Anxious about test--should I wait to re-take it?

[Godot]

Hi,

I'm registered to re-take the October LSAT (this Saturday), and seriously considering waiting to take it in December instead. I've already taken the LSAT once in September of last year, and it went very badly. With pressure from my parents, I foolishly decided to register for the test right at the deadline. I ended up with only a little over a month to study, but I managed to pull decent PT scores around 160-163. I choked on test day and scored 150.

Prior to last year's LSAT, I had never had problems with test anxiety. But now I find myself feeling anxious even while taking a PT. I lose focus and have to re-read questions over and over again before I understand them. I'm terrified of getting another low score, and I think this has kept me from reaching my full potential on PT scores. I do very well on each of the sections if I take them timed and individually (usually -4 max), but I can't seem to pull off these stats on full-length PTs.

I planned to start studying for my re-take in June, but my post-grad job search kept me from settling into a regular study schedule until late July. I've studied by going through all three of the PowerScore bibles and corresponding workbooks, and taking 1-3 PTs/week. I haven't seen as much improvement as I would like in my initial score of 160. I've consistently scored 162-164 on almost all of my PTs--with notable exceptions being one 166 and one 169 in the previous week. The median score for my top choice school is 163. Even though I've been consistently scoring around 163 on PTs (and higher recently), I'm worried that history will repeat itself and I'll end up with a much lower score on the actual test.

With that said: should I not show up for the test on Saturday or withdraw and plan to take it in December instead? Or am I better off taking it on Saturday and canceling the score if something goes wrong? If I do wait until December, how much will it hurt my acceptance chances? Thanks in advance!

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi Godot,

Just in case your moniker is a reference to the famous Beckett play - that's a winner all around! Hopefully this LSAT saga hasn't turned into a tragicomedy, but if it has - remember, Waiting for Godot is a play in two acts. In a way, so is the LSAT. Let me explain:

You took it once and bombed it. That was Act I. When it was over, you had two choices: either learn from that experience and use it to your advantage, or let failure dominate your attitude towards the test. I think you may have done a little bit of both: you clearly started studying again, in July, and I have no reason to doubt whether you took it seriously this time around. You've been consistently scoring at your desired score range, and even achieved a score in the high-160's... not once, but twice! At the same time, you have lingering doubts about your ability to kill it on Saturday. Why? Because of what happened a year ago.

Time to let that go.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not telling you to take the test in 4 days if you don't feel fully prepared. That would be terrible advice. However, don't confuse test anxiety with lack of preparation: the latter often causes the former, but - as you well know from our discussion of causality in LR - there is rarely just one possible cause for a given effect. You still feel anxious after repeatedly showing that you can get the score you need. So, is the solution really to postpone until December? I'm afraid not. You will likely feel just as nervous in December, only then it will be your last chance to receive a score in time to apply during the 2015-2016 application season. (February is, by most accounts, too late). Wouldn't that make you even more anxious to perform well in December?

If test anxiety is what's making you anxious, they call it a vicious circle... a positive feedback loop with decidedly negative consequences. You aren't alone in this predicament, in fact, so I've assembled some of the best blog articles and posts we've written on this very topic. Take a look:

http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/346 ... e-Thinking
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/323 ... NASA-Style
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/three-w ... sat-stress
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/powersc ... -the-day-8
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/297 ... Your-Score
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/330 ... e-Thinking

In conclusion, let me assure you that we'll be here whatever happens. Whether you take the test on Saturday and decide to cancel, or withdraw altogether, we can help you structure a study plan for December. I'm glad you reached out, and let us know how it goes.

We are all waiting for Godot this week, aren't we?

Best,