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So I just took PT 88 (flex style)...and it was rough. Like we're talking I knew it was so bad, I didn't even bother with BR and will just redo each section individually tomorrow. I'm not discouraged, just a little concerned about how I managed to fall apart that aggressively. If anyone is willing to sift through my reflection and offer advice, I'd appreciate your words of wisdom. Harsh, gentle, and every tone of advice in between is welcome.
3 things I probably did wrong RE: the timing of this PT (which I took at the time I'm scheduled to take the test for real btw):
1) I stayed up late last night
2) I was out and about all afternoon
3) I have friends coming over right after this, so the pressure of plans right after was probably very unhelpful even though I told them I'd text them when I'm ready
Actually taking the test:
TLDR; I messed up the logic games so badly that I knew there was no salvaging my score after that. And it showed in the RC section...LR I somehow managed to recover enough to only get -5
All week, I've been doing individual logic games of all types and difficulties, most of them for the first time. I was finishing them quickly and fairly accurately (-0 or -1). I thought I had finally developed a strategy for paying extra careful attention and not making sloppy rule misunderstandings. Yet today, I did worse than my diagnostic. I somehow managed to misread a rule in every single game and couldn't recover.
This definitely started to leak over into the LR section, which is unfortunate because I was able to hit a personal best in my drills this week. But I still was able to implement my skipping strategy and I even stopped and closed my eyes for like a whole minute. My attitude was not great, but obviously I kept it together enough to get -5, which is about as bad as I'm hoping to do worst case scenario on the real test.
I thought I had made a recovery, but the lingering effects resurfaced in the 2nd RC passage. The passages were all actually quite easy to understand, but I think I just mentally checked out because I knew this test was a wash.
The big question
I guess if there was one piece of advice I absolutely need, it's how to stay mentally engaged after royally screwing up. I consider myself a good test taker and I've never gotten that deflated mid test, even on tests where I knew I wasn't up to par on the material. I always found a way to salvage some scraps, but just didn't have it in me today for whatever reason.
Like I said before, I'm not discouraged because I made some sick gains in my drills this week and was really feeling myself all week. It just didn't click during this PT. But with only 12 days to go...yikes
Also, if you read through all of this, you're a hero and deserve all the success in the universe.
Comments
My advice: simplify your life around test taking. We’re always saying to replicate conditions as closely as possible to test day. This test is hard enough with a sharp mental state, adequate sleep, no distractions, and all the stars aligned. Keeping your focus high and stress low give you the best chance for success. Lick your wounds over this one data point and make changes. If you’re taking June, give yourself the remaining time between now and then to be in your little lsat bubble. Distractions and social commitments can wait until after you get the score you need. As much as possible, de-stress and simplify. Sleep like it’s your job, tell your friends you’ll see them after you write. This doesn’t mean to change your study habits, necessarily, over studying can burn you out and no one wants that. But give yourself as much space, peace and serenity as you can. Best of luck!
This just happened to me with PT89. On that note, it's just one test. I got a 172 on my last one and miserably failed this one. I am just telling myself that I got the failure out of the way and June will be perfect.
Manifest!