How it Feels to Be Done with the LSAT

Well, you’re not done with the test yet, but with the February 2011 LSAT drawing nigh, we here at Blueprint thought it’d be nice for you to know just how it feels to slay the beast. Sure, the last two weeks have found you schvitzing in your jammies every night (hooray Yiddish!), but you will soon have swallowed the bitter pill that is the February LSAT. Having taken the LSAT some moons ago, and thus having at least a decent recollection of finishing it, I feel at least marginally qualified to let you know what it feels like to be done.

The first thing you will likely do once you leave the testing center is start worrying. What about that one logical reasoning question that I got stuck on? Guess what, STOP IT! You know what being done with the February ’11 LSAT will mean? Not worrying about the February ’11 LSAT anymore! Don’t talk to the other people leaving the test center. Trust me, they’re just as wound-up as you are. If you get into a conversation with one of them, you’ll end up an amorphous blob of worry and self-loathing. Walk straight to your car, call your best friend, and tell him or her that you can finally hang out again. Then go hang out. Preferably at a bar. Have cab fare handy.

The next day will be a mix of awful and awesome. You’ll probably wake up far earlier than you should and instantly panic about not studying enough for the February LSAT. And you’ll be hungover. These are the main components of the “awful.” The “awesome” comes shortly thereafter. You manage, through your mental fog and intense dehydration, to remember that you actually finished the February 2011 LSAT just the day before! Go you! Go back to sleep, wake up some time after 1:00pm, and go eat something greasy while watching one of the eight NBA games being played on February 12th. Luxuriate in your newfound lack of responsibility.

In the following days you’ll remember that you used to have hobbies. What’s a hobby? It’s one of those things that you used to do before the LSAT temporarily became your life. You know, enjoyable pastimes such as POG, needlepoint, and every Division I college athlete’s personal favorite: under water basket weaving. Whatever it is that floats your particular boat, you’ll need it. After all, it’ll occupy your neurotic brain just long enough to keep you from worrying about your score every waking moment. And you may even have some fun, which you’ll need to load up on as you presumably have law school looming in your not-too-distant future. Yay, law school! Oh, wait . . .

Article by Alex Davis, Blueprint LSAT instructor and graduate of UCLA Law School.