# Any LSAT tips? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 10, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153 "2003-12-10T15:20:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/1 "2003-12-10T15:20:34Z")
I’m taking them on Sunday. Any last minute tips? ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/2 "2003-12-10T15:23:36Z")
If you haven’t taken any past ones yet, download one. The only prep I did was using one of the books of 10 and doing the tests in the proper time frame. If you’ve got a logic book, go over it (I’m assuming your logic games section is your low score, since it seems to be everyone’s - logical reasoning and reading comprehension are sort of gimmes for anyone who wants to go to law school). Just practice whatever you can. And good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/3 "2003-12-10T16:44:12Z")
Well, it’s too late for actual test-related tips to do any good, so: Bring an extra mechanical pencil and an extra eraser. Bring food. You don’t want to run out for food during the break and have car trouble on the way back. Dress warm. If the room is warm, you can shed layers. In any event, you want to be comfortable so you can stay focused, and you can’t do that if you’re shivering in a T-shirt. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Ink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@White\_Ink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Ink)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/4 "2003-12-10T20:43:27Z")
Post Preview: Everything the above people said. If allowed, bring your highlighter, it’s helpful too. If you’re a coffee achiever have your coffee about an hour before the test starts and be sure that you pee beforehand. I’d bring a dingless kitchen timer if I could, that would have been great. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/5 "2003-12-10T22:24:04Z")
Bring a timepiece so you can pace yourself for each section. Know exactly how much time you have left and don’t get hung on any one problem for too long. If you get to the last minute or so and its obvious that you can’t finish a section, don’t leave anything blank. You get penalized the same for getting it wrong and leaving it blank, so there’s no point in leaving any answer blank. Obviously this is a fallback damage control position. On reading comprehension problems I read the question and the possible answers first, then the passage, so I would know what I was supposed to be looking for, and that worked very well for me. If it’s too late in the game for you try it out, do what’s been working for you. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/6 "2003-12-10T23:21:01Z")
Make sure you bring your own beverage, by the way. I know that I was thanking god I remembered to, because I had a bad case of cottonmouth by the break and there wasn’t a soda machine at the testing center. ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/7 "2003-12-10T23:38:37Z")
Earplugs. I’d recommend the silicone kind that you can shape to your ear, NOT the foam ones that recompress after you stick them in (they’re impossible to install). I had to sit next to a heavy breather during my LSAT, which made it very difficult to concentrate. ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/8 "2003-12-11T02:43:29Z")
If you aren’t an early riser, I sugest you start getting up these next few day at the time you need to get up to take the test. Know where the testing center is, and get there early. Bring a protein bar or some form of food that you can eat quickly during the breaks if you need it, also water and coffee or whatever your drink of choice is. We (my buddy and I took it on the same day) also brought a cooler of beer and had a cold one in the parking lot with some other test takers. If you need a strategy for the games, I suggest you take 2-3 minutes at the outset and decide which game is the easiest and do that one first. Don’t blindly go in order of the games, because if the hard one is first you may waste a bunch of time on it when easy points are to be had. Got to make sure you get all the easy points you can, then if you run out of time and have to fill in answers at the end, it isn’t such a big deal. Guess C, when in doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/9 "2003-12-11T02:48:07Z")
I should clarify that the beer was for _after_ the test. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/10 "2003-12-11T02:58:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rhum Runner \* > \*\*I should clarify that the beer was for _after_ the test. \*\* Sure, that’s one way to do it. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/11 "2003-12-11T03:01:11Z")
Keep your head and pace yourself. If you start to get flustered and cross-eyed, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and count to ten. It worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![epraz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/82dd89/32.png) [@epraz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epraz)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/12 "2003-12-11T05:11:00Z")
I took it last saturday. -Highliters are allowed -I don’t think earplugs are–check. -you can bring a silent watch. -If you’re an anxious type, bring a magazine or a book, it took us -an hour before the test to get through all the administrative work, most of which we sat or stood around for. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/13 "2003-12-11T06:52:05Z")
“Bedizened” means covered with ribbons. ---
**Author:** ![piaffe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@piaffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/piaffe)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/14 "2003-12-11T07:48:40Z")
Bring a supply of non-mechanical pencils–the lead is thicker, and consequently the bubbles fill in faster. Put an answer for every question–it’s not like the SAT where you lose points for wrong answers. No matter how badly you think you blew the logic games section, you didn’t do _that_ badly. Trust me. Use any extra time to check your work, even if you’re convinced you’ve completely blown it (see above)–catching a previously overlooked “not” can get you an extra question, which can sometimes get you an extra point, which can sometimes get you into a different bracket… Don’t waste time on hard questions; they’re not always in order and you could lose out on some easy ones at the end. Just mark them clearly and come back to them. Better to have to skip a hard one you probably would have gotten wrong, than an easy one you would most likely have gotten right. Reading comp–the first questions usually roughly correspond to the first part of the essay, the middle questions to the middle, and so forth. So glance over at the questions after reading every paragraph and answer the ones you can; it cuts back on time spent looking for the answer. Start going to bed early and getting up early now. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/15 "2003-12-11T15:52:27Z")
Don’t drink a lot more coffee than usual! I had a big cup on the day of the LSAT, because I was getting up much earlier than usual, and it gave me the shakes during the first session (logic games - ugh!). I spent half the time on the first set of questions (!), then raced through the rest of the section. It ended up not hurting me too badly, but it was pretty nerve-wracking. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/16 "2003-12-12T17:12:44Z")
I had an Anne Rice/Lestat thing here before I deleted it. It wasn’t quite lame, but it limped. So, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/17 "2003-12-13T20:25:03Z")
hey guys… did your practice scores match your actual score? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-lsat-tips/218153/18 "2003-12-13T20:59:48Z")
My real score was maybe 2 points higher than my average practice scores.