Discouraged days before the Oct exam.., what should I do?

[oychoi]

Hi Powerscore,

I am scheduled to take the October exam. For personal and practical reasons, this is going to be my last LSAT ever and I cannot reschedule or retake the exam some other time. This is it.

It's been a long, grinding journey but I have been very discouraged lately because nothing I do seems to allow to get into the upper 160's that has been my goal. I am stuck in the lower to mid-160's and I have done the best I could (honestly) but it just doesn't seem enough. More time reviewing and practicing hasn't translated into better results.

As a result, I have been increasingly discouraged after every PT and every timed section. I had a few sections yesterday that left my discouraged the whole day. I am not burnout because I have been sleeping, eating, and exercising well. But an inability to hit my PT goal regularly keeps sinking me in discouragement.

At this point, should I just stop studying altogether and just prepare mentally for the Oct exam on Saturday? I have some fresh sections left but I am afraid discouragement could give way to even worse feelings by Saturday. What would you do?

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Hi oychoi,

Thanks for the post, and first of all, keep your chin up! You got this! Second, given what you described, I would take a break from studying! It seems to me that you are, in fact, experiencing burnout:

As a result, I have been increasingly discouraged after every PT and every timed section. I had a few sections yesterday that left my discouraged the whole day. I am not burnout because I have been sleeping, eating, and exercising well. But an inability to hit my PT goal regularly keeps sinking me in discouragement.

Keep in mind that "burnout" is not just physical, but there is mental burnout as well! Instead of practicing more and becoming more and more discouraged, spend some time these days before your test actually relaxing and focusing on your test mentality. We have a great compilation of our resources on test mentality here: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/the-ul ... urce-list/.

We also have several articles and podcasts about test week preparation that may help as well:
LSAT PodCast Episode 9: Test Week Preparation
The Weekend Before the LSAT
What to Avoid the Day Before the LSAT

I hope this helps! Thanks!