I'm such an anxious test-taker, I'm anxious about taking the prep tests...

graziosi.casey

I realize this sounds silly, but please understand I have a lot of anxiety that was 100% cultivated through academia. I currently have a full-time job that I handle perfectly well, but as soon as any kind of scores come into the picture, I shut down. In college, I mostly got around this by taking classes that were very heavy on research papers and essays, which I stress over less because I know I have time to ponder, take breaks, revise, etc, but timed tests... not so much.

Saturday I was supposed to take my first prep test, which I already delayed because I felt like I wasn't prepared enough to do so a week ago. Then — surprise, surprise — didn't feel ready on Saturday, either. So, I studied from the moment I got up, straight through lunch, straight through dinner, until it was 10:00pm and I realized I just had to bite the bullet. Of course, by this time I was exhausted, hungry, stressed, angry at the mere existence of the LSAT..... and (though I don't know my score yet because I am currently wrapping up the blind review) I am sure that I performed even worse than when I took the initial practice test, before the course began.

I know that I created a horrible situation for myself, but even with that awareness, I am also aware that I am very likely to do it again. I just focus so much on being 100% prepared and put so much pressure on myself to do well, that I end up completely sabotaging myself. And even when I try to take breaks, I just end up feeling guilty and stressed over the fact that I'm not studying. At this point, I'm honestly getting close to burning out.

If anyone has been kind enough to read this far — I would really appreciate some encouragement, shared experiences, or any tips you might have in terms of calming nerves, accepting failure, or just plunging into the prep tests, without putting an enormous amount of weight on doing so. And even if you don't feel like commenting, thanks for taking the time to read this mess, and I wish you the best of luck with the LSAT!

kmatt

hi! i’m anxious like that too and put off taking PTs if something didn’t feel right, or i wasn’t ready enough. what i ended up doing was making myself take a PT every other week. i didn’t care how much i knew, i just did it for the practice. the more PTs you take, the easier it gets. it also will give you a lot better idea of where you’re scoring. obviously all the tests are different where some sections are harder than others, but also some sections you’ll have more/less anxiety than others. i say just start doing them and do them often! i’m not ready but keep taking them and it actually helps my anxiety because as i’m going through the core curriculum i know where my strengths and weaknesses are.

kmatt

P.S. you got this

tonyahardzinski

PT are just that- PRACTICE! View them the way you do rewrites for a big paper, they are a way to refine your technique. Also, if the timed portion freaks you out then do what I do— I resolve to do well on 3/4 LG and RC passages and usually that leaves me with 3-5 mins for the last one. That is enough time to get 1-2 more right on each section and then guess on the rest. This strategy has brought my score up significantly because I’m less stressed while studying and doing PTs. Good luck, you can totally do this!

bananabo

I definitely know how you feel! I struggled a lot with anxiety when it came to taking PTs in the beginning of my studies. The advice that I have is, don’t focus too much on the score and just try to focus on maintaining your composure and remaining calm.

PTs aren’t going to hurt you, they will only help you. The thing that helped me get out of my head when it came to taking PTs was just seeing it as data gathering. After each test, I would journal how it went, how I felt, and how I could improve for the next take. Once you get the ball rolling, I promise that it will get easier!!

Also, another thing that helped me maintain my anxiety was doing meditation and practicing stoicism!

Good luck!

knoghs2022

I had the same problem for months because when I first started studying I took PT's too soon and wouldn't do better than 1-2 points of my original diagnostic score. Over 6 months later after focusing exclusively on sections, I did my first full PT yesterday and got in the exact range I want. If you don't feel ready for a practice test yet you can definitely put it off but in the time you aren't doing practice tests try to work up to them by doing a section of a test every day (LR/LG/RC) and taking your time with it. Once you're getting as many as you want right, move to timing yourself doing a section every day until you get it down to 35 minutes. Then piece it all together and start doing PT's. It might take you a few weeks or it might take you a few months like it did for me but its ultimately worth it. I support taking things slow until you build up your confidence. Good luck! You've got this

rnarayan95

i also have a lot of anxiety about them! I remember that bi am not perfect and i am not supposed to be perfect and the practice tests are giving me an opportunity to improve on a skill. i also bribe myself with a reward after!

canihazJD

One thing we want to avoid is assigning value to our scores. They measure specific unintuitive proficiencies, and are not an indication of intelligence or worth any more that your current ability to fly a helicopter (helicopter pilots ignore this). PT scores don't matter. In fact we WANT to get questions wrong.

While exposure to a timed PT does help us improve, and a small minority of people can achieve their goal score just through sheer brute force (volume of exposure), their primary purpose is to gather data. We take that data and analyze it when we review to identify problems... areas we can improve. Then we work to mitigate those issues by drilling.

The worst thing that could happen is that by some miracle we luck into getting everything right on every PT we take until test day, then get absolutely wrecked on the real thing because we never had to learn. Wrong answers and a "bad" PT are our friends. Like someone pointing out to you, "Hey I noticed you were weak in this area. I don't want you to get this wrong on test day." As long as you do the work to understand what happened on the PT and improve, you've effectively achieved a 180 for that specific PT.

With that in mind, we don't want to put the LSAT on some kind of pedestal or make it some ominous, menacing thing... "Oh shit, it's time to take a PT. I need my Red Bull, and lucky pencil, and special scratch paper, and everyone GTFO and give me complete silence for two hours. Also let me do some meditation first, and wait did I get enough sleep last night?" Then we sit there and stare at the screen with the cursor hovering over the start button taking deep breaths like Qui-Gon waiting for the laser fields to open while the Darth LSAT Maul paces on the other side.

Just no.

Find less to worry about. Test day will be stressful as it is and we don't want to artificially increase those effects. To quote Eliud Kipchoge, one of the greatest runners like ever, and the only person to do a marathon in under two hours, "become comfortable with being uncomfortable" because I guaranfuckintee you something will go wrong on test day. Even if you miraculously get a full nights sleep the night before, a good proctor, no connection issues, dog barking, neighbor doing yard work, etc. and everything else goes right, you still experience stress and anxiety that you can never replicate (and thus prepare for) completely. We know there will be an RC passage that causes us to physically recoil and question our reading ability. We know there will be a stimulus we finish with glazed over eyes, asking ourselves, "what the hell did I just read?" There is a 100% possibility that we will linger too long on a question when we should have skipped or somehow not follow our strategies the way we envisioned.

It sucks. So get used to it. Think like Bane and be molded by it. At a certain point earlier on, we get the curriculum and learn the concepts and strategies. Now we need to get used to applying them in the minefield that is a timed LSAT.... to reacting, and performing in less than ideal conditions. Just hit the damn start button. Just take the PT or section despite being tired, or it being noisy. In fact, seek those conditions out. Use the background noise feature. Hit a game first thing in the morning before coffee, or right after a run. Read a passage late at night before bed. Do an LR question when you find a spare 5 minutes and weren't expecting it. Join a BR group and put yourself on the spot. Get used to operating in the test environment and reacting to their tricks. We want it to feel like something we are engaging with, not something that is happening to us.

Sorry, I tend to just ramble on... but point being I don't care how I do when conditions are right... I want to know how I do when they aren't. I think adopting that mindset is key to addressing prep anxiety and maximizing our scoring potential on test day.

graziosi.casey

@kmatt Thank you so much for your advice encouragement!! I think one of my big problems has definitely been that I'm afraid to "waste" tests, so I think making myself do prep tests every other week, no matter what, will definitely help! It's also just good to know I'm not alone thanks again!!

Future Esq 888

@canihazJD GOD BLESS YOU... amazing my friend.

graziosi.casey

@tonyahardzinski Thank you for the advice!! Thinking of PTs like paper rewrites is such a good suggestion! Honestly if I take myself out of the "test" mindset, so much pressure is lifted! And I think I'll do the same as you and resolve to do well on 3/4 of the LG and RC passages... fingers crossed it helps!

graziosi.casey

@bananabo Thanks so much! It's really nice to know that I'm not alone here. I don't know why it never occurred to me to think of PTs in that light — I keep thinking my anxiety will just magically disappear once I'm "prepared enough", but obviously that isn't happening. So, accepting that I will be anxious while taking PTs, and determining that that anxiety will just be one more thing numerous PTs will eventually help me overcome, seems like it will really make a difference! And others have mentioned meditation to me — I should definitely try it! I don't suppose you have any pointers for anyone just starting out?

graziosi.casey

@knoghs2022 Thanks for your reply!! I think I get so bogged down with creating "real testing conditions" (as if I'll take the test at 10pm while both tired and hungry ) that I really didn't even think about building up to PTs like that! But it definitely sounds like it's worth a try, even if it takes a while to see results! I really need to work on being patient with this whole process. Thanks again and congrats on your progress!!!

ruthjt16

The thing that helps me is to have a habit of when you take your test. For me, I wake up on Saturday, eat breakfast and then take it. Doesn't matter if I felt like I studied "poorly" that week, if I'm cranky, if it's rainy, whatever. I think doing it first thing can head off some of the anxiety and dread that builds up over the course of the day-- you're also hopefully mentally fresher. After I finish my test, if I'm feeling stressed about how it went I take a short break to do something that relaxes me before I BR (only like ~10 min.). Once you're blind reviewing, there's not need to beat yourself up, just look at the test with fresh eyes and remember that this is a learning process. Although I've been disappointed by my scores before, the more solid PTs you rack up, the less any one score knocks you back. It gets easier-- just form a non-negotiable habit.

graziosi.casey

@rnarayan95 thank you — it is so good to know that others are in the same position as me!! Your words mean a lot and I will definitely try to remember everything you noted

graziosi.casey

@canihazJD said: Omg, this is so ridiculously helpful! I would know even without the tag that you're a tutor... thanks so much!!

I've been so preoccupied with the idea that I should be "acing" the PTs now that I've gone through the course, that I never even considered all the benefits to failing! Of course, that is obviously something 7Sage has taught us since we were first introduced to the idea of blind review; I just need to keep it in mind!

Thanks again, and don't apologize for rambling — your comment was seriously 100% beneficial in every way!

graziosi.casey

@ruthjt16 Thank you, that is super solid advice! I definitely need to remember that on test day, I might not be feeling prepared at all! I absolutely need to get in the habit of pushing forward (even with perceived barriers in my way), and forming a consistent PT schedule will certainly help with that. Thanks again!!

emaanc99

I completely feel this. In fact, I've been so scared to PT because I've been afraid I'm gonna do worse than I think or maybe not hit the ballpark of a score I need to. I finally took one and I'm so happy, I did. Validation, no matter the number, is a great motivator. I guess what helped do one was the bigger picture. A PT is a PRACTICE test. Its to ultimately help me, whether I get a lot wrong or none. Thinking of it as more of LSAT Intervention helped me LMAO. Like okay, here, you need more help in LG especially bc you did trash in a grouping game BUT also, hey! Look at you you nailed those RC passges. This way, I know realistically where I'm at and that way I'll utilize my time differently. It also helped me to think of it this, PTs fluctuate and thats totally normal. Its the value of figuring out where you went wrong which is will probs save my ass on test day. This test is no joke, especially not for us anxious people, but its doable and learnable. Plus, taking that PT, i'm showing my anxiety who's boss— Mind over matter, baby!!

graziosi.casey

@emaanc99 Omg, I love that — "Mind over matter, baby!!"

I'm so glad I'm not the only one here who feels this way! Honestly, I debated posting this because I worried it might not be relatable to anyone, but I'm glad I went ahead anyway! Thanks so much for sharing your experience; it really is incredibly helpful!!!!

bananabo

@"graziosi.casey" said:
And others have mentioned meditation to me — I should definitely try it! I don't suppose you have any pointers for anyone just starting out?

I like the app, Insight Timer, for meditation! It has a lot of free guided mediations for whatever you want to target (mediations for stress, anxiety, sleeping, etc). I would also suggest doing meditation at the same time everyday in order to get used to it!

McBeck418

Hey,

You're definitely not alone and it's pretty brave to post about it to a bunch of strangers. There's a lot of good information here. I agree with what is said above about avoiding the need to place any real value on our PTs, but I think this is much easier said than done. We inherently want to test our knowledge to see if we have grown and when we haven't by as much as we would like, we face anxiety, fear, doubt, and all of those similar emotions. I really want to say that it's okay to feel all of that. Its okay to feel anxious about that, but we cannot let it become debilitating. Building in a mindfulness or meditation practice can help us move through our feelings, to see them and to let them go.

Take breaks away from the LSAT and the forums (that extend beyond your job because I'm sure that is also stressful) and do something else. Build in space between yourself and the test. The test and the score are not you. It does not define who you are as a person.

Listen to your body and your mind. While it seems like you're starting your PT phase, these feelings may come up throughout the process. You'll think you're good, but one day you're tired, you're annoyed at your family, boss, pet, etc. and the test you take won't be great. You'll think you should be getting higher scores faster. You might end up wanting to push through the stress instead of taking the break you know you need because anxiety dictates you need to prove something to yourself, but don't. It's okay to step away, to tend to yourself, to chat with friends. Cherish that space away from the test.

Each PT is a snapshot in time and while we can see trends from doing numerous PTs, we have to trust in our ability to review, to learn, to grow, and to get better. When we focus on learning the test and then mastering the test, rather than just getting scores, we become less focused on the product and more focused on the process. Whether it takes 10PTs or 30PTs, it doesn't matter. As we move toward our goal, we only can fail if we give up. Regardless of your starting point, you can get better. You got this.

graziosi.casey

@bananabo wonderful — thank you!!

graziosi.casey

@McBeck418 Thank you so much for your kindness and understanding!! I definitely have a tendency to go from one task to another, without leaving much room for myself to relax, do the things I enjoy, or just be. Hearing your advice really helped me to realize that just now...

Thank you again — I will absolutely remember everything that you've said

karko2525

I dealt with the same exact thing. I was anxious about taking prep exams because I was worried the score I receive would disappoint me or indicate that I wasn’t ready. I delayed practice exams like there was no tomorrow and to be honest, this only changed after I underperformed on my first actual take. After receiving a lower score than anticipated, it kicked me into overdrive and infused a determination within me to do better. After that, I started taking 2-3 exams per week and realized that once I started taking more exams, I got more comfortable and less anxious. I think I just realized that no matter how much you prepare, each exam will have its own curveballs and difficulties. You can’t anticipate them all so why bother worrying about something you can’t control. All you can do is apply what you know and finish the exam with your best efforts. Try not to be too down on yourself about this because anxiety is truly a b*tch and as someone who deals with it on a regular, I can say it’s a valid struggle. Try to get yourself to take more exams and timed sections without worrying about the outcome. Remember, at the end of the day, this is just one exam and it doesn’t define who you are or your intellect. Give it your best shot and keep working towards the goal! You’ll get there. Best of luck!

Ajahna94

I just want to say, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Every word resonated with my heart because this has been me for so long and I was convinced something was wrong with me. Thanks for sharing and being so transparent.

We will get through this and look back and say...this was worth it and we did it.

We got this❤️

graziosi.casey

@karko2525 Thank you so much!! That's really encouraging

graziosi.casey

@Ajahna94 So nice to know that I am not alone! Best of luck to you, and I agree — we got this!