Looking for morning pre-LSAT advice...

roadtoonesixty

Interested to learn about what other students do the morning prior to the exam...in December I was up quite early, read a bit of my book to get the brain going (aside from eating/coffee etc.). I've heard some like to do a LG or read a passage...I find that the first section during the real test for me is filled with all my thoughts whizzing around that I'm distracted to read the actual test, but then once that first one is over I'm totally in the zone. Looking for ways to be able to be mentally focused right off the bat. Any suggestions?

JerryClarke242

Well in addition to eating and sleeping well, you could also try meditating. I visualized my success and images of my loved ones with thier hand on my shoulder. It really gave me a boost.

kimpg_66

I did a game that I randomly picked from 1-35, an arts RC passage (that's what I'm best at) and an easy flaw LR problem set. I wanted some last minute warm up on Flaws, but did easy to help my ego lmao

Leah M B

I woke up really early and went for a brisk walk to get the blood flowing. Made a solid breakfast and a cup of tea, then I had an easy LG and a few LR questions to look over before I drove to the testing center.

Also one counterintuitive but really helpful trick was to visualize your worst case scenario. Everyone has a section they are weakest on. Visualize your worst possible scenario for test day. For me, that was RC. I pictured having 2 RC sections on test day, really difficult ones, right up front. Psyched myself up for that. Lo and behold, I opened my test and saw RC for section 1. I literally (quietly) laughed out loud. Then I did get an experimental RC for section 4. It helped relax me so much that I went into the test with the mindset of expecting the worst. I wasn’t caught off guard by anything. Like I said, counterintuitive but it worked for me!

Seeking Perfection

It is hard for a warmup to fully work since there is the long break of waiting to be seated and for test materials to be handed out and to fill out the not part of the test part.

Nonetheless, I think I did as well as I did on both my tests one point under my average and a couple points over my average because I was very alert by the test. You want to be up, thinking, and moving in some way way before the test. Being awake by 3-4 hours before was best for me. I did some warm up games(I used some really hard games I had done so many times they were not hard anymore hoping to build my confidence), pushups situps, and showered the first time as a warm up. The second time dry heaves did the trick of getting me out of bed. With the drive to the test center and caution that waking up early may be automatic, but I certainly felt it was an edge over my practice tests.

Ideally, you would probably eat something, but on my second one I had the flu so I didn't eat and I scored fine. If you eat, something pick something that won't give you a sugar rush followed by a crash or make you need to use the restroom.

Sleeping would be a good plan, but if it doesn't work out don't panic. It didn't for me and it didn't matter.

Finally, find some way to relax during that time waiting in the test center. The first time I just people watched which was sort of fun. The second time there were people I knew at the testing center from my school so I chatted with them and was enjoying chatting so I chatted with some strangers pre-test too. Others swear by meditation which could obviously help keep you calm. I considered juggling since I find that soothing, but it would probably freak out the people around you. Finally, stretching might be a good option that could be subtler but sort of soothing. Just pick one of these or something else soothing to you to get you a little calmer and more centered before the test.