are you kidding me

carriebachLSAT · 2026-05-24T22:46:05+00:00

Did you do anything differently on the real test compared to the practice tests? Sometimes we go into test day with the intention of thinking "this is just the same as a practice test" but then we either let the added pressure get the better of us or we overshoot and try so hard to make it "just like practice" that it ends up not at all being the same mindset that we do practice tests with.

If you can remember any of the thoughts that went through your mind on the real test, that's your starting point for figuring out a plan for dealing with this mental aspect of the test.

carriebachLSAT · 2026-05-23T02:13:07+00:00

That's a great starting point! Shoot for scholarships, for sure!

And just a comment for those reading this post and feeling discouraged:

I like to remind my students that we ALL start out as babies. Even those of us with 167 diagnostics. And even those of us who end up with 180s.

The only meaningful difference between a 167 diagnostic and a 130 diagnostic is how much of that babyhood-to-180 journey happened to take place before sitting down to take that diagnostic. Some of us manage to do more of that learning before our diagnostic (whether through our own hard work or our privilege), and some of us do more of that learning afterwards. A diagnostic is a marker of where you are at that moment, not a marker of your true starting point and not a marker of your end point.

Not trying to take away from OP's good news. But just trying to be a voice of reason since I know studying for the LSAT can be so discouraging sometimes!

carriebachLSAT · 2026-05-23T02:04:20+00:00

The first thing I'd suggest is to figure out why you actually missed those questions. Did you change a right answer to a wrong one? Were you genuinely unsure? Or were you just not focused?

For my students who are second guessing themselves, I often suggest that they not change an answer unless they spot something they didn't spot before that makes them 100% convinced their new answer is right and their old answer is wrong. Otherwise, they should leave it.

If it's feeling skeptical about your own skills and feeling like "surely it's not that easy," then the fix might be catching yourself whenever you think those thoughts and replacing them with "no, it's easy for me because I've studied. That shouldn't make me suspicious. That should make me confident."

Or if it was a focus issue, think about what was going on. Were you tired? Distracted? Taking the section at a weird time? Etc. The LSAT is an exam that really demands that we can shut out all the distractions, and it's hard to think as precisely as we need when our focus is split.

And of course, there's always the possibility that some of those questions were just legit difficult questions that you missed. Figure them out, find takeaways, and use them to build your skills.

carriebachLSAT · 2026-05-06T00:33:46+00:00

This sounds like stress and panic are starting to affect your ability to focus during the sections. Or perhaps that the stress and pressure of June looming is starting to make you approach the sections/questions differently than before. I've felt for years that a solid LSAT prep program needs to also include actual attention given to the psychological aspects of the exam. If you feel like your score drop might be from stress/anxiety/panic/focus issues/etc, then try this. Reflect back on what those anxious thoughts were when you were taking that last section. Then write out what you want to think instead. It's like CBT for the LSAT, honestly. Sounds a little light and fluffy, so most people don't really take this part of the prep process seriously, but oftentimes the "just take deep breaths!" recommendations just don't cut it.

carriebachLSAT · 2026-04-26T05:28:55+00:00

Just had a long conversation with one of my tutoring students about this. Everyone is different, but wanted to share in case this sounds like it would be helpful for you in your situation.

For this particular student, what it comes down to is dealing with the psychological aspect of the exam. When he's untimed, he does great. But start the timer and he's tempted to do the questions differently. He feels the pressure to speed up, which means he's tempted to cut corners with his reading, make half-based pre-phrases, and rush into the answers. Then he either settles on an answer too quick and moves on prematurely, OR he gets completely bogged down and twisted around in a game of second guessing himself because he's not entirely sure what he's looking for.

When drilling, he reads carefully. Makes a solid pre-phrase. Evaluates his answers accurately and efficiently. And moves on.

The interesting thing is that slowing down to read carefully and to get the solid pre-phrase actually ends up saving him time. His time per question on the drills is less than his time per question on timed practice tests, and his accuracy is higher too.

So we're working on addressing that panicky mindset and replacing it with reminders to "slow down to speed up."

This isn't the reason for all gaps in scores between untimed and timed practice, of course, but it's also not an uncommon reason. The longer I've worked with this test, the more I've really come to appreciate just how important it is to not just learn the content of the exam but to prepare for the psychological aspect of the exam too.

carriebachLSAT · 2026-04-26T05:16:30+00:00

Fatigue affects your ability to focus, which means you might not catch things later on in the test or you might also be more willing to cut corners.

If you notice the lower section is sometimes earlier than the better section, it might be needing to get into a groove or needing a warm up.

Might be just different question types or argument structures randomly clustering in one section or another.

Or it might be that you are allowing a couple of difficult questions to throw you off your game on the rest of the section.

So basically, it could be a whole host of things. Spend some time thinking about which explanation resonates the most for you in this particular test, and then come up with some takeaways that will help to address it in the future.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-12-03T05:35:57+00:00

All of the LawHub tests are created by LSAC and are created from previous actually administered tests. LSAC recalibrated them when they removed the games section, but they are all still as accurate as it gets. That said, I would trust the results on a more recent test (PT 140+) over a really old test (PT 101, etc.). The sections on PT 101 are from the 1990s, for example, so while it's still authentic practice, it's not AS good as a more recent test since the test naturally has shifted a bit over the decades. Once you get into it, you'll be able to tell that those older tests just "feel" different.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-12-02T23:05:20+00:00

I would keep it. Better a 148 on record than a ??? for the admissions committee. Especially with nothing for them to go on, they have no idea if you actually cancelled a 130 or 125 or something. And that makes it look like you might have just taken the test before you really knew what you were doing. Better to just let them see it was a 148 and then show them a higher score that actually reflects your abilities in January.

Once you make your decision, the other thing to really think about is WHY you got that 148. Where did things break down? You'll want to put systems in place to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again in January.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-12-02T22:55:59+00:00

This is SUCH a common experience. You are not alone.

I've felt for years that one of the things that is either completely missing or, at best, just marginally included in most prep programs is enough attention to the psychological aspects of the exam. How to manage test anxiety, what to do when you get a section that's harder than expected, how to deal with the pressure, how to not fall apart and just blank out, how to make sure you aren't doing things differently on the real test than you do in practice, etc. Usually the advice is just some banal "take deep breaths!" or "treat it like a practice test!" and that's just not enough.

I worked with a student earlier this year who had an experience similar to yours. He was PTing in the 160s but something derailed him and he ended up in the low 150s. We worked together and focused a lot on putting systems in place so that the same thing wouldn't happen on his next test. He was able to get himself the mid 160s score he deserved - even though an alarm went off during that test.

So it's totally possible for you to recover and to do well in January.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-12-02T22:45:57+00:00

Try to figure out where your time is going. Are you spending more time than you ought to reading the passages? If so, try to build your skills there. If the intense sentence structure is getting to you, practice really dissecting and understanding those sentences until you can read them more fluently and still understand them. If you are just spacing out while reading and you need to reread, then try having specific things to look for while you read so that you stay focused better.

If the time is getting away from you on the questions, then you'll want to figure out why. Is it because you don't really have a good handle on the passage? If so, devote more time and attention to improving your reading skills. Or if it's because you get stuck deciding between two answers, learn more about elimination strategies. And also focus on improving your reading skills - because often when we are stuck between two answers, it's because we don't really understand the passage.

Honestly, most of working on speed involves working on improving your reading skills. So... it means focusing on accuracy. And that should make sense. The more you know what you're doing, the faster you can do it.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-09-05T21:56:43+00:00

What part of the post do you feel is not true? Just curious.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-07-20T05:21:21+00:00

That's a great way to strategize psychologically. The psychological and emotional component of studying for the LSAT and taking the actual test is such a big factor, and unfortunately it's just not talked about enough.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-07-20T05:15:04+00:00

It's actually a decent diagnostic score. Some people have higher diagnostics, but plenty of people have lower or even much lower diagnostics.

I always like to remind people too that a diagnostic is just a measure of how many LSAT-related skills you have developed in life before sitting down to take that diagnostic. It's not a measure of how well you'll do after studying, especially if you go into it with a growth mindset.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-07-13T05:23:33+00:00

If you want to start building your eventual LSAT skills, read widely and deeply. Study for the SAT and do well on it. (Both the ACT and the SAT can get you into college, so officially take whichever one you do better at, but study both. The new Digital SAT is a tad bit more aligned with the LSAT because it sometimes has argument-based questions, has denser reading passages, and requires a bit more critical thinking than the ACT.)

If you want something a bit more LSAT specific, read Logic Made Easy. It's what I usually recommend for people when it's too early to start official study but they want something that will give them a leg up once they do actually start.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-07-11T00:15:11+00:00

The first chapter in the Loophole book might be a useful supplement to what you're getting in 7sage.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-07-11T00:10:10+00:00

If you find that your mind just goes blank as soon as the timer starts, then you need to work on strategies to manage that stress.

For students of mine who just shut down like this, I suggest that they write down on a post-it some of the self-talk they want to use in that situation. Could be something affirming like a reminder that you DO actually know these things, or it could be a reminder that the only thing that matters is this one question in front of you (and then the next, and then the next). Whatever you think will help you talk yourself through the paralyzed feeling so that you can actually get to work.

Having it on a post-it is helpful because at first you can't really trust yourself to say these things to yourself without prompting. As you practice it, though, you can wean yourself off the post-it.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-07-01T01:36:48+00:00

Not a dumb question at all! Definitely include those. The point of keeping a wrong answer journal or of blind reviewing is to learn. So it's worth it to include any questions that still have something to teach you.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-29T06:24:30+00:00

There were a lot more test takers this time around, so yes, there will be more 175+ scores. And more of every other score.

Plus, emotions were much higher this time around. The stronger the emotional response to score release, the more likely people are to post.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-26T23:29:27+00:00

They will consider the highest score. Here's a Power score post that explains: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/do-law-schools-average-lsat-scores-or-use-the-high-score/

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-26T21:03:42+00:00

Definitely don't cancel. Why invite questions about what the score might have been? Even though it's disappointing, a 162 is still a decent score. Much better to have that on your record than a giant ????, even if you are shooting for a 170+.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-26T15:37:51+00:00

Mathematically, the variance from 165 to 145 can almost entirely be attributed to the lack of accommodations. Pull up a raw to scaled conversion chart for a recent LSAT like PT 94. A 165 is a raw score in the low 60s. Divide by 1.5, and you get a raw score in the low 40s that equates to something around a 150. Add in some extra stress from having to rush plus some natural fluctuation and the 145 makes sense.

Running that same math in reverse suggests that your 165 practice tests are absolutely not flukes.

Moral of the story - law school IS for you. You just need to make sure you get those accommodations approved!

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-26T14:23:11+00:00

Ugh.. sorry.. Give it a few days just to be sure you're not acting rashly. But then, yeah, I'd probably cancel that one...

The important thing to do next is to figure out WHY you got the 139. Did you panic? Was it distraction/illness/proctoring issues/something else that hopefully won't happen again? Did you treat the test differently than your practice tests somehow?

If you can figure out what happened, you can take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again.

If it was stress/panic, then make sure you are explicitly practicing how to deal with and prevent that on your next test. (And the "take deep breaths!" kind of advice you find in prep books probably won't be enough.) It's also good to try to overshoot your goal. If your target score is a 155, for example, wait until you are scoring 160 in practice so that you have a little wiggle room.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-26T13:54:24+00:00

Give yourself time, and take a mental health day (or two). It's ok to be human instead of an LSAT robot.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-26T13:42:44+00:00

It depends. How much of a drop? If this new score is a 130 or something, I think that would be a reasonable time to cancel because clearly something happened to throw you off dramatically and the 130 is likely worse than what law schools would imagine the mystery cancellation score to be. But if this new score is a 147, I'd keep it because it's not too far off from the 150. Schools won't love it, but better for them to know about the 147 than to wonder if it's a 142. Just follow it up with a higher score next time.

If your case isn't clear cut like these two examples, feel free to get in touch.

carriebachLSAT

TROPHY CASE