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A rant for anyone bored and wanting to read something
Bamboosprout
Alum Member
Today, many of us, including myself, took the Jan LSAT. Congratulations for having survived the tribulation. I just wanted to share a little anecdote with you, my peers.
For me, today, on the very question of the very last section, as the proctor called out for us to drop the pencil, I noticed I had chosen the wrong answer. I immediately felt a monstrous and bestial or animalistic urge to change the answer choice, but I stopped myself, then came a sense of indignance, but soon after, I only felt relief as I just closed my eyes and closed my booklet. Discipline. Acceptance. Confidence. I believe I have started to grasp all these things now, and that one wrong question didn't matter in the face of true growth.
Some of you know might know I got expelled from the Nov LSAT because I did not drop my pencil fast enough, and I have tried my best to learn from that experience. As many of you pointed it, "duh", and logically I agree. But emotionally, it was truly excruciating, especially when so many around me in that test or even today, did the same thing and were unpunished, and especially since I was practicing at, what I believed, to be my peak capabilities. But logic must triumph over emotions. Just because other people weren't punished, doesn't mean I didn't deserve to be punished, and it was only just that I was punished. We dedicate so much to this test, and to get completely denied, and permanently labeled, like that was soul shaking. I had to take time completely away from the LSAT, and 7sage.
I had to really look into myself about why I felt so bad, and indignant, because I knew I didn't deserve to feel like that. I was in the wrong. I discovered that, at that point, I was deeply emotionally and illogically attached to the LSAT. Many people on the forums have described the LSAT journey as an obsession, and for me, it was an unhealthy one. I needed to change so that this wouldn't happen to me again. This meant not only strategic and competency changes, but also mental changes, so that I won't even be tempted again. I wrote a short post about the "5 Minutes Remaining" method that helped me strategically. In terms of mentality, however, I had to get out of my own head, change my mindset from a subjective one to an objective one. I had to truly embrace that LSAT isn't worth getting upset, anxious, or depressed about, that law school was just one out of infinite options, and that if something was fated to happen, or if something was able to teach me something, then it cannot be a bad thing and that if it wasn't a bad thing, then I shouldn't feel bad. Whatever happened, happened, and whatever will happen, will happen.
Sitting here right now, I don't know if I did better in this test or not, but at this point, I don't think it really matters. It's all in fate's hands now. I'm just proud because I didn't make the same mistake again, but not out of fear of punishment, but because I knew what was right, and what was logical, and what was meaningful to me.
Comments
I’m proud of you. Cheers!
Thank you
It's always great reading your posts. Yay for growth!
Thanks, we all share and grow together
Thank you for sharing this . I needed to hear this: "I had to truly embrace that LSAT isn't worth getting upset, anxious, or depressed about, that law school was just one out of infinite options, and that if something was fated to happen, or if something was able to teach me something, then it cannot be a bad thing and that if it wasn't a bad thing, then I shouldn't feel bad. Whatever happened, happened, and whatever will happen, will happen."
I'd like to subscribe to the daily bamboo words of advice! 😁
o.O
I wish I had enough to say to share things daily. I'm trying to share as much as I can right now, in case something else pops up in my life and takes up all of my time.
Yeah, this was tough for me to truly embrace. I always knew it in my head, but didn't feel it in my heart.
@Bamboosprout ---Bravo. I am a non-traditional student. I took the LSAT years ago and, out of complete rebellion and lack of the will to dedicate to studying, I refused to take it again. I settled on enrolling in an ABA approved hybrid program. My old score was 148 (I took it cold after spending the night at the hospital watching my grandson's birth (yep, THAT non-traditional)). Anyway, I was only one semester into the program I'm in and want to transfer. I found out this past November that LSAC did not transmit my report to the school I was applying to because my LSAT EXPIRED. So, I registered to take the January LSAT. With not much time to study, I MADE time to study about 40 hours a week. I was scorinng in the high 150s to mid 160s on the PTs. I began to love logic games because of the fool proof method. I was missing two and at most three questions at most on the LG sections. Every PT. LR was becoming more clear, but I was still hit and miss on some of the question type, but I wasn't too worried. ** I walked into the testing center calm and confident. I left completely perplexed.
I had three LR sections and they are all one big ass blur. AND the kicker is that I understood how to set the game boards up but ending up speed bubbling the last game because I ran out of time. I said all of that to say: what is meant to be will be and, like you said, the growth is more important.
I am a law student, an advocate, and contract brief writer. I sidelined everything to study as much as I coulld----and gained a great deal of satisfaction for committing so deeply to a test that I believe is based on a logical fallicy. To say that the LSAT is designed to make you think like a lawyer so that you can get into law school and be taught to think like a lawyer is circular reasoning. A requirement, stern suggestion, or even a hint from LSAC to take an Intro to Logic course would have been helpful. --OK, now I'm ranting. My point was that you got what you needed from this---growth----and, look at the bright side: there's always the March test to look forward to. 👀👀
One final takeaway for anybody who read all of that: I think it would have served me well to really simulate the test on every PT---maybe grab a random section from another test and take 5 sections rather than 4. Also, instead of taking them in the morning, take them at the end of the day to duplicate the test-day stress (???) TImed at-home PTs are good practice, but you're under "articial" time pressure because you KNOW that it's practice. I think that's a major reason for the confidence that evaporates when you break the test seal and see a crazy question. OK, enough of my rant---Peace 7SageFam
Glad to hear how you enjoyed the LSAT journey. It really is about the process, but of course, no one knows where to go, and we have to bump our heads a few times, but that's also a part of the process. I think a few things that might help you avoid a few bumps are to adjust your practice test conditions.
For example, for the final week, I basically went to the test site every morning, or a classroom next to it (to get use to the environment and overcome my nerves), to take a timed section, and I limited the amount of time I had to 30 minutes (I would allow myself another 5 minutes afterwards to BR, but the goal was to always reach the end of the section by 30 minutes no matter what) instead of 35. But I didn't do more than a section, so that I wouldn't exhaust myself the week before the test. I checked which questions I got wrong, but I didn't even bother to score it. The goal was speed and timing. I'm sure you noticed, but time seems to speed up when you take the real test as compared to practice tests, so I wanted to give myself around 20% leeway.
For the final two weeks, I also printed out custom sections, sections I created by compiling all the questions that I circled or got wrong in the past to make sure these sections were as hard as possible, and that I overcame my weaknesses.
I'm not sure how you have adjusted for the rest of day, but for the month leading up to the test, I would always do some of the most difficult mental tasks I had to do in the morning, to get my brain use to the stress of working in the morning.
For the months leading up to the test, I organized group sessions with other 7sagers for taking the PT together. This way, we can keep each other honest with our practice habits. I also introduced a few sessions of recording, so that we can each analyze the others' test taking strategies and mistakes on video. When we take the test, it's impossible to be aware of what we're actually doing, and all the little bad habits, so this was enlightening. We also did BR together, where we each had to verbalize our approach to the questions, and also why we got a question wrong, and how to prevent ourselves from making this mistake again. This is the hard part for many, because they are intuitive thinkers, but the LSAT rewards methodology, but after being forced to do this for a while, the process became intuitive.
I, for one, really enjoy the journey, the way I adapted, and learned to be a better learner, worker, teammate, teacher, and thinker in general. I like being a part of this community, and being able to meet new friends who are also passionate. The score is just a destination, and destinations are temporary and ephemeral, since the journey never ends. I hope you keep going with passion and post more of your thoughts and questions to the discussion forum. Cheers.
Hope this helps in some way.