Overcome LSAT Test Anxiety by Taking Practice LSATs Under Actual Conditions

(Photo Source: ccarlstead)

“One important key to success is self-confidence.
An important key to self-confidence is preparation.”
-Arthur Ashe

It is a well-known fact that the best way to study for the LSAT is to practice using official LSAC prep tests. It is also well-known that many students experience a decline in their actual LSAT score. For these students, the drop in their score can often be attributed to test day anxiety that they did not account for when they were taking their prep tests.

The LSAT consists of five thirty-five minute multiple choice sections and one writing section. On test day, the transition between sections will occur almost immediately, and you will only receive a ten minute break between sections three and four. This quick progression of the LSAT catches students off guard due to the frequent breaks they take during their preparation. This does not help to develop the mental stamina required to focus on the test for extended periods of time.

In addition to the rapid progression of the test, not being mentally prepared for the test day environment itself can cause students to lose valuable points. Test day can be an extremely intimidating and distracting experience. Test day anxiety can be caused by everything from realizing that “this is the real deal” to signing the official certifying statement (really, who uses cursive anymore?) to having in some cases hundreds of strangers breaking your concentration with coughs, sniffs, periodic sneezing, and frantic erasing. Students have also reported that having the LSAT proctor yell “five minutes remaining” can be a cause of extreme panic. These test day conditions stand in stark contrast to the comfort of home or the isolation of the university’s library that many students take practice tests in.

So while the average student takes their LSAT prep tests in a quiet room while not strictly timing themselves, you can gain an advantage and protect your LSAT score from the infamous “test day slump” by taking prep tests under actual test day conditions. In 2007, we at SimuGator recognized just how important preparing under actual conditions was and that is why we produced SimuGator LSAT Proctor DVD, a complete LSAT simulation that has changed the way that thousands of students prepare for the LSAT.

The LSAT Proctor DVD is shot from the perspective of a test taker and is a complete replication of the LSAT environment featuring your own personal proctor that tells you when to start, when five minutes remain, and when to stop, and also has built-in distractions that you can turn on or off that reproduce the most common distractions you will face on test day.

Whether you use our product or not, please remember the importance of preparing for the LSAT under actual test day conditions so that you will not lose points due to test day anxiety.