If you’re taking the July LSAT, you must be stoked! Less than 48 hours from now, you can say goodbye to all those hours of prep. Ciao. Adieu. Auf Wiedersehen. But before you turn your LSAT books into bedding for your pet iguana, let’s make sure you won’t be needing them again anytime soon.
So, the next 48 hours must be crucial, right? Your last chance to get that final “push,” as it were.
Well, yes and no. If you’ve already been preparing, it should be fairly obvious, but the LSAT is not the sort of test that can be effectively attacked with last-minute cramming. Quite frankly, there is little you can do in the next 48 hours to improve your score. But you can do a lot to lower it. So, here’s what you should (and, more importantly, should not) do:
- Sleep. Seriously. Studies have shown that it’s the most important thing you can do in advance of any cognitive testing. While the optimal amount of sleep is unlikely to turn a score of 150 into a 160, lack of sleep can easily do the opposite. It happens all the time, so make sure it doesn’t happen to you.
- Eat well. The value of proper nutrition cannot be overstated. Read our recommendations as to what to eat the day before, as well as the day of, the test. It goes without saying that you should avoid any drinking, partying, or other shenanigans. Leave that for Saturday after the test.
- Relax. The general consensus is that you shouldn’t do any studying on Friday to ensure that you are well-rested and ready to bring your A-game on Saturday! If you find it difficult to keep the LSAT off of your mind, and fear that a day without LSAT would feel like an especially long episode of the Twilight Zone, then by all means – do something. A Logic Games section, perhaps, or a review of some of the more difficult concepts you’ve been struggling with can warm you up. But whatever you do, don’t take another practice test! You will learn nothing from it. Also, the confidence boost you might get from a high score will be greatly outweighed by the risk of getting a low score.
- Focus. One of the most important things you can do is mentally prepare for the test. As with sleep, being in the proper mindset is unlikely to give you a 10-point boost. But, being in a panic mode can definitely lower it a lot. To that end, we have assembled a list of resources that are particularly relevant to your mental health over the next 48 hours:
Here’s one last thing you should do: make plans to celebrate! It’s perfectly OK to do that: the LSAT is, by most accounts, a challenging test, and you deserve a treat. Perhaps a nice dinner, a ski vacation, or a quick getaway to a faraway beach? Of course, you can do all three at once (but only if you get a 180!).
Photo courtesy of the author.
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