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Wisdom in tapering off?

jpetersyvrjpetersyvr Alum Member
in General 41 karma

With a week left until the June exam, I’m wondering what consensus exists here in the wisdom of tapering off the study schedule? Like a marathoner, I believe that while it’s certainly unwise to abandon studying altogether this last week, there may be some benefit to tapering off slightly.

Study schedule in the week preceding the exam
  1. How / should you modify your schedule?10 votes
    1. Taper off
      50.00%
    2. Maintain your schedule
      30.00%
    3. Increase the intensity of your studies
      20.00%
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Comments

  • LSAT_WreckerLSAT_Wrecker Member ⭐
    4850 karma

    Personally, I find that I get rusty quick if I walk away from the LSAT completely. So I find that dropping the volume but still touching it every day helps. 1/2 LG problems and ~10 LR questions is enough to keep the juices going without exhausting the brain.

    YMMV. Don't carb-load before the test day, it'll make you heavy and sleepy. Good luck!

  • LivingThatLSATdreamLivingThatLSATdream Alum Member
    edited June 2018 500 karma

    I heard a piece of advise that I thought was beneficial, so I'll repeat it. The week before the exam, if you must take a timed PT, take one that you have already taken before. I think this could be true for individual timed sections also. It is a way of reaffirming what you already know. The score would likely be inflated because you already saw this material, but it serves as a confidence booster. Blind review as usual. Reaffirm your thinking. Maybe even compare it to your previous take. This keeps your brain "thinking LSAT" without (hopefully) a decrease in confidence.

    Not sure how intense your study schedule was, but likely a tapering off is necessary. As a former marathon runner, I would not complete an extra long run the week of the race. Typically, my long runs were 15 and 20 miles once a week, I never ran a full marathon during training. I expected my conditioning, training and mental well-being to get me through on race day. The Sunday before the race, I would have a long run of 10 miles max; during that week even shorter runs about 5 miles, only twice, just out of habit really. You don't want unnecessary soreness. Similar to the LSAT, keeping your mental well-being is so important! It's actually a pretty good analogy. Except for the LSAT training you definitely NEED to complete many full practice marathons ie PTs before test day.

    You are going to ROCK the LSAT! Good Luck!

    edit: I was never a competitive marathoner, wasn't trying to get first place. Just liked to run.

  • FixedDiceFixedDice Member
    1804 karma

    It depends on the person. But I really don't think one should increase his or her workload.

  • jpetersyvrjpetersyvr Alum Member
    41 karma

    @LivingThatLSATdream thanks for the reply! I made the analogy in the context of my own experiences with triathlons and a recent half marathon. Your insights confirm my intuition, thank you!

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