Plan a LSAT Prep Study Schedule

Avoid LSAT Test Day Stress –
Tips to include in your LSAT Prep Study Schedule

Whatever LSAT test day you choose, it is smart to plan your LSAT study schedule and stick to it. LSAT Stress builds, so plan and structure your prep time. If you can incorporate the following ideas into your LSAT prep, you have a much better chance of arriving at your test date emotionally and mentally ready to achieve your LSAT goal.

• Set your LSAT score goal and monitor your progress.
  Be realistic in your expectations. A perfect score is a noble calling, but rarely realistic. As you prepare, watch your score increase and be encouraged!
• Plan a study schedule.
  Determine ahead of time what part of your schedule you are able to dedicate to studying. – Stick to it!
• Select a good time to study.
  It makes sense to try to schedule your LSAT study time to mirror, as much as possible, actual LSAT conditions. That means, if possible make your practice/study time the same time as when the actual LSAT test will be given. (Oct. Dec. & Feb. — morning, June — early afternoon.)
• Conditioning —Mimic actual LSAT testing conditions…
  • Take actual timed tests. There is a place to working through the problems untimed, but you will have less stress on LSAT test day if you have learned to manage your time well. Plan full length practice exams into your prep schedule.
  • On test day, LSAC will prohibit food and drink except during breaks. Your preparation time should mimic this restriction. So plan your study time to include eating well during your regular meal schedule. Do not sip a soda, eat your lunch or snack while taking your practice exams.
  • Have problems with distractions? Then, get used to it! There will be some distractions on test day and with test-day jitters, that might even be magnified. Try taking your practice exams in a nosier location to grow accustomed to some noise.
• When study time is over for the day, it is over!
  Planning a LSAT Study schedule includes planning on when it will end! When it is time to study, then study.  When time is up – put those books and notes away and forget about them until your next scheduled study time.
• Focus, but do not obsess!
  A focus for success is wonderful and necessary…but don’t let it consume you. And…keep your family and friends! Do not obsessively talk about the test with your family and friends to the degree that they won’t answer their phones when you call. (You’ll need family and friend support as  you go through law school, which many will tell you, is much more difficult than the LSAT).

If you just cannot seem to keep to your plan because structure isn’t working for you, you might do best working with a tutor or a prep course that forces you to fit into an LSAT prep schedule.

Tags: lsat advice, LSAT Stress