So today was the big day. Despite preparing for the LSATs the best I could, I was still pretty nervous going in. Meaning more nervous than I’ve ever been for any other test I’ve taken before.

For those of you who don’t know the format, the LSATs are split into five multiple-choice sections, there’s two analytical reasoning sections, where you read a paragraph and answer a question about it; one reading comprehension section where you read a longer excerpt and answer several questions about it; one logical reasoning section where you are given a set of parameters and answer some questions on them given additional parameters; and one experimental section which could be any of the other three types, but it has experimental questions and doesn’t count towards your actual score. Then there’s a written essay section that isn’t graded but is sent to all the schools you apply to along with your multiple-choice score. You are given thirty-five minutes to complete each of the six sections.

So as I was saying, I came into the test nervous, but actually got on a decent roll. I had analytical, reading, analytical, analytical, and then logic. I thought that I would do best in logic, given my engineering background and my coursework in discrete math. But alas, it wasn’t to be. I spent too much time graphing and re-graphing the base parameters and additional ones for the first couple of sets of problems and realized I had killed twenty-five of my thirty-five minutes. Then I rushed the last problem sets, and even started doing all Cs when time was almost called. I feel like I could have done so much better if only I had a little more time, but I guess everyone feels the same way. My essay was short, but strong, like usual.

Overall… I dunno. There’s definitely no chance I got 180. I’m hoping for 170, but we’ll see in three weeks, when the results from this round are published online. I talked to Jimmy afterwards, and he told me he got raped pretty badly, too. He came into it nervous like me, and we had different forms, and his first section must have been his experimental, because it had extremely hard questions that shattered what little composure he had left, and the effects stuck with him throughout the test.

So if you’re taking the test in the next round, take it from Jimmy and me… keep a cool head, and keep an eye on the clock! And depending on just how badly logic games screwed me, maybe we’ll be taking it together.