Test-taking performance on the LSAT sometimes adheres to certain common patterns that can be generally graphed on a timeline, with performance being the vertical axis and time being the horizontal.  This series of articles aims to provide an overview of the most common patterns and some guidance regarding how we can avoid the bad patterns.

The “ramp-up” curve

The ramp-up pattern occurs when the LSAT-taker gets off to a slow start.  Here’s what the pattern looks like.

“Ramp-up” performance curve

As shown, the test-taker who exhibits the “ramp-up” pattern doesn’t really hit her stride until the second section of the LSAT.  This is not good, of course, because those points that have been missed in the first section—while the test-taker was still “ramping up”—cannot be gotten back.  Those points are gone forever, regardless of how well she performs on the later sections of the test.

It could be that the given test-taker hasn’t settled into the testing environment.  It could be that the test-taker is distracted by test anxiety or just hasn’t fully “woken up” yet that day.  But whatever the reason, it’s important that we avoid the ramp-up pattern, i.e., that we are performing at the very best of our ability from the very first question of the LSAT.

Avoiding the ramp-up pattern on LSAT day

To avoid falling into the ramp-up pattern, here are some tips.  First, familiarize yourself with the test environment before test day. Visit the testing center a few days prior to the day on which you will be taking the LSAT and get comfortable with the environment (e.g., know where the bathrooms are, how bright it is).

Second, be aware that anything can go wrong on test day; bad proctors, technical difficulties, uncomfortable temperatures, a last-minute change—all of these things can happen. Reconcile yourself to these risks ahead of time, and prepare to roll with the punches, to take everything in stride without getting flustered.

Third, if you are at all susceptible to falling into the ramp-up pattern—you know yourself to be, for instance, a “slow-starter”—then do a little warm-up routine on test day.  Before you leave home and head for the testing center, take a couple of logical reasoning questions, read a reading comprehension passage and answer the main point question, and set up one game.  That exposure to the types of material you’ll be seeing on the actual LSAT will get your wheels turning.

The next article will discuss the “dead-battery” performance curve.