LSAT Do’s & Don’ts for the Week Before the Test

The June LSAT is Monday, and for those of you wondering how to spend the next few days before you take it, here are some tips:

lsat countdownDO get a good night’s sleep this week! You’re lucky that Monday’s test isn’t first thing in the morning, but you still want to be well-rested. I’m stating the obvious.

DON’T work too hard on Sunday. If the idea of taking the day off to watch the new Arrested Development on Netflix panics you, read over your notes or do a game or two, maybe a few hard logical reasoning questions you’ve done before. But it’s not the day to take a full-length test.

DO continue to do timed, mixed practice through Saturday.

DON’T make the mistake of believing that every practice test score from now until Monday is exactly what you’re going to get. They’re in the range of what you should expect to score, but just because your practice tests drop from a 169 to a 167 tomorrow doesn’t mean you’re suddenly 2 points LSAT-dumber. Learn from your mistakes, review carefully, and move forward.

DO get a passport-size photo of yourself this week if you haven’t already. (This is in addition to your identification. See the email you recently received from LSAC for details.)

DON’T dwell on what you wish you’d done differently over the last few months. To do so is a waste of critical energy at this point, and your mind should be focused on…

DO think positively. Someone is going to teach this test who’s boss, and it’s not Tony Danza. It’s you. YOU. If you don’t believe you’re going to do your best, you’re less likely to. If you do, you’re more likely to. And if you can see that those two statements are not contrapositives, give yourself a high-five right now, please.

DON’T forget your analogue (big hand, small hand) watch. (Bonus tip: set it to 12 o’clock at the beginning of each section so you can easily track your 35 minutes without arithmetic.)

DO take a snack.

DON’T mistake the LSAT for a mythical tool that measures your self-worth. It’s just a test. Plus, you have more friends than it, and they’re cooler.

Now go put those red and blue and yellow balls in order like you’ve never put them in order before.

 

This guest post is from Mary Adkins, an instructor for Manhattan LSAT. She is the bearer of a 99th percentile LSAT score and a Duke University and Yale Law School graduate. Mary has been teaching the LSAT for nearly a decade. When she is not teaching, she can probably be found scribbling a play, a story, or her book about trying to save the world (and failing miserably!).

Check out Manhattan LSAT’s dynamic new self-study program, LSAT Interact.