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Three Weeks Until the LSAT: Time to get Serious

BPPcolin-lsat-blog-timeYesterday was the last day to postpone your June LSAT date, so as of today you’re officially in it to win it. By this point (three weeks from the big day), you should have been studying a lot, and have hopefully seen some significant improvement. That’s awesome, but there’s no reason to think that the improvement is over. Three weeks is a lot of time, during which you can continue to raise and stabilize your score. A few things to keep in mind, though, as you head forward:

Make your practice realistic.
When you were actually learning how to do everything, you may have practiced in little bits here and there without any real structure. That now needs to change, if it hasn’t already. The test is a three-hour marathon of death, and you practice should be the same. When you’re taking a practice test, it should be somewhere close to 1:00 p.m. if possible (roughly when you’ll take the test). The test should of course be strictly timed, and done in a testing-like environment. Dealing with the pressure that comes from timing and distractions takes practice. And don’t take extra-long breaks during study sessions – you have to learn how to go strong for hours at a time. Even when you’re doing practice that doesn’t involve taking an actual test, it should be done in long, uninterrupted sessions, and also outside of your comfort zone (university libraries are generally a good way to go).

Take a lot of tests.
This seems like a no-brainer, but still. Nothing prepares you for the LSAT like LSATs. And go over them when you’re done. This is hugely important. Look at the questions you missed, and figure out why you missed them. You should be able to figure out why the right answer choice is right and why the wrong answer choice is wrong, but you should also try to understand why you liked the wrong one, and why you didn’t like the right one. This will help you avoid making the same mistake next time. And, of course, pay attention to your score. It’s normal for it to fluctuate, so if it falls don’t freak out. But you should figure out why it falls when it does. It’s possible that you got a test that plays less to your natural strengths, but it’s much more likely that it was a problem of general performance. Were you tired? Especially stressed? Did you mess up one game and lose your confidence? You need to figure out why it drops when it does, so you can avoid it happening in the future. The more you do this, the less your score will bounce around.

Keep yourself sane.
Yes, these last three weeks should involve lots and lots of studying, but take a day off when you need to. Being overwhelmed and exhausted will only bring your score down, so sometimes the best practice you can do is to do nothing at all.