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3 Likes
For those of you who have tested successfully: what is one piece of advice you can share to us?
Joe DCastro
Alum Member
Looking to hear your ideas. Thank you!
Comments
Paging @danielznelson @"Cant Get Right" @"Accounts Playable."
My advice though: DON'T...FREAK...OUT
@JustDoIt Trololol
Don't expect you'll fare poorly. You might as well not show up.
Don't score-chase; that is, don't try to obtain a certain score. Each possible miss will pollute your mind throughout the test otherwise. Do your best as you always do, and the score will hopefully follow.
@"allison.gill.sanford" had amazing advice regarding this topic. Really miss her posts around here. She's too busy being a boss in HLS though.
Here is what worked for me on my successful February re-take, after a less-than-stellar first take in December 2016: to trust my training, and in the lead-up to the test, to eliminate as many distractions as possible---I went "under-ground," no phone calls or contact with distracting family members or other possible detractors, no social media browsing, and I took really good care of myself in the month before the test: good food, enough sleep, fresh air, exercise, disciplining myself to not engage with negativity (my own or others')---and not to get so obsessed with the test that I stopped having at least a little fun (good for the brain). I did all this with a flexible mind-set, not rigidly protecting myself as if I were fragile, but owning my right to deliver on my hard work by taking good care of myself. On the day of the test, I went in relaxed but focused, and kept to myself so as not to "absorb" the nervous energy of those around me. Also, made sure to eat some protein and fat and carbs before hand for lasting energy (avocado and a banana and some meat). And key was this: to trust myself, and trust my training, and keep on moving through the test if I encountered a problem. I expected to feel nervous, and did not fight against this; I expected to have to pee but not be able to; I expected the odd occurrence in the testing room; but knew from experience that I could deliver regardless of passing physical or emotional states or distractions from others in the room. I ended up testing up to the potential of my PTs, and getting into 3 T-14 schools with excellent scholarship offers. I wish you all the best---trust yourself, trust your training, and know it is possible to have an (almost) enjoyable time writing the test.
Great question! By testing successfully, I assume you mean completing an LSAT without getting kicked out of the testing center or being barred from re-entry. While it is a challenge, certain things can be done to ensure this result.
Do not sneak Cheetos into the testing center. The proctors check your fingers for cheese stains.
Do not take an unauthorized water break in the middle of the first section. There was a certain kitty on a recent 7Sage call that tried that. You know who you are!
Some proctors are very strict about the 15 minute break period. You may think that you can slip in a quick game of League, but most likely you cannot. If it is a ranked game, you will have to make the extremely hard decision between losing your rank or failing a test that will determine your entire future. Most proctors will not let you back into the testing center after a 45 min League game, unless they were in the game with you.
Please ensure that you have not been barred for life from the campus where the LSAT administration is taking place. Even if it is not your alma mater, it may be a rival school that you raided after a crazy frat party.
Those are my top tips. I gave you four times as many tips as you requested. Your welcome!
All great tips. Really just the best.
Embrace your failures. We only learn from our mistakes, and our score will ultimately be built on our learning.
That sounds pretty straight forward, but it's actually incredibly difficult. Our brains play tricks on us when we're confronted with information that contradicts our preconceived notions (such as "I am smart" and "I am good at things"). It's called cognitive dissonance and what it means is that we are hard wired to lie to ourselves in order to feel better.
And that's a problem. It's a big problem.
As that problem applies specifically to LSAT: The most pragmatic of these is that we can't improve when our brains are telling us that we're doing just fine. You just can't.
At a deeper level though, we just shouldn't let the LSAT contradict our preconceived notions of our worth or intelligence. It's not a test that is designed to make that assessment, and it really does a pretty poor job of it. What the LSAT does a great job of testing is how well we take the LSAT. So coming to that understanding is how I was finally able to overcome cognitive dissonance and improve to the level I achieved. So let your LSAT performance tell you how you're doing on the LSAT. You need that objective, empirical assessment, and none of the existential weight we attach to it is helpful or valid.
Also, this, lol.
The link below is a compilation of remarks/diaries of people who were successful in taking the LSAT. I have found it to be very useful and encouraging.
http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/101-tips-improve-your-lsat-score-book.html?m=1
The biggest takeaway for me is that you're better off really taking the time to understand questions/concepts in immense depth instead of covering more material in less depth.
I'll be a cop-out and give 2 equal pieces of advice.
1.) Don't take the exam before you are ready. It's very hard to actually do this because you want to just be done with it all, but patience is key. I took the exam twice, but I didn't have the awareness to admit that I wasn't ready that first time. Similarly, don't be afraid to postpone; law school isn't going anywhere and even a few points increase can be huge for an application.
2.) Be confident. If you follow advice 1, then you are ready to take the test. It's fine to be nervous, but don't it get to you. You've taken a ton of PTs, BR'd them, and have studied for many months. It's OK to sit back and tell yourself that you're pretty good at the test because you have a ton of data that proves it.