Help with Test Anxiety

lsat2021-2

Hey guys - wanted to ask a quick question for those that struggle with anxiety on tests and anxiety in general.
1) How do you guys get ready to take a test? Do you have any tips for how I can retain focus and calm down? Especially on games, I am really struggling to not let time freak me out, it's like I'm failing to make the simplest inferences. For instance, on my most recent PT, I missed 13 LG questions and after BR, I missed 2. How do I improve this?
2) How do you guys not look at the clock the entire time? Do you guys go in a different order?
3) How do you not let a bad PT and these types of issues make you feel discouraged? Just struggling recognizing that I probably know the material but it's not translating when the timer is on.
4) Off topic... But does anyone have any tips for miscellaneous games? I think those make me feel anxious because you are literally like, "Where did this come from???"

Thanks so much.

j.harrison

For LG, it really is practice, practice, practice. I would advise doing a ton of timed sections for LG until you start noticing patterns. Don't do a ton of PTs right now, especially newer ones, because you need to focus on LG fundamentals. If you get a game wrong or took too much time, do it again and again until it all clicks under the time limit.

This will also help with misc games. Even though they don't follow a traditional format, the types of inferences that need to be made are very similar to those that you'll be making elsewhere.

I spent my first month of studying just on LG and saw my biggest score improvement doing that. On test day, I think LG has the potential to trip you up the most too so dedicate your time there for now.

In terms of time, just tell yourself that you should finish the first 2 games in about 15 minutes. Some questions will take longer than others and that is totally okay! JY recommends doing the questions first that offer additional premises (i.e. if J occurs on Monday and K occurs on Tuesday...). Spend a little time up front drawing out game boards and figuring out inferences. If a question really has you stumped, just move on and come back. With that said, don't jump around too much. You don't want to waste time going back and forth between games.

Take a break from a bad PT. No more LSAT that day. In the next few days, do a very thorough BR and evaluate where you went wrong. Don't let one test throw you off too much but also notice when trends start to occur.

Best of luck to you!