Test Day Mindset

Practice with a Proctor!

Perhaps one of the most difficult parts of simulating the test day experience is recreating the anxiety driven by proctor monitoring. The interference of the proctor has incredible power in impacting your score. To overcome this, ask a friend to serve as a practice proctor! Having a friend sit on a Zoom call and randomly decide, “Whoops, you lose a minute” does an excellent job of preparing you for this exact type of interference. 

Improve Your Test Day Mindset

When taking a real proctored LSAT, we tend to focus on content alone. This often leads test takers to neglect their test day mindset. Approaching the LSAT with a positive or negative outlook can greatly impact test day performance. If you have not thought about a strategy that gets you into a positive mindset, make that your goal! By test day you should have identified at least one method to enter your best test day mindset. That means identifying a strategy that makes you feel confident in the task ahead while also feeling at ease before the timer starts.

Some strategies used by our tutors include:

• Striking a Superman pose

• Listening to music

• Going to the gym

• Going on a jog or walk around the block

After figuring out what method will make you less nervous, compile a list of affirmations! Aside from keeping us calm on test day, our mindset can hugely impact a score by keeping us closely tethered to our undesirable tendencies. Saying “I need to make a prediction” or “I have to double-check my rules” immediately before the exam solidifies the areas you want your subconscious to look out for. 

Whatever your strategy, be purposeful in how you address your test day mindset. Check out this webinar for more tips from 7Sage!