Hey everyone just a quick question,

How long does it usually take one to close the gap between their timed PT's and BR? I have been scoring mid 150's the past couple of tests with BR always being between 163-165. Should I target a specific section or just continue grinding along?

Timed Section Breakdown:

LR: -8 per section

RC -7 to -10

LG -7-10

BR Breakdown:

LR -5 to -7 per section

RC -6 to -7

LG -1 to perfect

I could write a novel about my LSAT journey, but I’ll do my best to keep it concise. I’ve taken this test 4 times over the span of over a year. A continuation of my last post,

https://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/18534/how-to-overcome-lsat-panic-anxiety

I was diagnosed by both my GP and specialist with severe anxiety and panic attacks that become prevalent especially during the LSAT administration. I followed their instructions, took beta-blockers and perhaps most importantly changed my mindset about the exam. I think a main contributor to my anxiety was the fear of disappointing my family and even worse not getting accepted to law school. My November 2018 take (3rd go), was a 154 and although almost 20 points below by PT’s was enough to get me into law school. This mindset for my January 2019 take (4th go) was to tell myself no matter how I did today, I could go to law school. The good news was I had near ZERO anxiety for the administration and it felt so liberating. It truly felt like it was the first real take of mine. The bad news was that the room I was placed in my unbearably hot. It was so hot that the proctors opted to take turns stepping out because it was just that bad. Worse for me I wore just a sweatshirt (because winter) and I had to sit in that swamp for 2 sections until they could find us another room. I ended up scoring a 164 which is a fantastic score but I was still upset by the fact that I’m sure most of my points were lost in the first two sections and if it wasn’t for that, I would be near close to my PT score.

So I took what I got and applied to several target schools along with the few now safety schools I had applied to in November.

Now sitting here with what looks to be a disappointing cycle, I’m unsure where to turn. Before dealing with this LSAT roller-coaster, I always wanted to go to Harvard. Unfortunately, that was just not going to happen so I sent an application to BC and got waitlisted. My best offer is currently from Temple with a 2/3rd scholarship with in-state tuition. Temple is a great law school however I personally did not see myself going there. In a perfect world I would want to move and practice up north but I don’t think Temple could make that a possibility.

Anyways since I’ve been on this journey for so long my family keeps asking me when I’m going to law school. My whole family expected me to take it once in December of 2017, apply for the upcoming cycle, and enter law school in the fall of 2018. Even with score of 141 on that December take, my grandparents insisted I go to anyone that accepted me and they would cover the cost. My family keeps saying “it’s not where you go as long as you pass the bar in the end”. It’s just hard to break their mindset that a lot of schools even with decent bar pass rates still have mediocre employment outcomes for their students. This of course is only one variable to consider when making a huge decision like law school but my family is all of the mindset of “just go so you can get a law job asap”. Since of taken that LSAT 4 times already, they keep telling me I’m wasting my life away and they are questioning if I even want to go to law school. The worst part is that my grandparents are willing to pay my entire law school bill no matter where it is. While I’m thankful I have that option open to me, I would only be comfortable taking that for a school like Harvard. With what I know I can do, I can get into some great schools with some good money and I don’t need anyone to pay for what they don’t need to. When I first brought up the subject of delaying yet another cycle, everyone was furious with me. Even though they have somewhat lightened up to the fact law school might not happen for me this year, they still are heavily persuading me to go this cycle.

So I believe I’m left with 3 options.

Accepting Temples 2/3rd scholarship offer and entering law school Fall 2019

Delaying law school until Fall 2020 and applying with the score I have now. Based on lawschoolnumbers and the like, I will have a much more favorable outcome scholarship and acceptance wise to the schools I’ve applied to this February.

Retaking the LSAT once more in June and aim for that 170+ score I know I can get and shoot for T-14 (Harvard) and a secure BC offer for Fall 2020

I left out a lot of the drama but I can't stress enough how much my family just want me to go this cycle.

Hi Everyone,

I recently made a post about the severe anxiety I encountered during this previous administration and wanted to thank everyone for their wonderful advice. I plan on addressing this problem with my doctor and hopefully he will be able to point me in the right direction.

Anyways for the upcoming January LSAT, what should my schedule look like until then? I went in to November scoring where I wanted to be although I suppose it wouldn't hurt to earn a few more points in RC. With that one exception I figure I have the skills and knowledge necessary to hit my target. So my questions are:

When should I hit the books and start studying again?

What should my study regime roughly look like?

Any other pieces of wisdom?

If someone is able to help with even one of these questions it would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Linked is my previous post for reference

https://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/18534/how-to-overcome-lsat-panic-anxiety

Hi Everyone,

I'm going to keep it as short as I can. Today was my 3rd attempt at this test and it did not go well. In hindsight I didn't think the test was so hard but in the moment it might have well been my diagnostic. I've been preparing for this take since under-performing in June and I believe I did everything right. I started with the 7sage curriculum, moved onto timed/untimed sections, and finally to 1-2 PT's a week with thorough blind review. Following these steps I saw massive improvement and was scoring where I wanted to be a month out from the exam. The PT's I took were all 5 section strictly timed exams with a 15 min break in between at the exact testing location at 8:00 during this time. I was feeling so confident and accomplished as I was up 20 points from my diagnostic just months before.

Anyways I've never had a problem with anxiety before and stress wise I was doing really well up until the exam. The morning of I was feeling a little stress but I meditated and I was feeling fine up until the exams began to get passed out. As soon as I opened my test a wave of sickness just crashed over me and it was like I had never seen an LSAT before. My first section was LG and I was scoring an average of -1.5 on PT's whereas now I couldn't even figure out how to do a simple sequencing game. I had a giant knot in my stomach and a throbbing pain in my head and ended up forgetting everything. I wasn't going through the motions I had mastered so well during my practice and in turn everything else just suffered.

Is this anxiety? Panic? What should I do? Whatever it was I was not prepared for it and I'm looking for advice on what I should do to counter this. I'm taking this test once more in January since I'm required to attend law school this upcoming fall. Please any advice is appreciated