Five Winter Break Study Tips for Anyone Taking the LSAT in February

By William Sharon on December 2, 2013

This article is brought to you by Kaplan, the leader in test preparation for over 90 standardized tests including the GRE, GMAT, LSAT and MCAT. To learn more about Kaplan’s Test Prep offerings, click here.

Winter break means many exciting things, not least exciting of which is the respite the holiday provides from studying. For most, it means that finals are over, papers are submitted, presentations are complete, and all that remains is a few days of bliss before grades are released, at which point it means a few weeks of memory repression. This is what Winter break should mean, but for those taking the LSAT in February, the time off is not so cheerful.

While a few days away from LSAT prep every now and then is good, three weeks to a month off is unwise. Thus, it is imperative that the prospective February LSAT taker remain at least somewhat involved over winter break. This is not to say don’t enjoy yourself, in fact, it might even be wise to designate a week and a half off of studying around Christmas and New Year’s. However, if one takes too long a break, it can be hard to get back into LSAT mode in the month before the test. Therefore, I have devised some tips for those LSAT-preppers who want to relax on break, but still want to do well on the test in February.

1)     Make a schedule: Every LSAT tutor will tell you to make a schedule when you start your LSAT prep (which most tutors suggest you begin about three months before the day of the test). Oftentimes, however, events that were unforeseeable at the conception of said schedule arise in the following months, and the schedule must be altered. Thus, it is a good idea to make adjustments to the schedule to accommodate those changes.

2)     Take a practice test at the beginning of break, and one at the end of break: You want to make sure you’re progressing throughout your LSAT prep. This doesn’t necessarily mean your score has to significantly improve over the course of a month, but you should be able to improve some aspects of your test taking ability in that time. Maybe you are struggling with grouping Logic Games; a month is more than enough time to practice a solid diagramming method.

3)     Expect to be busy during the holidays: I learned this one the hard way over Thanksgiving break. I assumed that I would have the chance to get a good amount of work and LSAT prep done during my five-day hiatus from class. Unfortunately, however, I did not plan for the fact that my aunt, uncle and cousins would be staying at my house for the entire time. The point is, don’t plan to do a significant amount of LSAT studying right around the holidays, or when family will be around 24/7.

4)     Wake up early: For me, this is honestly the biggest obstacle to my academic success. I struggle to get up before ten. That said, when I do get up early I add about three hours to my day, and I usually spend the first couple hours that I am awake doing schoolwork or studying for the LSAT. It is much less stressful to dump time into practice tests when you know you aren’t missing time that you would otherwise be spending with friends and family. Of course, sleep is important too, but I often find that if I sleep in too long I stay up until two a.m. watching TV while the rest of my family is asleep. Certainly that is not time well spent.

5)     Enjoy the break: That is, don’t stress out about the LSAT. While this is perhaps the hardest tip for test preppers to apply, it is one that will not only make life better during the holidays, but will likely improve one’s final test score. If you spend every waking hour worrying that you aren’t studying enough, you won’t be able to get anything done when you actually are studying. If you have a good schedule and you adhere to it well, there is no need to worry during the times when you are doing other activities. If you have a schedule and you still feel like you aren’t prepping well enough, perhaps it is time to revise the plan.

Ultimately, your break will allow you to focus all of your cognitive ability on LSAT prep. Without finals to worry about, papers to write, or classes to attend, you can expend the vast majority of your mental effort on the test. Assuming, of course, that talking to your family does not require much thinking.

Are you looking for college advice and tips from successful students? Download the free Uloop & Kaplan eBook, Student to Student today!

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