I was frustrated to score a 162 again in September because I have been studying for 8 months and am consistently PT-ing in the high 170s with no score below 170.
Idk what I should do, I have taken PTs in similar testing conditions and even the same computer set up with others around. I am taking the October test next week and I've read many techniques to overcome test day anxiety. I realized that I don't feel as much pressure on practice tests, I pace myself well, and I trust my answers. On actual test day, I am very cautious (too cautious) that it slows me down and leads me to second guess my answer, get stuck and dwell on questions, and having to rush at the end.
My problem is giving weight to the real exam, well, because it is the real exam lol. How do i go about actually treating the real thing as just another practice test since I do so well on those? I find this tip so much easier said than done.
3 comments
I did the exact same thing!! Like exactly the same thing of suddenly taking the test differently and being overly cautious, wasting time.
I took the June test, got 6 below my average PT and thought it was just test day nerves. Then I took the September test and felt significantly less nervous, but I thought it still went the exact same way. It was not just nerves, I was actually taking the test differently. I am lucky to say that my September test went much better. But, I only found that out this morning.
Since the test, I changed my study approach to account for this. I categorize questions as Green, Yellow, or Red. When a I feel confident about the answer I chose and my ability to cross out the rest, it's green and I move on. I don't flag it, write anything down, or double check. I move on. If I can confidently elimiate three answer choices, but don't feel confident with my choice between the remaining two, then I chose one, leave the other answer choice open (not crossed out), I flag the question, and I write a "Y" column on my scatch paper, with the question number listed below it. When I feel completely stumped on a question, either between 3 answer choices, or worse case, any could be it, I make my best guess, flag it, and then write the number down below the "R" column. These are red.
Then, hopefully by being more decisive and not wasting time on the easy (green) questions, nor wasting too much time on the yellow and reds, I have some extra time at the end. With this extra time, I go first to the yellow questions. These are the highest value quesitons, the ones I have the most likely chance to get right. I give extra time to those and hopefully get through them all. If I have any extra time, that is when I go to red.
I've put this method to practice for a few weeks and it has helped so much. Even though this method is responding to my test day taking, which is different than my practice test taking at home, the goal is that the usefulness of the method will carry over and prevent me from wasting time on test day by approaching the test with too much caution.
I hope this helps!
I blazed through my NCLEX by telling myself that it doesn't matter if I pass it or not and by staying in a nonchalant mood when I sat for the test. Put in some earplugs, sit down and do not even think about it being a real test. Just treat it like you are just going through some questions like you have been doing for months. Write down on a whiteboard (if they allow) three sections: Right, Maybe, and Wrong. Keep tally marks under each section for the questions you know for sure are correct (Right), you narrowed down to two options (Maybe), and you took a wild guess (Wrong). Do not give this test any weight, they are just questions that you can and will decipher.
No advice because the literal exact same thing is happening to me down to the scores lol. I also do much better on my practice tests and don't have issues with timing, and then on the actual LSAT I second-guess everything and have to read questions three times because I'm nervous I've missed a crucial detail. I'm also taking the Oct LSAT next week; I'm wishing you the best of luck! I'll let you know if I come across anything useful for this in the meantime :)