LSAT time study management
For the LSAT time is of the essence. First of all, don’t be a last minute preparer. Plan when you are taking the LSAT… The June exam is great as it allows you plenty of time to prepare your applications. It also allows you time to re-take the test in October. Retaking, under certain circumstances is ok – but I’m sure you’d rather not do that, so don’t procrastinate! Get started, NOW. An average amount of time to study is around 3 months. 4 months gives you some cushion.
Schedule your practice time into every day and every week. Don’t be overwhelmed by your task. Remember that your first practice sessions may cause intimidation, frustration and perhaps even a desire to flee. Don’t look at this as an impossible task and give up. Instead, break up your preparation. Set deadlines, schedules and goals right up to your test date.
It is critical that you use time management while practicing! This means both scheduling your LSAT study time into each day, as well as practicing with full sections and full tests under timed conditions. This gets you accustomed to the length of the test and helps condition you, thus reducing test fatigue on your actual test day.
Your goal when taking practice exams is to do your best each time. Again I emphasize, schedule this important time into your day/week. Choose a time during the time of day when you are not overly weary. Remember, that for the October, December and February LSAT, you must be to the test center no later than 8:30am. For the June LSAT, you must be to the test center no later than 12:30pm. Try to make your practice test time match these times as much as possible. You should try to replicate test taking conditions as much as possible so that you have an accurate idea of what your score will be.
Take a lot of timed LSAT practice tests. Remember your goal: Do your best on each practice exam! So, employ the test taking techniques that you are learning. Resist the temptation to stop in the middle of a difficult question to figure out how to work it. (Of course, within your LSAT study time you need to go back to these questions so that you will understand those questions that you skipped or answered incorrectly.)
LSAT time management on test day
Be on time!! If you’re late you won’t get in, so know where your testing center is. If possible, visit the center ahead of time so that you see what the conditions are and so that you know where you will be going. You do not need the stress and frenzy of worrying about traffic, being late, which room do I go to, etc. etc. You want to walk into the test center with a calm and focused mind that is set on your goal of LSAT success.
During the test, keep track of time of course, but don’t panic. You have practiced under timed conditions, so by now you will have a good sense of pacing. You must resist the inclination you may have to work at a pace that doesn’t work for you. Please remember what you’ve been taught and what you’ve practiced — many people do not finish every question. Also, remember your practice strategy that a correct guess, is as good as figuring out the right answer—Never leave an answer blank!
Again, focus on your learned techniques. They should be second nature for you because you are well prepared. A rough average – spend about 84 seconds per question. Another way to break it down — In logical reasoning, a 35 minute section, you will have around 25 questions. A good goal is to be on question 15 after 15 minutes. That leaves you 20 minutes for the last 10 questions. For the games, you have 35 minutes and 4 games. This works out to around 8 minutes 45 seconds a game… Again, if a question is going too slowly, you must skip it and come back to it at a later time. LSAT questions can be too difficult to answer in a reasonable time, so don’t get stuck on one question.
Tags: lsat advice, lsat time