This Saturday you and thousands of others will roll out of bed, chug a couple shots of espresso, and gather to collectively face the October LSAT. To give yourself the best chance at scoring well (surpassing even your best PEs), it’s essential that you show up informed and properly prepared. This will help you minimize stress on game day, letting you slip into the zone and allow your training to take over.

The most important thing you can do at this point is to make sure you have everything you need already assembled and ready to go. The LSAC has some strange requirements, and if you’re not aware of them, you may not even be able to enter the testing center. Here’s what you absolutely must bring:

• Admission ticket – if you don’t have one, you can reprint it online at LSAC.org’s “Day of the LSAT” page. This ticket will tell you where and when to report, although you should check your LSAC.org account the night before to make sure the LSAC hasn’t changed things at the last minute.

• A current, valid (not expired) government issued ID, with a recent photo. So if you still look like you’re 15 on your driver’s license, and you’re now rocking a lumberjack beard, bring your passport. (And lose the beard). This can be a driver’s license, a passport, or a US military ID; nothing else is acceptable.

• A recent photograph (within 6 months) showing your face and shoulders (think passport picture), no smaller than 1×1 inch, no larger than 2×2 inches. Again, it should look like you. CVS and Walgreens both offer passport picture services.

• A few #2 wooden pencils (and bring a sharpener so you don’t have to be that kid who shows up with 15 sharpened pencils). Mechanical pencils are considered contraband – don’t bring them. Oh, and if you happen to be taking the test in Canada, that’s HB pencils, not #2 – eh?

Things you should probably bring:

• An analog watch (circle time, not digital)

• An eraser (because erasers on pencils often suck)

• A clear, gallon-sized Ziploc bag to store everything

• A drink (max size 20 oz.) and a snack for the break. And no aluminum cans.

• A highlighter (but only if you’ve already been using them on Practice Exams and have found them helpful).

What you absolutely must NOT bring:

• There is a strict “no tolerance policy” for all electronic devices – including “electronic timers of any kind, digital watches, iPods, cell phones, pay phones, beepers, pagers…” (… pay phones?) You can be dismissed from the test center for just bringing your phone, so leave it in the car.

• Hats, backpacks, bags, briefcases, ear plugs, and mechanical pencils

And make sure you compile your game day materials early this week; having to scramble around Saturday morning to find a pencil sharpener will make it hard to enter the test calm and collected.