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Overcoming Your LSAT Anxiety

Fear of Failing

Some people are afraid of the test from the start.  They start out slow, which is normal, but they never seem to get faster.  This common emotional problem is one I often see when I'm tutoring.  The student reads the answers, marks B, and keeps right on reading the same set.  

"What are you doing?"

"Checking."

"Did you read all five answers?"

"Uh-huh."

"Do you know why you like B?"

"Uh-huh."

"Then what are you checking"?

"Making sure" is an enormous waste of time, but it's an emotional crutch many people cannot give up.  Thorough, diligent people often do this.  They seem to forget that a good score requires getting a lot finished as much as it requires getting them right.  

This problem can sometimes be cured with a reality-testing exercise:

• Take one section of the test, timed, proceeding as usual, with double-checking.  

• Take another section of the test, timed, reading each answer once, with NO double-checking.

• Grade both sections and see what happens.

Some people are able to let go of the bad habit of re-reading as soon as they see how much it hurts their score.  

More often, however, they are like people who have to check four times that they locked the door.  The problem is an emotional one, a need to be positive (or more often a fear of being wrong) that won't let them move on even when they know that they're hurting their score.  Sadly, I know of no cure for this short of a year or two of therapy or a near-death experience -- something to teach you that being wrong just isn't such a big deal.  

LSAT Panic

Some people do very well on the LSAT at home, but have a different result on test day. Unless there was a specific external problem -- the car broke down, you had the flu -- the problem is usually emotional. Yet no one has ever, ever, in the 26 years I've been teaching LSATs, said to me, "I panicked."  Instead, the conversations with those applicants sound like this:

Panic Type 1 -- I Rushed.

"I blew the logic games."

"What happened?  You're great at logic games!"

"Well, the first game was an easy sequence, but it took me 11 minutes. I knew that was way too long, so I tried to hurry on the next game.  The game wasn't hard, but I misread a rule and didn't realize it until the 4th question.  Then I had to start over.  So I tried to find my mistake real fast, but I couldn't...."

"Did the first game have conditional statements ("If A then B" rules)?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then it was supposed to take 11 minutes.  I know I told you in class that the purpose of conditionals is to slow you down.  But instead of remembering that, you panicked."

"Well, yeah."

"Okay.  Cancel your score."

Panic Type 2 -- I Froze

"I was doing fine.  I was down to number n, and the proctor called five minutes.  Then I don't know what happened, but I didn't get a single other question answered."

Freezing is particularly difficult kind of panic to overcome.  I do know of a few things you can try.  Always practice with a large, loud clock in front of you until you learn to ignore it.  Get your housemates to proctor you, and have them announce the time every five minutes.  Make time so repetitive that it disappears into the background, like people who live near a train do with noise.  

Panic Type 3 -- Second-Guessing

"I thought A was right.  But then I wasn't sure, so I picked C instead."

The underlying assumption to this kind of panic is "I am wrong.  I am stupid, I can't do this, I don't know what they want, so if an answer looks good to me, choose another."  

You can disprove this assumption by repeatedly marking your instinctive choice, your "but maybe it's..." choice, and then looking to see which is right.  You need to do that hundreds of times over several months.  Eventually, you can learn that you do know what they want.  

Why People Panic

The thoughts behind all these panic responses are that your LSAT score is THE most important thing in the world, and that THIS VERY NEXT QUESTION will make or break your score.  Both of these beliefs, are, of course, wrong.  

Essays reflecting creativity and maturity, recommendations, and life experiences are all part of the evaluation process.  A higher LSAT score will help, of course, but it won't be the sole deciding factor.  So take some of the pressure off yourself, and you may see your score magically improve.