I have lost my mind!!!

brainwvs

I got 12 wrong in lr section today!! 12!!! And I usually score over 175!! I just started feeling really insecure and anxious while doing it. I couldn't concentrate at all. Now i am afraid to take the other lr section. It's like all my self confidence is gone. What am I going to do??

[Deleted User]

yea that's what happens when you move from taking older PTs to newer ones

175 huh so that means you missed 4 questions total from the PTs you were taking. Not sure how you haven't taken the other Lr section. You just drilling? anyways blind review is your friend, and while you're at it sign up for a 7sage course. $ well spent.

brainwvs

No, on average I am getting around 175-180 per PT. I stopped taking this particular PT after I felt like I totally panicked in the LR section. I checked the results and realized that I had gotten 12 wrong. I don't think that it has anything to do with old or new tests I think that I am just burnt out and need a break or something. I actually find the old tests to be more challenging because their rules are not so exact. Anyway, I am going to do nothing for the rest of the day..

CFC152436

1. Remain calm.

2. Go over your mistakes.

3. Remind yourself that you've been kicking the LSAT's butt up until this one section.

4. Do your favorite section untimed to restablish confidence.

5. Do another LR section, score well, and forget this ever happened.

6. Stop worrying and remember that people would kill (literally) to be in your shoes. All test takers (regardless of score) can feel anxiety, but a post like this is a tad bit insensitive.

chase62442

take a break! relax. You didn't forget how to do these questions, you just panicked. come back tomorrow or even the day after and you'll be all set. You could work on your personal statement or something in the meantime if you can't take a day off

Nilesh S

From what I have heard, you have got it right... you are burnt-out... but this is a good thing if it is happening now... a lot of my friends who were with me at UChicago Law told me that there will come a phase in my prep when I will feel burnt out... my score will drop... the best thing to do at that point of time is to force yourself to take a break... don't do anything LSAT related for 4- 5 odd days... this is actually not a bad thing as when you take a break, LSAT related concepts will ideally solidify in your subconscious and you will be back to doing well when you take PTs again... I haven't reached your stage yet and I envy you. Take a break and then get back to testing... you will be fine.

kraft.phillip

Which PT and section? I'm scoring around 170 now, and my last few LR sections have been -0 or -1, but I had a random -8 thrown in. S2 PT 59. Some LR sections are just weird, but I don't think there are that many. It could have also been a function of what you ate that day, or maybe you weren't warmed up, or maybe you were fatigued... figure out an excuse, and then eliminate that thing from happening again. At the very least, it will provide a sort of placebo effect and make you more confident, which helps you select answers you are sure of quicker so you have more time on the harder questions.

Also, look at it as a learning opportunity! Don't beat yourself up on your mistakes; mistakes are the only way you can learn before the test.

Gracelover

@brainwvs same thing happened to me! I took PT 57 today and the LR section was so stupid I missed way more than my actual average...I am starting to mistrust my "average" PT scores...What if on test day I get something as stupid as PT 57 which is harder than the other test...guhh......

lsathopeful

Hey,

Might also be worth considering other factors that may have affected your score - did you sleep less/more the night before? Didn't have coffee when you usually do? Took it in the morning versus you usually take it later in the day? What did you eat before/during the test - is that what you usually have?

There are a lot of factors that can affect your score that go beyond the difficulty of the PT you are taking.

brainwvs

Thank you so much for all your comments and suggestions. I think that I finally figured out what went wrong. First, I am really tired. I have been preparing for LSAT about 6 months. I am a single mother of 2 kids and I work full-time. BUT, what really got me was this: I typically rush through the first 10 LR questions because they seem so easy to me. This time I did not understand one crucial word in questions 2,3, and 4 (English is not my native language). Instead of thinking that missing 3 questions is not that big of a deal and putting these questions behind I panicked. After these early mistakes I did not even realize that they were nothing but language related and that my English is pretty strong and it would be highly unlikely for me to have the same kind of problems with the rest of the questions. I started telling myself that I was really stupid, I had been overly confident, and that I was going to fail the LSAT. After that I made mistake after mistake on the whole section.

After calming myself down and giving myself some time to rest I realized that this was a very valuable lesson to learn. We really need to learn to put our possible failures behind us and take every single question as a fresh start or 3 mistakes might turn into 12 mistakes. I re-did the section last night. I still made the 3 language related questions and 2 other typical mistakes that I often make, but 5 mistakes is a lot better than 12 right. So, as a summary, LSAT does not test your logical reasoning abilities alone but your abilities to stay calm and focus no matter what. I wish to all of you that this will happen to you while you are preparing for LSAT instead of during your actual exam so you can figure out how to deal with this issue. Have a super focused and confident LSAT day!

SoCal Japorean

Glad that it all worked out for you brainwvs!

Allison M

@brainwvs: I hear you! I totally bombed game 4 on PT 41 yesterday, and I had a hard time concentrating on the next section because I was so wound up about how badly I'd done on that one game. I think it's crucial to remind yourself that getting a few questions wrong is not the end of the world; better to stay calm and focused for the rest of the test than to get caught up worrying about a few missed questions.