How can i get rid of my jitters regarding my big LSAT exam?

Question

I will be taking my LSAT (Law School Admission Test) on Sept.29th, and it is taking over my life it seems like. I have been having these excruciating headaches, stomaches, and a backache, not to mention extreme dizziness. At times, i forget whether i locked the front door or not, amongst other things. I am way too anxious about the test to be practicing like i had before it was nearing. I am just helpless. Do you have any advice or suggestions on what i can do??? Any sort of help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

Holy cow. It is REALLY early for you to be having these kinds of symptoms. I don't want to exacerbate your worries more, but if you are having pressure symptoms this bad NOW, you should seriously ask yourself whether law school is a good choice for you right now.

The LSAT is difficult -- but it is a magnitude easier than any one first year law school exams (and you will have about 8 of those). The bar examination to qualify you to practice law is brutal as well. I don't want to freak you out, but anyone who suggests to you that this is the "big" test is feeding you BS. This is the beginning of a tough road, and I am worried about your coping mechanism.

OK. Some things you can do if you are committed to going forward.

First, pay the money and take a review class, if you are not already doing so. It will improve your grade. More importantly, it will give you structure. When you are self-studying, it's easier to get distracted than when a live instructor is talking to you.

Second, get enough sleep. I'm assuming you are going to see your doc about your physical symptoms -- also ask if something like Ambien makes sense to help you sleep.

Third, make lists. I found that when I was getting distracted by things like locking the front door, or remembering what else I needed to get done, it helped me to write down a list of everything I could think of that was bugging me. Knowing that it was on paper helped me turn back to the task at hand.

I wish you the best of luck - please take care of yourself.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Our brains don't know the difference between fantasy/imagining and reality. Therefore, every time you picture yourself as being anxious writing the LSAT, you're practicing that!!

This is actually great news because every time you picture yourself writing the exam with calmness and confidence, your brain thinks that is reality and practices that! Then when the day comes, your brain will put into reality what you've practiced. Make it as real as you can - picture it but also get into how it would feel to be calm and confident. If you've read or seen the 'The Secret', or know anything about the Law of Attraction then you know how powerful this is.

Focus on deep breathing - breathing with your diaphragm - because that sends a message to our brain that all is well and relax.

Yawn - believe it or not, this helps since it gets more oxygen into your blood.

It's impossible to have 2 thoughts at the same time. Therefore, for every second you are focusing on words and feelings such as 'relax', 'let go', 'peace', 'calm', 'all is well', and so on, you are having one less thought about anxiety.

Our brains ignore 'don't' - for example don't picture your country's flag and of course, right away one does. Therefore, instead of thinking 'don't be nervous' (which your brain reads as 'be nervous'), think 'I am calm', 'I am relaxed', 'I am confident'. It's important to keep it in the here and now, rather than 'I will be...'

One more suggestion...think of the worst scenario and realize it's not that bad. As one previous person answering said, you can always take it again. No one is going to die if you fail the first time.

Breathe....relax....let go...

Answer 4

This level of anxiety does not sound healthy, in the long run, you'll likely end up doing worse on the test because of it. Allowing your nervousness to control your life obviously, doesn't help anything in the long run.

You need to Rationally evaluate the situation and try to separate yourself from the anxiety. If you do not do well, evaluate and weigh the worst case scenario- the LSAT can always be taken again if do not do well, in the worst case, you'll know what areas you need to work on for the next test, and Law schools are required to only consider the highest score during admissions. Best case scenario, you ace it!

You need to have confidence in yourself and in your abilities. This sounds terribly cliche', but decide every morning to have a good day and not worry about the test. If you find yourself worrying, find something that you enjoy and let it slip from your mind. By allowing it to constantly occupy your thoughts, you only increase your worry. You might want to try saying positive statements to yourself whenever you feel yourself worrying. Thoughts such as, "I will do well on my LSAT." for example. If you still find yourself worrying, it's a good idea to talk about your anxieties with your family or a close friend. Sometimes others can act as a sounding board so you can find out the ultimate root of your worry, and they can also offer encouragement and positive feedback.

If you're well prepared, that is, if you've studied prior to the test, then you're highly likely to get a good score. From what you've said, it sounds like you are. The only thing you can do is study and do your best, the rest of it is out of your hands.

Answer 5

(1) Remind yourself you can take it more than once if you are not satisfied. The first time can be like a test run, and you can either keep that score or try to improve it.

(2) When you go over practice tests, try to isolate which sections make you more nervous or anxious, and try to deal with that separately. Either by studying better methods of answering those type of questions, where you feel confident and not afraid or anxious. Or by coming up with a game plan or method of eliminating or sacrificing questions you don't want to waste time on and making up the points elsewhere.

(3) If the anxiety is not coming from the material or test itself, but you are picking up emotions from other people under the same pressure or putting pressure on you, then make sure you are prepared for the test, and then pick another focus that interests you, some other project, goal or person between now and the test and work equally on that to balance yourself. But make sure you have truly covered everything about the test in advance so it is not adding more burden or distracting you.

I think the first point above may help you the most to take the pressure off this one test, but you may need an additional focus point so you don't hyperfocus on the test date.

If you have recurring test anxiety, you may want to check with a school counselor or test prep advisor on other hints that might work for you. In general, whatever thoughts or expectations you are associating with the test date or stacking on top of taking it, you would need to undo those ideas or replace with other ways of thinking about it instead.

For example, instead of thinking of it as your "big" exam, break it down into sections. Pick a focus that makes it fun or interesting to answer the different types of questions in that section. Then focus on that idea instead of the whole test together. (When my roommate took the GRE, she thought the logic puzzles were fun, so she made a perfect score on just that section.)

Instead of thinking ahead of this test and applications and grants, remember that you can take it again later; that maybe this is just the test run so you can see what it is like and how the timing works and what it feels like. And you can retake it later once you know the basics and what to expect. Things like that.

Answer 6

breath in breath out...don't get to stressed. take a jog, watch a movie with friends and think positive. you will do fine. my only other advice would be too get the book cracking the SAT 2007...it is very helpful.

Answer 7

just keep studying. that happened to me and i got so sick of studying and i felt so prepared that i couldnt wait to take the test.

Answer 8

Sit down, and have a margarita. I dont know anyone who can't relax while drinking one.

Answer 9

coffee but dont smoke

Answer 10

nn