The Encouragement Thread

nicole.hopkins

Hello friends.

Lots of stress and discouragement floating around.

Let's help one another.

How can we encourage you today?

ellie1991

My nerves are wrecked and I'm having doubts that on "game day" I'll be on point. My wife is counting the days to when I'll be done with this test; she would like to see me back to my old self where I'm not constantly stressed out and analyzing every argument I hear as if I was taking the test right then and there.
In the back of my mind, I don't want to disappoint her in the event that my October score is not sufficient, then I'm back to studying for December...

I don't know. I'm a mess right now.

Kinda feel like that Gif of Louie CK flipping him self off in the mirror.

bSM45LSAT

We're all gonna absolutely crush PT 76.

They have nothing on us.

Months of being knocked to the ground by the LSAT, next Saturday is when we get back up and slaughter the LSAT.

harrismegan

@bishoplaw said:
In the back of my mind, I don't want to disappoint her in the event that my October score is not sufficient, then I'm back to studying for December...

I don't know. I'm a mess right now.

THIS IS MY LIFE.

leonsmoney

It's not too late. I seemed to be hovering in the low 160s and I've been drilling LG hard last week since that was my weakest spot. Well, I knocked out two 167s this week, one of them being PT74 this morning! LG finally feels like its clicking with me. My point is use this last week to focus on weaknesses. You can improve in a week. I just did it!

nicole.hopkins

Guys, I just want to say: don't be afraid to hope. If hope we're easy, it would come naturally to us. Cultivate hope. Long term, real life, "it all works out in the end" hope. And hope for next Saturday, for the hours thereafter, for the weeks to come, and the months after that.

Your ONE JOB this week is to hope and to choose confidence (since that's part of hope!). You are not harming yourself in doing this. You are only benefitting yourself, and putting yourself in the best condition for thriving.

And don't be afraid of disappointing anyone. I'm sorry to hear that it doesn't sound like many of us are feeling understood. Well, I understand. I understand deeply exactly where you're at. So let that understanding stand in for those who just don't get it right now.

GordonBombay

Agree with @leonsmoney 100%. Have been using a similar strategy the last four weeks. I've been doing more timed individual LR sections and especially more LG sections (avg about one section per day), and cut PT's back to 1 PT per week. My last three PT's have been my three highest (PT's 73, 74, 75) I plan to keep doing individual sections all week before next saturday and also plan to review some questions I missed on PT's in the 70's.

We've all put in so much work in for this October exam. It's almost show time. Trust your skills and don't put too much pressure on yourself. Re-taking in December, although not ideal, is far from the end of the world. I've been telling myself all week that I'm excited for next Saturday and can't wait to take the exam. Think of it as an opportunity to perform, and a chance to test the skills you've been developing for months. We're all LSAThletes here, and next Saturday is game day. The long hours spent practicing and drilling are the brutal parts, but game day is supposed to be fun! You risk defeating yourself if you keep dreading the exam and focusing on everything that could go wrong.

@BishopLaw

Pacifico

For those with spouses, significant others, families, etc. that are stressed out by your studying even if you aren't, I would recommend telling all of those people that you're taking it again in December regardless because you want more scholarship money. If you're potentially retaking in December you shouldn't be taking off completely before you get your October score since the time is so tight then. So I think getting them accustomed to the fact that this is not over until January makes it much easier than waiting until October 28th to break the news. Life is all about managing other people's expectations.

mepujals

@Pacifico said:
I would recommend telling all of those people that you're taking it again in December regardless because you want more scholarship money.

Pure GOLD right here. It would be really difficult for your loved ones to argue with this logic. Even if it's not your main concern in the decision to re-take in Dec, IMO it is a lot easier to lay it out this way- people understand wanting more $$ a lot more easily than really getting into the details of all of the factors that are at stake here. Using this to keep my loved ones' stress at bay!

nicole.hopkins

Peace to all. Be sure to get plenty of rest this week!

nordeend

Yes. Thanks for the positive words everyone. It also helps to keep in mind that, as JY points out, you should already know what score you are going to get. So the only real uncertainty is where on that +-3 scale you will fall. Another thing I read from another post that helped me a lot is that this test is simply PT76.

Good luck everyone and remember to keep calm and skip the coconuts at the top!