To postpone or not to postone

theemusicguy

Hey guys,

Caught between a rock and a hard place on what to do given my current situation. Over the past month, I've consistently been reaching ~170 on PTs, however, over the weekend I had back-to-back performances in the low-mid 160s; my first time regressing since I began studying. I've consistently been putting in around 5 to 6 hours per day and have not been susceptible to any "burnout" thus far, but this weekend felt myself having a bit of a breakdown as I could tell I was under performing whilst I took the exams, creating a snowball effect, if you will. In general, I was missing questions that I normally do not and on BR they were just bad choices by not reasoning my way through the answers (I'm talking going around -10 on both LRs inc. "easy" questions early on like #2 and #3 when I usually go -2 or -3) I spoke to my tutor and he says it happens all the time and more than likely burnout, so I've decided to take a few days off to clear my head, but it does leave me concerned with the possibility that there's a more fundamental problem of consistency that needs to be addressed and solved before I sit down for the official administration.

Ideally, I would like to apply for this cycle and I have my sights on T14, but also will be applying T30. My applications are about ready to go but I do not have any official scores on the record and, in general, have this worry that I may be trying to force it given I'm already applying quite late in the cycle. After what took place over the weekend, I'm concerned about allowing the risk of a low 160 on my official record when I know I can do better; as I really do have my hopes set on T14. However, that decision to postpone is at the expense of not going to school for more than another year and a half, which in itself is a very hard pill to swallow given I am already in my late 20's and am itching to get this show on the road.

Really appreciate y'alls insight here.
-MG

LSAT_Wrecker

Any reason you are weighing the two 'outlier' scores in the 160's more than your reported average of 170's?

Have confidence in yourself. It sounds like to took 2 PTs in 2-3 days? If so, that's not a recipe for improvement. Lots of people (me included) hit a wall / a bad test just prior to game day. Don't let that get in your head. You know that material. Take a pause, slowly and thoroughly review those two tests, and then reassess. This is time to taper and take measures to show up to the testing center mentally fresh and rested. Think about retaking a test you have already taken. Boost that confidence. If you have been consistently scoring in the 170's, the mastery is there. Trust the process.

Good luck!

ETA: If you have multiple tests in the 170's and that is where you want to be, don't postpone.

dansykes94

You can take the LSAT as many times as you like, no harm in writing the exam and seeing what happens. Bigger question is whether to defer a year, January will be the last LSAT that you can apply with to most schools this cycle. One option you have is to write the January exam, if you get lower than you want, hope to be put on a waitlist (or accepted w/o Scholarships) and then write the March/June LSAT and tell the Law schools you applied for to pay up and boost your scholly or you'll take another offer from a rival school.

JPJ July2021

Just take it. Those scores could have just been outliers or a sign of burnout. If you don't like your score you can always retake.

theemusicguy

@LSAT_Wrecker - Yeah they were on Sat/Sun of this weekend. I'm so much not weighing these recent PTs over the 170s or as being reflective of how I'll perform, they've more just opened up my eyes to that being a possibility which I hadn't realllllly given much consideration to until now.

I appreciate everyone's feedback though and think I will give it a few days of rest and plan to take the exam.

Thx!

Bamboosprout

No need to postpone, but just be sure to set your expectations properly. I was practicing very highly at some point during my practice, but I realized, similarly to you, that every now and then, you can get a bad test, and the score will drop immensely.
In the most recent 7sager podcast, NotMyName also talks about this problem. He was practicing very well and it just so happened that in his practices, he didn't run into a bad test, but during his actual test, he had a bad exam, and because all of his practices going into the test were so smooth, he was not mentally prepared for a tough test, and lost focus.
So your situation is great. You rather this happen now than on your actual test. But definitely analyze what happened. I'm happy to go over the test with you if you like, and we can both learn and discuss the questions.
Just make sure you stick to your plan when you feel like things are going bad. Always stick to the plan, and practice the worst case scenario. But yeah, also take it easy bud. There's only a week left. No need to be doing full PTs all the time. Rest up~