Michela’s LSAT Diary & Game Plan:

I made up a Game Plan sheet and read it before every preptest and before the actual LSAT. I related a lot of my prep to sports, as if I were preparing for a big game i.e. eating right, warm up exercises, visualization, and the game plan strategy. I’ll copy and paste my game plan, yours will be different, it’s supposed to include the strategies that work for you. It’s been adjusted many times over the course of my prep and it was ever-evolving/improving:

LOGIC GAMES:

1. Calm down and don’t panic, you know how to do every type of game
2. Start the 1st game 1st
3. Asses other games quickly based on size
4. Lay out the names and spaces like always
5. Games that seem hard often have easy questions
6. If it’s not coming together, adjust diagram
7. Utilize the highlighter to stabilize original diagram
8. Identify free floating entities
9. Identify valid hypotheticals for future questions
10. If running out of time, do specified questions first
11. Skip substitution questions

READING COMPREHENSION:

1. Most number of questions first
2. Parallel passage second
3. Save the lowest numbered passage for last
4. COMPLETE FOCUS
5. Maintain pace
6. Do NOT zone out
7. Stay engaged and interested
8. Identify the viewpoints
9. If you’re not getting it, don’t keep reading without figuring it out!

LOGICAL REASONING:

1. Quickly glance at question stem
2. Don’t be speedy, don’t be greedy!
3. Focus on the conclusion
4. Prephrase answers where applicable
5. Read the stimulus properly the first time
6. Don’t be so quick to cross of answer choices, make certain that it’s truly wrong
7. Don’t just guess, be 100% confident!
8. Skip parallel reasoning, hard formal logic/conditional questions, and justify
9. BE ENGAGED and FOCUS
10. Be a critical reader, don’t make stupid mistakes
11. Don’t spend too long on questions that aren’t coming together
12. Watch out for absolute terms in the stimulus, stem, and answer choices
13. Never relax, always examine ALL answer choices
14. One answer is completely correct, the other 4 choices are completely wrong

GENERAL TEST DETAILS:

1. Remember to adjust analog watch before each section and be aware not to pull off markers
2. Don’t get down because of a bad game or passage, you can still do good
3. Don’t dwell on past questions
4. Focus on the present and the task at hand, one question at a time
5. Don’t freak out when the proctor calls 5 minutes
6. Be ready early and complete 3 games and a page of LR before the LSAT

BIG PICTURE:

1. You have prepared exceptionally well, there is nothing more you could have done to improve your score
2. Regardless of what score you get, you will get into at least one law school
3. This test is not a measure of your intelligence or aptitude for law school
4. Everything happens for a reason
5. Be positive, aggressive and confident. The LSAT rewards confidence
6. Think of how much more preparation and work you have put in as opposed to thousands of other test takers