Explore

TEST DAY ENCOURAGEMENT

Thinking of you as you're preparing to take the ACTUAL LSAT! Just a reminder that you got this. I found it helpful to...

Get LOTS of sleep the night before, eat lots of good food for breakfast, and drink a huge glass of room temperature water right when you wake up!

Repeat a little mantra in your head like "I got this. I got this. I'm more than prepared. I just need to answer the next question in front of me correctly." Your goal = build confidence, peace of mind, and stamina.

Choose one easy exercise to warm up ~30 min before the test (and/or just do an easy drill for each of the sections the day before. Or do nothing! It's all about mindset). The idea is to build confidence and prime your mind into thinking that your test started off super easy and you can do this!

Imagine that you get your worst case scenario test (mine is RC-LR-LG-RC) and picture yourself taking it. Come up with a strategy of how you won't burn out/fumble during the first section, etc. Talk yourself through what to do when you don't know what to do in each section.

Boil your cheat sheet of last-minute reminders down to 5 bullet points and reread it before your test. I.E.: Read every damn word!! Make predictions! It doesn't matter what just happened, your only job is to understand the words on the current page! The words on the page are the words on the page, nothing more and nothing less! Slow is smooth, smooth is fast! etc.

Download the app Headspace or something similar (you can even search Podcasts) and do one (even 5 minute) meditation beforehand. Try to clear your mind during the break in a similar way during the break on the actual test by taking a walk outside your room and centering your breath.

More than anything, treat it like just another PT!!! Don't try anything different or extra on test day. Trust your gut and don't sacrifice the good strategies we have learned (predicting answer choices, spending more time with the text/stimulus/passage, getting something on the gameboard rather than nothing) because you're feeling the timing pressure even more!

Side 1 of a blank sheet of paper:

Let yourself spiral!

Write down every anxious thought...

and worse case scenario.

Get it all out.

IE: If I get a hard RC section then I'm going to freeze and run out of time and then I won't get the score I want and I won't go to law school and I’ll be a failure and...

Then, turn the paper over. Those are now officially lies.

For every lie, write a corresponding truth. A more rational flip-side of the reality you sold yourself before.

IE: Even if I get a tough RC, I'm going to take a deep breath, close my eyes for a few seconds, reset, and just go word by word. Then paragraph by paragraph, question by question. I will have more than enough time and I will keep making evidence-based decisions to perform the best I can.

Right before the test, something I learned that really helped my nerves was to take a blank piece of paper and on one side, write down every anxious thought or worst case scenario that comes into your mind. Really let yourself spiral and get it all out. Then, turn over the piece of paper. Those are now all officially "lies" that were trapped in your mind. It's your job now to turn them into "truths." So, for every lie you wrote, come up with the flipside of it that's actually true. For example, my lies were something like "I'm not smart or capable enough for this test" or "if I get a hard RC section then I'm going to freeze and run out of time and then I won't get the score I want and I won't go to law school and..." so on. I replaced them with "I am more than capable and I have spent plenty of time preparing for this test. I have the strategies to attack whatever problems this test throws at me" and "even if I get a tough RC section, I'm going to take a deep breath, close my eyes for a few seconds, reset, and just go word by word, paragraph by paragraph, question by question. I will have more than enough time and I will keep working hard to perform the best I can."

As cheesy as this exercise sounds, it really helps. Whatever internal or external pressures you are feeling will seem so trivial once you remind yourself how hard you have worked for this! Just be confident. It really is that easy. Remind yourself of the true things during the LSAT. You are prepared and you have the skills to succeed on this test! I promise. And worse, worse case scenario, you keep studying and take it again. It's never, ever the end of the world.

I'm so excited for you! Let me know how it goes afterwards, reach out with any last minute questions, and check back in after score release! I will celebrate you whether it's your best case scenario or not. You have learned so much and come so far. Seriously, remind yourself where you started! Look back at your diagnostic. You are more than prepared for anything this monster of a test will throw at you. I'm rooting for you!

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ··· in the right corner or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.