Is it possible to be too confident for the LSAT?

CalPoliSci

After mulling over my September score a couple days now and trying to assess where I went wrong, I am wondering if I was too confident on gameday.

Before going into the test, I knew that I had some anxiety about performance. I tried to mitigate that by mentally preparing myself in advance, telling myself to find a balance between confidence and nervousness, and believing in my training. On gameday, I was calm and and after the test, I felt that I had done better than expected. I thought I would've scored above average.

However, my actual score does not reflect how I felt. In fact, I scored outside even my lowest expected score. It's hard to accept this score when I thought I did everything correctly, that I placed so much mental effort into focusing to do well. Now I'm thinking that I was too confident on gameday. This made me complacent, and this feeling led me to deviate from my normal test taking strategies.

For December, I have to find a better balance between confidence and being aware of complacency. Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone else experienced this, and how are you planning to overcome this aspect of the test?

Cant Get Right

I think feeling confident is great as long as you can back it up. If you're scoring -10 from your target score, then I don't think you should feel confident that you're going to score it. That's arrogance, not confidence. But if you've been scoring around or above your target score, then I think it's appropriate to go in with all the confidence you can muster. So here's where you went wrong:

@CalPoliSci said:
this feeling led me to deviate from my normal test taking strategies.

Your confidence is derived from your performance which is rooted in both your understanding of the material and in your execution of that understanding. By deviating from your strategies, you abandoned a large part of the very thing that justified your confidence.

I'll say this as well: It is very difficult to stick to the plan. On test day, I suddenly felt a disconnect between myself and everything I'd learned. Something between my mind and my actions wasn't firing right. So what I did was to remove my present self from the equation and let my training take over. I made decisions not based on what I thought or felt but rather based on what I would have done on a PT. So for example, if I'm 80% confident about a given answer choice, I choose it and move on without even looking at the other answers. Then I come back at the end and eliminate the others if there's time. Well, on the first question I was like 95% certain on the answer choice, but I started eliminating the remaining answers anyway. I had to stop myself and go against what I felt. I deferred to my training. I trusted in it more than I trusted in myself in that particular moment. After awhile, I forgot myself and was able to carry on normally. If I hadn't made that initial effort though, no way could I have pulled it off.

combsni

Here's the thing,
You NEED to be confident, in order to succeed at anything. A LOT of people go into this test lacking any confidence whatsoever and that can absolutely hinder you as a test taker. Eliminate the anxiety by taking some pressure off of yourself!

jowens7317

@"Cant Get Right" Nailed it. There's a fine line between arrogance and confidence in what you've learned and trained for. Very solid test day advice!

bjphillips5

For me, I occasionally had an issue being TOO relaxed because I was too confident. I had to remind myself that my focus and dedication led to that confidence and I need to get back to it. Hope that makes sense

TheLoftGuy

Think I was too confident in September. Going at December different.

Alex

Yes, it is possible to be too confident about anything. @"Cant Get Right" nailed it when he said it is basically arrogance to be too confident about something.

Stevie C

Too confident? You'll assume that answer choices are correct by virtue of the fact that you've chosen them. You won't do well.

Not confident enough? You'll waste too much time second-guessing your answers. You won't do well.

In short, I take the test. I don't let the test take me. I'm skeptical of my own instincts because I know the test is designed to trip me up, but I still choose an answer and move forward quickly.