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Related Discussions
Taking the September Test Sick
Seeking Perfection
Alum Member
Hi,
I'm scheduled to retake the LSAT on Saturday. I initially scored a 172 in February after 3 weeks of study interrupted by having my wisdom teeth yanked. Early in the summer I made the decision to retake and fool proofed the logic games(my weakest section) to the best of my ability. I was relatively happy with this decision and felt I had a good chance of squeezing a few more points out of the test until yesterday.
I woke up with a sore throat, spent the day sneezing and coughing, ran a mild fever, and vomitted during the night. I have previously largely found that practice testing in sub-optimal conditions tired, hungry, with distractions, on pain medication after my wisdom teeth were pulled has not significantly affected my results and I feel a little better this morning so my question is two fold.
First, should I take the test even if I am still sick the morning of?
Second, does anyone have any tips for managing a cold or the flu while taking the LSAT?
- Should I retake the LSAT if I am sick the morning of?42 votes
- Yes, just not in my location.54.76%
- No, it's hard enough healthy.45.24%
Comments
The best thing you can do right now is rest. Don't leave bed. Go to the doctor right now and ask for whatever they can give you. Spend the next 48 hours in a coma. The day of the test, take a solid pain pill so you are comfortable and stay hydrated. You just have to be put together for a couple hours!
At this point you have nothing to lose by taking it. If you get a bad score just say you were super sick as an addendum on your apps. If you do well, congrats, you're done.
I also started to get sick yesterday. Unfortunately, when I'm not feeling my best, I think it does affect my score. I am planning to write Saturday anyway and write an addendum later, if needed. This has definitely opened my eyes to how the unexpected can come up and, so, I don't want to chance that I could feel even worse in December, or have to deal with other life surprises, and wish I had just pushed through for the September test. I've been having lots of water and soothing throat teas. Also loading up on garlic and oil of oregano and vitamin C. Warm bath (while listening to lsat question explanations or webinars). And I'm also making sure I rest when needed. Even if it means a nap in the afternoon and trying not to feel guilty about cutting into study time for that, because the energy that I hope to get back will be well worth it. Good luck to you and I'll be wishing for the best of health for all of us Saturday test takers!
For what it is worth (sorry if this is TMI), I'm scheduled to get my period the day of the test. I get really bad cramps, fog brain, and just overall lethargy on my period, but I'm going to write it anyways. I've been focusing on getting as much rest as possible in the week leading up, and eating really well and exercising moderately.
In a way, for me, being less than optimal can also potentially make me focus more. I know have no "wiggle room", so it causes me to focus my attention tremendously. At least, that is what I'm going with
If all else fails, I'll take it again in December
Good luck!
@"vanessa fisher" @JenniferB @Mellow_Z @Victoria14
Thanks. You guys pretty much confirmed my feelings about this. I hope those of you feeling ill get better by Saturday or test well despite it and wish everyone else the best of luck as well.
Who knows, maybe being sick will relax us or make us focus. In the last 4 test a year cycle, it just doesn't seem to be a valid option to skip a test I could potentially do well on.
If you feel ready, I would say take the test even if you're sick. But here's what you can do, get yourself some Vitamin C and take A LOT. I'd do like 2,000 mg of vitamin C a day (that's two Emergen-C packets, if you do that. You could probably even do 3,000mg but research it first). Also get yourself one of those nasty green drinks (if you have a pressed juicery/whole foods near you they should sell it). Ginger shots I also hear are really good for kicking a sickness (whole foods also sells). Maybe also bring cough drops with you to the test to help with your throat??
Rest, Vitamin C, eat healthy, green juice, ginger shot, and hopefully you can kick it!! You got this!!
I'm not sure about ginger shots, but I'm already taking ginger to help with dizziness.
I'll try to gather up some vitamin c.
For now I'll settle with eating anything I can keep down, but healthy is good too.
I am planning to bring cough drops, but don't think I can have them out during the test and they probably can't last through three sections. Water will help a little though once the cough drops melt away and then I can replace them at the break if the cough is still bad.
Agree with the above. Get that vitamin C in your system ASAP.
What about a Vitamin B shot? I go to my dermatologist for mine and it's supposed to really help avoid sickness/get over it.
I'm not sure about the vitamin b shot, but since I didn't check this again till now I'm going to say it's too late.
The sick to my stomach part of the illness seems to be gone so it's just the traditional cough and cold. It's miserable and annoying and will be tough for those near me, but hopefully I'll be too focused on the test to notice it much.
I have been taking vitamin c on the earlier recommendations.
I honestly believe it will just be more painful. I don't think it will make a big impact on your score. First time I took the LSAT, I had no sleep and felt horrible the entire time -- yet my score was still just a few points below the average of my last few PTs. Stay hydrated and try some coffee before the test
However if you are experiencing vomit and diarrhea, then it might not be practical to sit the exam
Hey I just figured I would update this with how the test went. I threw up the morning of and had dry heaves in the bathroom during the break, but thankfully only coughed rather than vomitting during the test.
I made it through the games which I had not on my first test in February. I'm not sure about the other sections since I always could make bad mistakes and my concentration was less than perfect, but overall I'm glad I showed up. If you told me going into the test a few weeks ago that I could get a completed logic games section on the real test in exchange for some misery and a few distractions during the other sections I'd have taken it in a heart beat. So we'll see if it was worth it. If it's a higher score than my first take, then I'll take the win and be grateful.
P.S.
I'm pretty much better now, but my roommate and neighbors have gotten sick with the same mix of symptoms.
Here is a follow up for any who are interested. I recieved a 180 on the September LSAT missing one question on Logic Games.
So at least in my case the answer was that I ought to take the LSAT even if sick the morning of. I'm not sure if having something else to focus on loosened me up or what, but I outperformed my previous best PT. I had taken all of the PT's except the first 35 and one of the newest ten and had only gotten one 180(with 2 missed questions) so it is safe to say I performed well better than my normal.
Thank you all for your advice and for encouraging me to follow my instincts and press ahead with taking the test despite being sick.
Thanks to this forum and all its advice on foolproofing and the like. I'm going to take a break to complete my applications, but will check back and offer advice sometime in the future.
Good luck in your studies and your applications,
Seeking Perfection!
Wow!! Congrats, @"Seeking Perfection" !! You sought perfection and you achieved it!!
Congrats @"Seeking Perfection" You deserved it!!