Nerves affecting timing on actual exam

charlottehall33973

Hi all,

I wrote my October LSAT and found that I was so nervous that finishing sections seemed to be much harder than when I did my own practice tests (I always finished with time to spare usually). Needless to say I scored my worst score yet - 149, whereas I was scoring high 150s in my practice tests. I am trying for a new tactic in December- finishing 20 of 25 questions say on the LR and RC so that I achieve higher accuracy as opposed to rushing through to finish but getting 16/17 right on a section. Does anyone do anything similar? Or have any other suggestions as to how I can improve? My goal is a 158-160. Thanks!

LPLPLPLP

I absolutely struggle with nerves as well and I have a suggestion:
Think about turning your anxiety into intensity. I like to think of anxiety as energy that I am just wasting which is such an insult to all the time and effort I have put into the LSAT: I have something to do, I know I can do it, why am I burning up brain power on thinking that I can't/won't/AHHH? Take all of that nervous energy and harness it. This requires (at least for me) literally pausing, closing my eyes, and taking a really, really deep breath while imagining a straight path in front of me. When I feel a little out of control I'll just firmly tell myself to center my thoughts and re-focus. My heart rate lowers, I'll stop jigging my leg around, and my inner thoughts are clear and singular. It has taken some training but I'm definitely getting to a much more sane place with the test and my scores have shown that.

I guess I could touch on strategy and timing but if nervousness or anxiety stopped you from performing your best I think training your thoughts should be high on your list. I've seen a lot of improvement since I actively decided to center on the test rather than whatever voice was freaking out in my head.