Practice LSATs in the Final Week before the December 2010 LSAT
I don’t know about you, but I figure this all-of-California Internet outage was probably a good thing for LSAT students. For a golden period of about 14 hours, there were no distractions- there was no fail blog, there were no cute pictures of kittens. For that period, we could all head back to a time when people actually had attention spans. It was bliss.
Of course, since I’m writing this in a web browser, that time is done. Now you have to get back to studying with distractions. But all is well, because papa Blueprint has some good studying advice for you.
This final week, you’re probably going to be taking at least a couple of practice exams. It’s hugely important that you take these practice LSAT in as close to test taking conditions as humanly possible. That means (for most of you) taking tests in libraries, where there is a fair amount of ambient noise. But most importantly, you must take the tests as if they were actual tests- you only get one break, after the third section, and each section needs to be timed at exactly 35 minutes. If it helps, get a friend to time you.
The LSAT is a rhythm test in a lot of ways. If you take tests this week under test taking conditions, you’ll at least be comfortable on test day going on hour three of sitting down in a chair. If you’re constantly taking breaks after every section, you’re not going to be comfortable with the marathon on December 11th.
Practice how you play, kiddies. Not only is it important for test day performance, but it’s important in developing an accurate gauge of what you can expect on the actual LSAT. If you’re doing practice tests effectively and are hitting your target scores, then you should feel really comfortable over the next week. But if you’re not hitting your target scores, and you’re doing the practice tests in as close to the correct conditions as possible, then you might consider taking an absence next Saturday. Absences look better than cancellations at this point, so it is far better to miss the test than to cancel a score.
But the only way you’re going to be able to make any accurate read on how you’re doing, and how close you are to the score you want, is if you simulate test taking conditions and regulations as closely as possible. So go forth and conquer. And try to take a practice test this weekend.