Bouncing Back from Poor Score & Preparing from Retake

[libertybelle1]

Sorry in advance for blowing up the LSAT board with questions. :P

I'm devastated about my October score. It was 8 points lower than my PT average and 11 points lower than my highest PT. It was even 2 points lower than my diagnostic. I studied on and off since June, but really kicked it into gear in August for the last 9 weeks. I went -0 on LG, -12 on RC, and -6 on each LR (I think, I might have tallied wrong).

I'm not really sure what happened. I definitely had some test anxiety after running out of time on the first section and that had me flustered and upset. I also felt that time was going way faster on the real thing so I think my nervousness was causing me to drastically overthink each question and spend too much time on individual questions.

So, my first question is, how to bounce back from this score that is so horrific for me? I know I can do SO much better, but for whatever reason wasn't able to execute it. I'm going home this weekend to spend some time with my family and hoping lift my spirits, but yeah, I'm devastated.

Second: how should I go about studying for the December retake? I ordered the Powerscore book for RC. I'm hoping to do a few practice tests per week until December (not sure how many I should do per week?) and drill RC. Do I even have a chance at raising my score or should I take a year off between undergrad and law school?

I have no clue where to go from here (I'm not sure I could get into a single school I'm interested in with that score) so any advice is appreciated.

[David Boyle]

Sorry in advance for blowing up the LSAT board with questions. :P

I'm devastated about my October score. It was 8 points lower than my PT average and 11 points lower than my highest PT. It was even 2 points lower than my diagnostic. I studied on and off since June, but really kicked it into gear in August for the last 9 weeks. I went -0 on LG, -12 on RC, and -6 on each LR (I think, I might have tallied wrong).

I'm not really sure what happened. I definitely had some test anxiety after running out of time on the first section and that had me flustered and upset. I also felt that time was going way faster on the real thing so I think my nervousness was causing me to drastically overthink each question and spend too much time on individual questions.

So, my first question is, how to bounce back from this score that is so horrific for me? I know I can do SO much better, but for whatever reason wasn't able to execute it. I'm going home this weekend to spend some time with my family and hoping lift my spirits, but yeah, I'm devastated.

Second: how should I go about studying for the December retake? I ordered the Powerscore book for RC. I'm hoping to do a few practice tests per week until December (not sure how many I should do per week?) and drill RC. Do I even have a chance at raising my score or should I take a year off between undergrad and law school?

I have no clue where to go from here (I'm not sure I could get into a single school I'm interested in with that score) so any advice is appreciated.

Hello libertybelle1,

Always feel free to ask questions!
Sorry to hear about your October score. These things happen, and may not be fully within your control.
Test anxiety and time management issues are somewhat manageable, if you look at various PowerScore literature on the issues.
As for bouncing back, most people manage to in these situations, one would guess. You seem dedicated to doing a good job on the test, so just keep plugging away, and don't panic or give up.
As for studying, the various PowerScore books for various topics (RC etc.) can be useful. And it sounds like you need to drill on Logical Reasoning at least as much as for RC. Tutoring is also available.
Practice tests, some people say to do no more than 2 a week, though your mileage may vary. (4 a week sounds like a little much) As for raising your score, no doubt it could happen, though if you really want to take a year off and you feel that would significantly help your score, go ahead. Of course, it may not help much, and you would have spent a year of your time.
You are not as clueless as you think you might be; again, keep studying and have a confident attitude, which in itself is likely to help your score.
Whatever your decision, best of luck, and feel free to get back to us.

Hope this helps,
David

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Liberty,

Just as a quick fyi, I'll also post a response to you, but it won't be until tomorrow (Saturday) morning. Thanks in advance for your patience!

[libertybelle1]

Hello libertybelle1,

Always feel free to ask questions!
Sorry to hear about your October score. These things happen, and may not be fully within your control.
Test anxiety and time management issues are somewhat manageable, if you look at various PowerScore literature on the issues.
As for bouncing back, most people manage to in these situations, one would guess. You seem dedicated to doing a good job on the test, so just keep plugging away, and don't panic or give up.
As for studying, the various PowerScore books for various topics (RC etc.) can be useful. And it sounds like you need to drill on Logical Reasoning at least as much as for RC. Tutoring is also available.
Practice tests, some people say to do no more than 2 a week, though your mileage may vary. (4 a week sounds like a little much) As for raising your score, no doubt it could happen, though if you really want to take a year off and you feel that would significantly help your score, go ahead. Of course, it may not help much, and you would have spent a year of your time.
You are not as clueless as you think you might be; again, keep studying and have a confident attitude, which in itself is likely to help your score.
Whatever your decision, best of luck, and feel free to get back to us.

Hope this helps,
David

Thank you for your response! I'm definitely going to take the December test and if I don't significantly improve, I'm going to take a year off. After thinking about the test, I believe that my test anxiety that day was horrible because I literally had no back up plan. I was so focused on getting a 170+, getting a full ride at my dream school, and I think I psyched myself out. I have never, ever had time issues before during my practice tests, but I was so nervous that I overanalyzed a lot of the questions and ended up running out of time. I think that if I do take a year off, I will have a really good chance at significantly improving because I won't be a full time student and I can spend the entire summer of 2016 studying for the LSAT. As a full time student, I feel like it's difficult to reach my full LSAT potential (unless you start studying very early.. I didn't start until late June, and wish I'd started earlier). I think my issue was mostly anxiety due to having no backup plan and completely panicking about what I'd do if I didn't get the score I needed. I'm hoping now that I have what I will do figured out, I can go into the December test calm and collected, knowing what I am capable of as exhibited by my practice tests. I'm definitely going to look into the Powerscore online tutoring as well! Thanks again!

Dave - thanks for the message! I look forward to reading your response as well.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Liberty,

I'm so sorry to hear of what happened to you on the October test. I know you wanted to be done with this exam, but at the same time I'm gratified that you are showing no hesitation in taking the December LSAT. That's a good sign

When I read your first message, I felt like you explained what happened pretty well (even though you said you didn't know what happened:

I'm not really sure what happened. I definitely had some test anxiety after running out of time on the first section and that had me flustered and upset. I also felt that time was going way faster on the real thing so I think my nervousness was causing me to drastically overthink each question and spend too much time on individual questions.

Then, in your second message, you added more details to that, and I feel comfortable in saying that you've identified the problem. Whenever I see a significant drop off from prior form, it's almost always that either that something bad happened during the test that threw the test taker off (like a really rough game) or that anxiety issues played a role. So, knowing this really helps, and it should shape how you prepare for the December LSAT.

First, since you were scoring so well, your content/concept/technique focus won't be on fixing big problems, but on refining your knowledge and the speed of application. One thought I have on how to study this time around can be found here.

Second, do you think that what happened on RC was more about pressure, or do you think there's an actual technique problem there? That section clearly killed you and I agree that you should do more work on it, but I'm wondering if it was just an anomaly.

Last, your preparation this time around should focus heavily on strengthening your test mentality and on controlling any anxiety. You need to go in there calm and collected, and to have mentally prepared for all the possible situations that occur on the LSAT (what happens if you have RC first and blow the first passage? What happens if you crush it? What happens if you do well on the passage but use 12 minutes? What happens if it's LR and you don't finish the section in time? And so on). Before the LSAT, you should have considered every possible outcome and occurrence that you can think of, and you should have a plan of action mentally in place. I've referred you to the Test Mentality seminar I did and some of the related articles before, correct? If not, let me know and I'll post all that info here for you. It's a good starting point for thinking about all these issues.

I love the fact that you are willing to commit another year to this is things aren't going the way you want. That tells me you have the drive and commitment needed to overcome this temporary setback. there's no doubt that you can improve you score and not only get back to where you were, but to improve on that even. So, I know this test result was depressing and upsetting, but we'll take what we can from it, then put it in the past and move forward.

I'd suggest you take some time off from the LSAT, and then come back afterwards ready to roll.

Please let me know if this helps. Thanks!

[libertybelle1]

First, since you were scoring so well, your content/concept/technique focus won't be on fixing big problems, but on refining your knowledge and the speed of application. One thought I have on how to study this time around can be found here.

Second, do you think that what happened on RC was more about pressure, or do you think there's an actual technique problem there? That section clearly killed you and I agree that you should do more work on it, but I'm wondering if it was just an anomaly.

Last, your preparation this time around should focus heavily on strengthening your test mentality and on controlling any anxiety. You need to go in there calm and collected, and to have mentally prepared for all the possible situations that occur on the LSAT (what happens if you have RC first and blow the first passage? What happens if you crush it? What happens if you do well on the passage but use 12 minutes? What happens if it's LR and you don't finish the section in time? And so on). Before the LSAT, you should have considered every possible outcome and occurrence that you can think of, and you should have a plan of action mentally in place. I've referred you to the Test Mentality seminar I did and some of the related articles before, correct? If not, let me know and I'll post all that info here for you. It's a good starting point for thinking about all these issues.

I love the fact that you are willing to commit another year to this is things aren't going the way you want. That tells me you have the drive and commitment needed to overcome this temporary setback. there's no doubt that you can improve you score and not only get back to where you were, but to improve on that even. So, I know this test result was depressing and upsetting, but we'll take what we can from it, then put it in the past and move forward.

I'd suggest you take some time off from the LSAT, and then come back afterwards ready to roll.

Please let me know if this helps. Thanks!

Thank you so much for your response! It was very helpful.

In response to your second question, I think that it's a time problem. I've gone -3 on RC under the time pressure (I think that's the best I've ever done, it's usually more about -4/-5), and I can go -0 in about 45 minutes. So I'm thinking that I need to just get myself to get -0 every time untimed, and then start slowly reducing my time until I can get -0 in 35 minutes. I believe I read about that technique on this board, actually.

Thanks for all the articles! I'll definitely read through them all. I don't believe I've seen your seminar on test mentality, but I would love to take a look at it!

[libertybelle1]

I printed out the October LSAT and took it as a practice test today. I got a 171 (glad I was able to execute those skills on the real thing, right? Ha). Reading comprehension was down to -5 with less anxiety/more focus, first LR to -4, second LR down to -2. I don't think I had an advantage over previously taking it because my real LSAT was a total blur.. I didn't recall any of the answers when I was taking it today. So, the problem was definitely my anxiety. I clearly still have room to improve on RC/LR, but I'm able to more clearly see my true mistakes in technique now that the anxiety is gone. My Powerscore RC book came today so I'm going to work through that and do the excel sheet idea for LR. Here's to hoping December goes well!

[Dave Killoran]

Great job with the retake! And it's good to know that you can identify what caused your problems on the real thing. Somewhat related note: one of the questions I always ask students after they take the real LSAT is: how well can you remember the test? Test takers who did well always have a pretty clear memory of at least a portion of the test. For example, they can tell you what the RC passages were about or what the topic was of at least a few of the games (it's not required to know every detail, or even to remember a bunch of specific questions—just knowing some of the details tells me enough). If someone tells me that it was all a blur or that they can't remember a thing about it, to me that is an ominous sign. I've never had a student tell me that and then do well (and by well I mean up to their own expectations). Anxiety has a way of completely messing with your memory and perceptions, and the blur/not blur distinction is one of those fast and dirty methods for seeing how much anxiety has affected someone during the test. Not hugely relevant to you now, but your comment about it all being a blur made me think of it.

Keep working on RC and focus on your test mentality. If you face this all head-on, you can conquer it and control it. Thanks and good luck with the studying!