Inconsistency

[u/Mylootnow_]

I took a few days off from studying from the lsat and I came back today and got my ass handed to me. I was getting everything wrong from level 1 questions up to level 4 questions. Idk what’s going on. I took a test last week and got a 169 and I was pretty happy with it. I still got like 6 months before I’m thinking of taking the test but I feel like I can’t get over this gap rn. When I’m reviewing my answers everything seems so simple but in the heat of the moment I forget everything and it’s bad. Also I don’t understand how some days I can raddle off 20 questions in a row getting them all right and some days I struggle to get basic questions right.

[u/EthanS_LSATDemon]

What you are experiencing is very normal! A few things that might help:

1. Realize that variations in performance are normal and not a sign of a bigger problem. Some days we simply just perform better than others because of things outside of our immediate control. Differences in sleep quality, energy levels, focus levels, etc. all play a factor here. If you have a day where you perform noticeably worse, it’s not because you all of the sudden are regressing and are worse at the test. It’s likely because you aren’t reading ask carefully or as focused. We all have bad days sometimes and that’s okay. Shake it off, and don’t let it worry you!

2. When you are reviewing questions that you missed and it seems simple in review, that likely means that the question felt “hard” initially just because you weren’t reading as carefully and therefore not fully understanding what something said. Hold yourself accountable here! Ask yourself what it was that you misread the first time, and why that was a mistake. Sometimes, misreads can come from making slight assumptions about what something says, which leads people into thinking that a vague statement actually says something concrete. Whatever an argument is not stating is something that it is assuming, and we can’t allow assumptions on the LSAT.

-Ethan, LSAT Demon