As someone who is a first generation and tends to run on the anxious side of life, I feel you. I see you and I hear you. This test is scary and hard as hell. Most people who aren't studying for this could not get past the first few questions, my coworkers tried once and they could not get to the 2nd question. So I'll start off by saying, trust me that you are doing better than you think you are and be kinder to yourself. Here's my suggestion for what I think would help :)

Immediately stop studying for 6-8 hours a day. I would take a break for like a week to be honest. You ARE cut out of this, you are literally just physically and mentally exhausted. This is not helping you, it's actually hindering you. You are literally burning yourself out. You're working smarter and not harder. You honestly should not be studying more than 4 hours a day, anything past that and your brain is going to lose its ability to retain. The 4 hours of study I do, I break up into chunks. 2 in the morning and 2 later on in the evening. But whatever works for you, 1 in the morning, 2 in the middle of the day, etc. 4 a day would be my max. After doing 6-8 hours a day for almost 7 months, your brain is essentially fried. Remember, you are human and you deserve to have a break. I completely feel you on the feeling anxious/guilty if you are not doing something, but set those 4 hours daily as a goal. And once you have met it know that you learned better in those 4 hours than you would have in the 6-8 cramming.

I would not study EVERYDAY. Everyone deserves a day off. I'm currently doing 6 days, 4 hours everyday. I set a different study topic for everyday. LR one day, RC another, a PT one day, etc. This helps break up the monotony and helps it feel like tedious and boring.

I would recommend Brad Barbay on Instagram. His material is super good. He gives excellent advice on schedules and just overall lsat content. His study materials have been a game changer for me.

I'm also planning for June and August as a backup so I feel you on a lot of things! Good luck! :)

Thank you for this! I also was confused with this new format

Congrats!! This test is no joke, you should be very proud!

This is what I recommend as well. I score between -7/-8 wrong a section and I usually skip one of the passages.

a 160 is not a mediocre score at all!! Super congratulations! That is amazing and you should be super proud of yourself! :smile:

Hi! I am so sorry to hear that you aren't scoring within your range. Test day anxiety is very real. Here is just a few piece of advice and opinion on my behalf:

Have you considered requesting test day accommodations? If your nerves/anxiety is really, truly impeding your score, I would consider seeing if maybe a therapist or your PCP could consider writing a letter that you can present to LSAT stating that you have anxiety and this would allow you to potentially get extra time. I am not sure if you need a definitive diagnosis like GAD(generalized anxiety disorder) or ADHD but it can be worth exploring especially if it is causing this much of an impediment.

Are you taking the PT's exactly as they would be proctored on test day? A lot of times ppl do not mimic the exact conditions and this can end up reflecting a change of score. Is there a friend or someone that you can ask to proctor you every now and then virtually so you can have very similar conditions to test day? Go to the room you'd take the test in and mimic as much as possible test day conditions. Only take the 10 min break LSAT gives, have a friend or relative act like a proctor etc.

I am not sure what your exact score was or your dream school is but, have you considered just applying with the score you got? I have two friends who got into good law schools and their score was 150 and 151. I tend to stay from reading too many online forums in regards to the law application process because there is a big tendency, almost toxic, that you HAVE to get a 160 or above to get into law school. While these scores are GREAT, they are not the only scores that get people into law school. I know people also want these scores for financial aid reasons and scholarships but I would consider applying with what you got now. You may be stressing yourself out so much that it is impeding your ability to do well and could very well get into law school with the scores you got. I'd give it a shot! Think about it like this. If you don't get in, then you'd just have to study again like you are already planning on doing so. So you literally have nothing to lose.

Hope this helped!