For January 2019 LSAT-takers, there are roughly 168 hours (that’s one week) standing between you and your dream score. With so much to keep in your brain until exam day, I want to relieve you of some of the effort of figuring out everything you have left to do in your last week before the exam. There are some things you absolutely need to do before you can take the exam, and there are a few more things that I highly recommend that you do in your last week in order to give yourself the best preparation for the LSAT.

This is my checklist of all of those things you should do in your week before the LSAT:

• LSAT Checklist: To avoid repetition, you should first check out the LSAT Checklist sent out by the LSAC and check off everything they recommend doing before exam day. This includes obtaining a valid ID for the exam, updating your contact information on your LSAC account, and printing your LSAT Admission Ticket.

• Scope out test center: While the checklist distributed by the LSAC already advises you to “print directions and a campus map” for the LSAT, I recommend that students leave the MapQuest printouts in the era of MySpace and AOL, and to take a more thorough approach to planning your route to your test center if at all possible. Along with looking up the directions to your test center, do your best to make the trip out to the test center in-person before the day of the exam. It’s the best way to get a sense of factors like parking (assume the parking lot will be packed on exam day) and the layout of the test-center campus, each of which can seriously add time and stress to your commute if you don’t know what to expect ahead of time.

• Gather everything to bring to test center: The LSAC’s checklist also suggests that students invest in a plastic Ziploc bag to bring to the exam (because, presumably, the LSAT is sponsored by Ziploc-brand zipper storage bags), and you probably realize that this is the only bag you’ll be allowed to carry with you after you check into the exam. If you’re not absolutely sure, check out this list of items to bring (and to leave at home) on test day. Then, start packing ASAP, so that you’ll still have some pre-exam buffer time to remember that last crucial item to add to your exam-day bag.

• Study under test conditions: This last chunk of studying should be devoted to taking full practice exams under test conditions, practicing timed sections, and most of all, reviewing your practice in detail in order to address topics in need of improvement. This stage of study is all about getting used to the timing of the LSAT, refining the skills you’ve developed up until this point, and building the confidence you’ll need to reach your full potential. If at any point in the week you start to feel burned out, don’t be afraid to take a break and pick up again when you’re ready to refocus.

• Take care of yourself: Adding to the advice above about studying the week before the LSAT, this is not the time to push yourself to the limit. You want to relax as much as possible (no studying!) the day before the LSAT. Additionally, commit to giving yourself plenty of sleep over the entire week and to maintaining a sleep schedule as close as possible to the one you’ll need to follow on the day of the exam. Find your best strategy for managing stress, since this can affect your sleep and your performance on the actual exam. In general, your best approach will be to avoid dwelling on the exam when you aren’t actually studying, but to also acknowledge any concerns that you have about the test (as opposed to suppressing those feelings and allowing them to build up into one big explosion of stress on test-day).

This checklist is meant to bring all of the elements you need for your last week of exam prep into one manageable list, so you can save your energy for the important work of finishing up your LSAT studies. This list is not only going to