To All Those Who Are Disappointed...

blah170blah

You are not alone. I wish I didn't need to write this thread to release some catharsis and I wish other people wouldn't need to find company in misery as I would not wish such disappointment even on my worst enemy.

I experienced a 10 point drop from my PT average this test day, and 4 point drop from my first real test. I was averaging a 171.8, a PT range of 167 to 177, and then received a devastating 162 in June. The score I received in June isn't a number I've seen on a PT when I was studying for February, let alone June. While I can never be sure what exactly happened, I'm 99% positive it had everything to do with my mental state.

I had a rather ideal testing order -- LG (experimental), LR, LG, RC, LR. I felt great after the first section to the point where I had 5 minutes to check my answers for every single game. In theory, this sounds great. How could I have been mentally defeated at this point? Except I was. By the time I had re-visited the first game (I went in reverse order), I realized I had made a simple error on question #1 but couldn't change my answer in time. I was livid. And this is when things went sour. It took me about 5 minutes to get back into the groove for LR. All I could think about was the fact that this test and that one question was going to derail the hundreds of hours I've poured into studying. I could already imagine the disappointed responses I'd get from my parents, my extended family, and my friends. I could hear the subtle derision and condescension in their voices -- maybe she's just not smart enough. Maybe this is all she will amount to. I don't know why she can't score well on this test when all she does is study -- she doesn't even have a job. These were the thoughts in my head while trying to answer a tough necessary assumption problem. This was the mental condition I was in when taking this test.

Then, when I hit section 3 (the real LG), I actually laughed out loud in the middle of my test. I had wasted so much mental energy and lost so much precious time because of a stupid section that didn't even count? Of course at the time I couldn't be certain that the first section was in fact the experimental, but in my gut I knew it to be true. I think this is when I probably gave up on the test. I blindly guessed on the last game and to my pleasant surprise, I only missed 2. I tried to regroup my brain and will it to not give up during the break -- "you still have 2 more sections" -- but I was never wholly present again for the test. I hardly remember RC and I feel like in the last section I wasn't applying the processes I had honed in my studies on actual test day.

In hindsight, I should have cancelled but I'm glad I didn't. What happened to me in June 2015 is a testament to how important your mental state is for the LSAT. I dedicated my entire mental energy to this test to the point where I couldn't separate my LSAT world from my real world. I'd be out with friends and all I could think about was squeezing in a game or an extra LR question. I'd watch TV or be at the gym and think, "Hmm, maybe if I do one more problem set, maybe that'll guarantee me the 170." I was constantly stressed out to the point where I almost irreparably damaged some of my closest personal relationships. I wish I could say I was being overdramatic (just typing this out proves to me how manic I was) but this is the ugly truth. I was at my absolute worst physical, emotional, and mental state so the fact that I took a hit wasn't really a surprise to me. The fact it was as much as a 10 point deficit was, though, very shocking.

If you're like me where you've blown the LSAT out of proportion into an unstoppable, unconquerable behemoth, we CAN destroy the test. I have no doubt that many of us possess the fundamentals to do well and I just flat out refuse to believe that my PT average was a history of flukes. My goal for October/December/February or whenever I decide to use my next and final retake is to take the test when I'm most psychologically sound. My "study plan" over the next few months is simple: PT and blind review. And hey, maybe this will finally give me the opportunity to join those wonderful BR group sessions that Nicole and co. spearheaded (silver lining :]). That's my only LSAT related plan. The rest of the time I intend on spending with friends and family, exercising, eating well, reading, and meditating. I firmly believe that a happy mind (plus the knowledge of the fundamentals) will lead to a desirable LSAT outcome.

Solidarity, friends.

Dr. Yamata

Yeah well you bring up an interesting question.. whether or not the "immersion" in the study of this test is worth it, healthy, viable, advisable, etc. I'd argue that it is.. only if you don't have a great deal of time. Ideally, though, you'd spend like a year or two getting ready for this test. For whatever reason, a lot of people don't actually do that, but I think if that suggestion were made to pre-law students, we'd see a lot more sane LSAT prep. I did what you did LOL I hit the books for like 2 months, and did barely anything else. I'm actually astonished that my grades didn't suffer in my MA program. But I think this test does require some degree of sacrifice. If it were easy, everybody could just waltz in and get a great score and go to Harvard. It's not designed for that though. If you have to cram, you will probably make sacrifices. A longer, drawn-out, stable strategy of prep would probably eliminate that problem.

blah170blah

@"Dr. Yamata" Perhaps my post was a little misleading. I've actually been studying off and on for 2 years, and really going hard for about a year. I do agree that it's worth it to immerse yourself in the test and to put in the time and sacrifice. Those are definitely non-negotiable. For me, I just lost perspective of everything else in my life and ended up becoming an extremely negative person because I could only fixate on the negative aspects of my test prep. I think that mentality derailed me in June. I do agree that you need to put in the requisite time and energy and I feel like I have done that and I should have mentioned that that is always the starting point. However, the post also wanted to address what happens when you put in the time and energy and still don't get to where you want -- in my case, it meant to take a step back and think about the LSAT in a larger context.

nicole.hopkins

@blah170blah said:
And hey, maybe this will finally give me the opportunity to join those wonderful BR group sessions that Nicole and co. spearheaded (silver lining :]). That's my only LSAT related plan.

So, what if the only study you did was take tests, BR, and do group calls? We have a lot of fun on the calls, and I personally like taking tests. This is pretty much the only study I plan to do between now and October. Taking a PT (which I do enjoy), BR'ing it (again, enjoy), and hanging out with folks who have done the same in the virtual sphere is at least fun, and if/when I/you start to get a little singed/frayed at the edges, simple solution is to skip one of the PT's/calls and go do something else, totally LSAT-unrelated.

I was starting to get a little burned out a last week, and this was what I did. I drove 453 miles in one day and literally had no contact with the LSAT world. I climbed Enchanted Rock and looked at tiny Texas towns (tiny Texas towns are my love language, along with corgis). I came back to take the test on Saturday and got a cool score 4 points higher than my previous plateau (and 7 points higher than the last test I took when I was in burnout—sweet!). Then the next test I took on Monday, got a point higher than the Saturday test. If I hadn't respected my burnout and straight up blown LSAT off that week, I would be pretty unhappy (due to disrespecting burnout) and would be caught in the nasty crash/burn cycle.

Another thing ... Now that I'm pretty chilled out about law school generally (seriously thinking about rocking out at SMU—75th percentile is 163 or so), I'm also chilled out about the LSAT. When I was like OMG MUST DO SUPER SPLITTER MAGIC ... Dude, much more pressure/worrisome. Now I'm like ... Nah, we cool, I just love LSAT and hangin' with my PT buddies. Love improving my mind. Chillin' with some LG. U know. Watchin' vids of JY doin' sections. Learnin' some stuff about the world through RC. No big deal.

And guess what? I'm doing better than ever. And I barely even care. Yeah, it's cool that that's happening. But srsly tho? If I was at the plateau I was at in March/April, I wonder if I'd feel much different. Sure, that would be pretty weird, given my involvement with LSAT week on week. But honestly, I'm thinking much more about lawyering these days, and less about bragging about which law school I go to.

Your analysis of your state of mind is a great example of lessons learned. And there is a path forward ... but I think the end goal should be enjoying yourself. Even if you end up retaking and getting a score that's sandwiched in between the other 2, guess what. You'll still go to law school. People get nice jobs from all sorts of law schools. Even the ones we throw shade at all the time. One of my mentors went to U Arkansas ... Ever heard of it? And he does just fine and is very happy in solo practice. And another mentor of mine went to a law school you DEFINITELY haven't heard of and guess what ... She works at Legal Aid and helps people no one else cares about or even notices. And she helps people who aren't eligible for Legal Aid but still can't afford lawyers. To whom do those people turn? To someone who's willing to work for nothing; and why is she willing to work for nothing (pouring heart and soul into it, too—not back-burner stuff)? Because she has well-managed expectations and a heart to serve.

And hey, if you end up at a regional school like I plan to, you can own it, make law review, summa, etc. and be a big fish in a small pond. Now that's cool stuff. And you could do that with the scores you have right now.

nicole.hopkins

@blah170blah said:
I just lost perspective of everything else in my life and ended up becoming an extremely negative person because I could only fixate on the negative aspects of my test prep.

Girl, I'm gonna say somethin' you know well ... (in fact this could be a "logical continuation" of the passage above ... Sorry, bad RC joke but srsly LSAT, y no gifs??)



You do you! You owe the LSAT nothing. You might need to learn (or relearn) to love it as an end in itself. When we focus too much on it being a means, it seems to block us from our goals or be the necessary (or even sufficient) condition for success in life. If you're successful, you must have gotten a 170+ on the LSAT. SO.FALSE. If you get a 170+ on the LSAT, you'll be successful. Whoa, VERY. VERY. False. Forget conditional relationships entirely with the LSAT. It's just a fun thing we're doing in this season of our life and we love it so much, we get to do it all the time. How cool is that ?!?!?!

(if you don't believe this ... start talking to yourself in this way. you'll start to buy into it, whole hog. and all the happy feels will come. also bacon. mmmmm bacon.)

jyang72

@blah170blah I totally vibe with you. I've been working really hard on LSAT for almost a year and I just saw some results recently. I have not taken the test yet, but I know exactly how it feels when your hard work did not actually work out the same way you expected. Good luck with your next fight!

visualcreed

I can't say I worked as hard as you but I definitely left points on the table with my 161. It was pretty close to what I had calculated my score to be when I left the test but it still hurt a little. I'm not too bummed though because I can get into the school of my choice with this score.

Pacifico

While it sounds like you definitely need to change your mindset to get back to a healthier mental state, in terms of your actual prep I would definitely recommend the group BR calls. I did my first last night and it was awesome.

It took me a long time to finally take the leap because I've always loathed any forms of group studying and have always done better on my own. I also had no idea what to expect or how it could be effective given the structure of the LSAT and just generally thought it would be chaos. And fortunately it wasn't like any of that at all.

The format of the LSAT is actually kind of perfect for a conference call type atmosphere and after the actual BR session, Nicole, Michelle and me had a really great discussion about a variety of law school and life issues which I think could be of great benefit to you. Nicole has me kind of hooked on this now, I just wish I could do it more often than just Wednesdays!

Anyways, hang in there, I know there's a lot of disappointment and commiserating going on around here right now, but like Nicole said, you already have a good enough score to become a lawyer, so get back to enjoying life. Study some more (less intensely) and take another LSAT at some point, or not... And either way just go get yourself into law school and become a lawyer since that's the real goal here. Good luck and take it easy for all us sinners out here!

Quick Silver

- Very first PT 149

- Studied my but off and eventually PTed in the 170s

- Planned for a 170 plus!

But...

- Oct 14 LSAT 162 (85th Pctl)

- Dec 14 LSAT 165 (91st Pctl)

- June 15 LSAT 173 (99th Pctl)!

There are two kinds of people in this world - those that fall and those that get back up. I know there are people on this board who are disappointed right now. I know you'll get back up.

Don't get me wrong, you can have time to be down. I hit the nachos and in-n-out pretty hard the first couple days after getting my first test score. But then I hit the weights and then I hit the books and 7Sage material. I know you all have it in you too.

nicole.hopkins

@Pacifico said:
Nicole has me kind of hooked on this now, I just wish I could do it more often than just Wednesdays!

D'awww

@"Quick Silver" said:
There are two kinds of people in this world - those that fall and those that get back up. I know there are people on this board who are disappointed right now. I know you'll get back up.

You are a BOSS. This is really encouraging to me. Had kind of an "off" weekend and this is a good reminder of what it takes. #trytryagain