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Is sitting down *actually* killing you?
good news about the LSAT (and conditional tips)
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LSAT Score Fluctuations (how to avoid)
"My scores fluctuate pretty wildly. I've been taking a bunch of practice tests. I find myself scoring a bit higher on more recent ones, but I'm doing the earlier ones and my scores dropped a bit. Should I be concerned? Would you happen to have any tips for improvements? I'm really aiming for a 175+."
Scores fluctuate. It happens. It's real. I don't know why. Well, actually I do know why, and the answer is chance.
Scores fluctuate because you are not the same person on any given day. And not all exams are equal in nature. Some are harder than others - the exam is equated, so it's not as if they are meant to be harder.
Also, you're not equally good at all things. You're better at some and worse at others. So if you hate Reading Comp passages on science and your LSAT has an easy science RC passage, you might be fine. Then if the LSAT you take another time has a harder science RC passage, you might get a bit flustered by that and do poorly.
Same goes if there's a weird curveball Logic Game that you're not that familiar with. So if you haven't done any pattern games in a while and you suddenly get one, your score is going to drop. Next time, no pattern game, your score improves. Or maybe you're tired or hungover when you do one exam and you're fresh and energetic the next time.
That causes score fluctuations. So you stay consistent by being good at everything they can throw at you and you stay consistent by making sure that you are the best possible version of yourself at all times. What that means is that you sleep well, you get good exercise, you meditate, you eat well, you get outside, you relax, you do all the stuff that you know you should be doing and you get pumped.
So you have an LSAT Test Day motivation playlist and you've listened to podcasts. You watch movies that are positive and upbeat and get you in the right mindset. So maybe you're watching Rocky or Friday Night Lights. Those are two of my favorites. Maybe you listen to Jock Jams and Eye of the Tiger. You go on YouTube and you watch 40 inspirational speeches in two minutes, or you listen to guided meditations (playlist).
So you're doing that stuff consistently. You're doing it every day without fail. You block off time in your schedule to do this. And so every practice test you take, you are feeling pumped up. You have the sleep you need, and you have shored up all your weak areas, everything possible. And so when you take your exams, you'll be in good shape.
And so, if maybe over the past few weeks you, maybe you go out late one Friday night cause you just needed a break. You had a few too many drinks, then you go take a full length exam Saturday morning cause you feel like you should, even though you're probably not feeling that great and maybe it's not the best use of your time and you're better off sleeping a few more hours, guess what?
The test doesn't go well for you and it's because you're hungover. Your mind is cloudy and honestly you have no one to blame but yourself and I'm sorry to tell you that. But alcohol, drugs, these are not things that you have room for in your life right now if you want to achieve your maximum potential.
LSAT cram courses - yea or nah?
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Overseas LSAT vs. North American LSAT + LSAT-India
"Any differences in tests administered in the US and those outside the US? I got another one also about the Asia test? Is there any difference between overseas and North America? I assume there wouldn't be any, but still wanted to ask someone with more expertise just to be sure."
It turns out that there is a difference -- in that it's not the same test form.
If you get a circle game about monkeys, someone in Asia might get a pure sequencing game about clowns - you get yours and they get theirs and there's no overlap.
So the people who are taking the test overseas a month from now, or a week from now, whatever it is, or they're taking the Sabbath observers' tests, it's not as if they're going to get advanced knowledge on the internet from everyone taking it now and everyone taking it on your test date.
So don't worry. Nothing unfair is happening here. The test is exactly the same in nature in that it's meant to be of equal difficulty. They're also going to have one Logic Games section, one Reading Comp section, two Logical Reasoning sections, and the experimental. And they'll also have the 35-minute constraint, and everything else will be pretty much the same.
As a bit of LSAC trivia, the LSAT-India exam is a little bit different in that that's a test administered for law as an undergrad-level degree. Whereas in North America, the LSAT is used for admission to law as a graduate-level degree and program. So for that reason, the LSAT India only has four answer choices per question, whereas everyone else for the regular grad-level LSAT has five answer choices per question.
So if you ever come across LSAT-India practice exams, you might notice that small difference, but that's pretty much it. One reason LSAC doesn't release every test administered is because they want to save some exams, i.e. some test forms, to use for overseas administrations and to use for Sabbath observers, or if something goes wrong due to the weather and they have to delay by a few weeks.
There's no benefit to taking it one location or another. It really just depends ultimately on which is the best test center for you.
I saw one photo where test-takers in India (taking the LSAT-India) they seemed pretty crammed in small desks very close together.
Maybe certain test centers in other big cities could be just as crowded and maybe not the nicest facilities. I've heard reports from students taking the LSAT in places like Beijing and Rome, and I've heard reports that those test centers might not be the nicest.
Do your research. There is an advantage to taking the LSAT when your test center is going to be relatively nicer.
For more, I've got an entire playlist focused on LSAT Test Day prep here -----> and several articles on LSAT Test Day prep here ----->
"What non-LSAT materials should I read?"
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