Categories: LSAT
 14 Comments »
My phone has been ringing off the hook this weekend. Everyone wants to know – Should I cancel my LSAT score?
The good news is that in today’s law school admission landscape, the highest of mulitiple LSAT scores is the one that matters. As a result, there is very little reason to ever cancel a score.
The Answer is YES if:
1. You completely screwed up. Did you mis-bubble? Leave a whole section blank? Get violently ill in the middle of the exam? Fail to finish a significant portion of a section?
2. Getting the score would be so demoralizing to you that you would be unable to live with yourself.
3. You already have one LSAT score that you’re happy with and you’re pretty sure you did worse this time and you don’t want to have to explain it in your application.
The Answer is NO if:
1. You are absolutely sure you want to go to law school in Fall 2008. Pinning all of your hopes on the December LSAT is dangerous. What if it goes even worse?
2. You want to apply early decision and/or early notification.
3. You’re hoping to take advantage of the rolling admissions process and get things underway early.
4. You’re not sure how you did but you didn’t absolutely panic or anything.
5. You made a slight error, were unable to finish a question or two, but nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Coming this week: What to do while you’re waiting for your LSAT score.
Also: A Reminder: Saturday, October 6th 9 am PST/Noon EST Free Webinar -
“I’ve Taken the LSAT; Now What?”
Sign up today – as of right now only 6 places are left so email me today: alevine@lawschoolexpert.net
Categories: Financing a Legal Education
1 Comment »
Please check out Frugal Law Student for a great posting about how the new bill President Bush signed into law will impact your law school debt.
Categories: Law School Rankings
36 Comments »
I am shocked, outraged and offended by the esteemed Anna Ivey today. I think, as a result of her posting today at http://www.iveyfiles.com/2007/09/feast-or-famine.html that I am going to stop having a link to her book on my web site.
Here’s why:
Her premise is that it’s only worth going to a “top tier” law school and that all other ABA law schools are a waste. She bases her conclusion on starting salaries and tuition dollars.
There’s one very big problem with this logic; it fails to take into account salary growth through the years. I will give you a very personal example with very personal details:
I graduated from law school (the University of Miami School of Law, which Ms. Ivey would say was a waste) with loans in 1999. (You can see my interview on the Frugal Law Student for more details about my student loans). When I started practicing law, my starting salary was $65,000. Six months later, I was making $85,000 based on my performance and billable hours. The next year, I made $100,000. My starting salary was not a good indicator of whether my initial law school debt was worthwhile.
Can I use my husband as another example? He went to California Western School of Law. His starting salary as a first year attorney was something like $55,000. But he got bonuses and raises each year and within no time was making a six figure income.
These are just examples from my personal life; Ms. Ivey may not think very much of the schools that we graduated from but I will tell you these were absolutely worthwhile decisions. Today, we have a family and live in Santa Barbara, California where we enjoy a fabulous quality of life and my husband is always home for dinner no matter how many hours he bills.
Besides, if Ms. Ivey wants 180+ law schools in this country to go out of business for lack of students, who will serve the underprivileged? Who will be prosecutors? public defenders? Who will defend homeowners in the insurance bar? Who will take on injured workers? Law is not just about big firms. Is the practice of law a struggle? Is it sometimes a sacrifice? Of course. This is not a career for the lazy or unimaginative. This is a challenging career and a worthwhile one, no matter where you go to law school.
Categories: Advice, Application Timeline, Webinar
2 Comments »
Don’t wait for your LSAT score; there are things you can do in the 2+ weeks that you’re waiting for your score. Here are some of them:
1. Request letters of recommendation.
2. Have your transcripts sent to LSAC.
3. Finalize your resume, taking out things appropriate when seeking employment and adding in things that law schools want to know about.
4. Draft your personal statement and get it to the point that it’s ready to be adapted to each school’s request once you know your LSAT score and finalize your schools list.
5. Participate in one of my free 1-hour webinars entitled, “I’ve taken the LSAT; Now What?” The next two available dates are Monday, October 1st (8pm EST/5pm PST) and Saturday, October 6th (Noon EST/9a.m. PST). Each webinar is limited to the first 15 participants. To sign up, e-mail me at alevine@lawschoolexpert.net
6. Hire a Law School Admission Consultant to help you get going with all of these tasks while you wait for your score, and who can counsel you about your strategy in choosing schools once you have your score. Here is more information about Things to Consider When Hiring a Law School Admission Consultant.
Good luck on the LSAT this weekend!
Categories: Law School Personal Statement
No Comments yet, your thoughts are welcome!
Here is a great post with advice from the University of Chicago Law School with tips about the personal statement (I concur with all of it)!
Categories: Low LSAT, LSAT
3 Comments »
The September LSAT is a little over a week away and a lot of my clients are starting to feel the pressure. Here are some things to keep in mind as you approach the exam date:
1. Have you prepared adequately? If you’ve spent 6-12 weeks steadily preparing, taking practice exams, fixing your mistakes, and you’ve seen at least some improvement since the first test or two, then you’re probably ready for the exam.
2. Are you disappointed with your practice scores? Ask yourself why you’re disappointed. Is it because you really liked the way a 165 sounded and your practice exams are steadily in the high 150s? Giving yourself a “goal score” is not a reasonable way of approaching this test. If you’ve prepared for the exam, take the exam.
3. Thinking about not taking the test or cancelling your score? Most schools are looking at the highest of multiple scores so there is almost no downside to taking it. If you’re scared of being labeled by your LSAT score, remember this is not a number that you’ll ever have to tell anyone about during job interviews. It’s not going to be engraved on your tombstone. It’s just an admission test and while you’ll have to craft a strategy for yourself (picking the right schools for you) based on this exam outcome, it’s not (despite what others might have you believe) the overall determining factor for your entire career and future.
4. Are you just not the best standardized test taker in the world? It’s totally ok. Really. You’re not alone. Do the best you can and work with it. I have clients who initially get into schools where their LSAT is far from being the best and they still graduate near the top of their classes. Also, I have clients who are initially somewhat limited by the LSAT in deciding where to apply but then they transfer to top law schools after earning solid grades during their first year.
Yes, the LSAT is serious. Yes, it is weighted pretty heavily in the law school admissions process. But don’t let the goals that are right for someone else determine what you expect of yourself. I have clients with 170 LSAT scores who are still upset they didn’t get a 174; they are just as upset as people with a 146 who didn’t get the 150 they hoped they would.
Whatever your score is, you’ll craft a strategy for success. Be confident in your own abilities and you will go far.
Categories: Advice, Fee Waivers, Financing a Legal Education
2 Comments »
Thanks to my friend Brett McKay at Frugal Law Student for allowing me to guest host his great blog today. You can check out my article “Applying to Law School? 7 Ways to Save Money” there.
I urge law school applicants to read Frugal Law Student regularly, and to be honest the advice is so good that I often share his postings on tantric shopping with my friends who tend to go crazy with designer clothes. If you don’t already read Brett’s blog, you should.
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Ann K. Levine, Esq., former director of law school admissions for two ABA approved law schools, is a law school admission consultant and owner of Law School Expert,
