Not finishing a PT because not in the right mindset

ecarr_12

Has this ever happened to anyone else ? I was tired already, worked, went to the gym, and my contacts were really bothering me lol but I figured it would be good to get some practice under my belt of testing when I'm not feelin 100% but boy was I wrong ... Couldn't even finish my first section in time (which was RC, but usually my strong suit), and then finally just decided not to waste anymore of the PT halfway through the second section, (I'll break it up later to drill I guess ). Just feeling pretty sucky, but I know I would've felt worse once I calculated what I know would've been one of my worst scores yet.

AshleighK

Lol I contemplated this too into PT 72. I was doing RC and I realized it was going to be a shit show and I was just so thrown off. I debated on stopping but I pushed through. I did terrible but tbh I'm glad I did because there's a lot to learn. Don't beat yourself up, it's practice for a reason right?

ecarr_12

@AshleighK Oh my god, it was also PT 72! haha maybe it was a combination of not being in the right mindset and having RC as the first section

AshleighK

@ecarr_12 said:
@AshleighK Oh my god, it was also PT 72! haha maybe it was a combination of not being in the right mindset and having RC as the first section

LMFAOOO I feeeeel you trust me. I had a session with a tutor right before and my mind was racing a million miles. I was thinking "omg what if I can't get my score soon, omg the test is coming up, also wtf is going on in this passage, damn I'm tired". I got w r e c k e d in RC and that's usually my strongest section.

I'm so scared to take another PT in the 70s now!!

kir21046

This is too funny. I just took PT 73 at the library less than an hour ago and could not focus. I was getting so frustrated because two librarians decided to reshelve books directly behind me. Just completely guessed on one LG because I was running low on time.

At this point are you all planning to sign up for Nov as well? I'm only 60% through cc, which is pathetic.

btownsquee

Yep, just happened to me this morning. I'm chilling for today and planning to do it tomorrow.

SomewhereBetween120and180

No need to beat yourself up over it, but in my experience its better to just finish for two reasons.

Number one, you might be off somehow, for whatever reason, on the day of the test. Learning to recover after a bad section is really important. We all run out of time/miss a few questions/transcribe a game rule incorrectly at times, and it sucks. What's much worse though is lettering that mistake stay with you for the rest of the test. If you nail 3/4 sections, you can still get a respectable score.

Number two: it often isn't that bad. I've had PTs where I missed a game, or ran out of time in LR and couldn't come back to some questions and my first thought was "I've bombed this" only to find out, upon scoring, that I actually did quite well. The severity of my mistakes had been amplified by the time constraints and my own anxiety.

So again, like I said, its not a big deal at all. But, if this happens again, try just pushing through and staying calm. We all make mistakes and we all have bad days, what's important is making your best effort to work through it. If this happens again, accept the lower score and treat that PT as an exercise in staying positive and focused in the face of adversity because, after all, PTs are just for highlighting your weak points and practicing under timed conditions -- the only score that matters is the one you get when you write the real thing.

SomewhereBetween120and180

One other thing, try getting all your LSAT studying done before you go to the gym ,if possible, especially if you are sitting a PT. Going to the gym has a noticeable impact on my LSAT skills to the point that I schedule my workouts so that they are always after any LSAT prep.

ecarr_12

Thank you so much everyone! I actually went back where I left off and finished the PT and ended up only scoring 3 points below my avg. Albeit, it probably doesn't represent how I would've done without a break, but after reading your comments it encouraged me to do it anyway. Now its time to BR the HELL out of this PT lol probably looking at a week plus of review.

As a side note, I now know why PT 72 Game 4 is spoken about with so much hate lmao what in the actual fuck .

AshleighK

@ecarr_12 said:
Thank you so much everyone! I actually went back where I left off and finished the PT and ended up only scoring 3 points below my avg. Albeit, it probably doesn't represent how I would've done without a break, but after reading your comments it encouraged me to do it anyway. Now its time to BR the HELL out of this PT lol probably looking at a week plus of review.

As a side note, I now know why PT 72 Game 4 is spoken about with so much hate lmao what in the actual fuck .

I just finished BRing that game and I figured out the game board but had no clue what to do with the pieces. Even in the video explanation I watched it three times and I'm still like "wtf is this..."

Just wanna know who made that game tbh......

mizbanis

PT 73 for me! RC was hard, but I finished it, but then bombed the first LR. When I couldn't finish the LG, (which I consistently get -2 to 0), I was tearing up, but then I accidentally spilled someone else's coffee on the rest of the test. I waited 30 minutes before continuing (to let the test dry lol), and ended up doing really well on the last section. I am so thankful that happened though! I know that if I bomb the first or second section, I can still get close to my average if I calm down.