Categories: LSAT, LSAT Prep
Tags: Blueprint, blueprint prep, Blueprint the movie, June LSAT, October LSAT
 10 Comments »
June LSAT scores were released within the last hour (just to contradict my prediction that they would be released last Friday). For those of you now focused on the October LSAT, Guest blogger Jodi Triplett of Blueprint LSAT Preparation gives some advice on the best way to prepare for the October LSAT.
Prepping for the LSAT tends to come in three varieties. Á la Goldilocks and the Three Bears, LSAT study, like porridge, can be too little, too much, or just right.
We’re all familiar with people in the “too little” category. This includes the guy who buys concert tickets from scalpers at the event, writes his term paper the night before it’s due, and studies for the LSAT two weeks before the test. Don’t be this person. First, he’s annoying and second, the LSAT is not a test for which you can cram.
You may also be familiar with the “too much” category. This is the type-A girl who reads the books before class begins, plans her vacations nine months in advance, and thinks that she needs to study for the LSAT for an entire year to be prepared. Don’t be this person, either. In fact, we’ve observed from our students that studying for the LSAT to great excess can actually result in a lower score.
So which LSAT study plan is just right? At Blueprint LSAT Preparation, we believe in typical cases that 200 to 300 hours is the magic number for study time. This equates to approximately two-three months of intensive LSAT immersion. If you put in that much work, and you’re using an effective methodology, you’re almost certainly going to see results.
For the upcoming October LSAT, you should begin your program of study some time between late June and late July. If you’re taking a class, enroll in one that begins in that time frame. Alternatively, develop a self-study schedule that begins some time during those months.
Don’t forget that you’ll need to put in consistent effort throughout this study period if you intend to see optimal results. If you’re taking a class, your lessons and homework should be spaced appropriately already. If you’re studying on your own, be sure to pace your sessions so you don’t wind up studying too little early on, then cramming a month before the LSAT.
In the beginning of your study, devote your time to learning the best way to approach every question type without worrying about your speed. As you get better at the concepts, you’ll naturally speed up in taking the exam. Be sure to reserve at least the last two weeks of study for review. We recommend studying until the Wednesday or Thursday before the test, then taking a break so you’ll go into the LSAT rested and alert.
The LSAT is a lot of work, but if you put in consistent effort and build upon a solid methodology, you’ll have a great foundation to sit in the right chair, eat the right porridge, sleep in the right bed, and get your fairytale LSAT score.
Categories: Law Careers, LSAT
Tags: waiting for June LSAT score
2 Comments »
I know the waiting feels endless, but just think about all of the people taking the bar exam who have to wait three months to find out IF, after making it through law school,they will be able to actually practice law. I do expect scores to come out by email in the next 12-36 hours and I want to keep you all nice, calm, occupied, and feeling productive in the meantime. Here are some things to do in the next day or two:
1. Articulate the reasons why you want to be a lawyer. Not why you want to go to law school, but why you want to be a lawyer. Write them down and keep it in your wallet and look at it every time you spend money. I know no one will really do this, but I think it’s a GREAT idea. If you don’t want to be a lawyer but want to go to law school for some other reason, write down those reasons and spend the next day doing research on other ways to get to your goal without going to law school.
2. Go see Hangover 2 or Bridesmaids. I really want to see both of these films. I don’t have time (just moved houses and am trying to finish up my book to help you decide whether to go to law school) so please see these films, laugh a lot, and let me know how they are. One of my favorite traditions when I was in law school was going to see a movie on Friday afternoons. It was a great escape, and I haven’t had time to see movies since, so let me live vicariously through you….
3. Work on your resume. It doesn’t take much time to feel like you’ve made a lot of progress on this particular project. An hour can make a big difference. You can download the audio version of Chapter 6 “Building Your Resume” of The Law School Admission Game: Play Like an Expert and get a ton of good information (do’s and don’t and how-tos) in a mere 20 minutes, then spend the next 40 minutes putting the suggestions to use on your own resume. You’ll feel like you’ve crossed something important off your to-do list, or at least made serious headway.
4. Look up people on Wikipedia who have the jobs you want to have one day. See how they got those jobs, what career trajectory they took to get there. Want to be Commissioner of the NBA? President of the ACLU? Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights? A Wills and Trusts attorney in Kansas City, MO? Surfing the web for lawyers and reading their bios is a much better use of your time than trolling law school discussion forums. Again, few of you will take me up on this idea, but I promise it’s a very worthwhile exercise.
5. Read this old post of mine (from 2007!) about 4 Things To Do While Waiting for Your LSAT Score.
Mostly, remember not to panic. Your LSAT score is not grading you on how you’re living your life, how you’re loving the people who matter to you, how you’re making the world a better place, or how rewarding a career you’re going to have one day. It’s just a major factor in how law schools are going to judge you. That’s it. And we can talk more about that later. Have a great day!
Categories: LSAT
Tags: canceling LSAT score, cancelling LSAT score, June LSAT, should I cancel my LSAT score?
5 Comments »
Ok! it’s done – you took the June LSAT. First, you should be enjoying the evening and eating junk food and sitting in front of a mindless tv show or movie. You should NOT be reading any law school discussion forums that are going to make you feel paranoid. You should only be reading this blog post if you are thinking about canceling your score.
If that’s why you’re here, then please take my first piece of advice: don’t make any major decisions today. There’s a reason you have six calendar days to make this decision (see LSAC for more info on canceling). Sleep on it and see how you feel over the next couple of days. That should give you plenty of time to read these helpful posts:
Blue Print Prep: Proper beers to celebrate Post LSAT life
http://blueprintprep.com/lsatblog/lsat-advice/the-proper-beers-to-celebrate-post-lsat-life/
LSAC.com: how to cancel your score
http://www.lsac.org/jd/lsat/lsat-cancellation.asp
Got your June Score?
http://www.lawschoolexpert.com/blog/uncategorized/got-your-june-lsat-score/
When to cancel an LSAT score
http://www.lawschoolexpert.com/blog/lsat/when-to-cancel-an-lsat-score/
LSAT Blog: June 2011 Score release dates
http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/june-2011-lsat-score-release-dates.html
Categories: Low LSAT, LSAT, LSAT Prep
2 Comments »
Want to make sure you’ve covered your bases before Monday’s LSAT? Here are some things to check out:
Blog talk radio show: Last minute tips for LSAT takers
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ann-levine/2009/06/01/last-minute-tips-for-lsat-takers
Blue Print Prep: How to spend the last weekend before the LSAT (original post 10/1/10)
http://blueprintprep.com/lsatblog/lsat-advice/how-to-spend-the-final-weekend-before-the-lsat/
Blue Print Prep: What do to the morning of the LSAT (original post 6/2/11)
http://blueprintprep.com/lsatblog/lsat-advice/what-to-do-the-morning-of-the-june-2011-lsat/
LSAT Blog: Test Day tips organized in one post
http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/p/prepare-lsat-test-day-tips.html
LSAT Blog: 3 tips for day before LSAT
http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/prepare-day-before-lsat-tips-study-lsat.html
about.com <http://about.com> , 6 things to do the day before the LSAT
http://lawschool.about.com/od/lsat/bb/daybeforeLSAT.htm
If you read a few of these and then decide you’re not ready, here are 2 posts on how you can now “withdraw” from the LSAT before the test:
LSAT blog: New Option to Withdraw your LSAT Registration
http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/withdraw-lsat-registration-option-lsac.html
Manhattan LSAT: June LSAT – deadlines, destiny and dates
http://www.manhattanlsat.com/blog/index.php/2011/05/12/june-lsat-dates-deadlines-and-destiny/
Categories: LSAT, LSAT Prep
Tags: June LSAT
No Comments yet, your thoughts are welcome!
The following is a guest post by John Rood of Next Step Test Prep:
Regular readers of Ann’s blog <http://www.lawschoolexpert.com/blog/lsat/now-you-can-change-your-mind-about-the-lsat/> know that the LSAC recently changed its policies to include a withdraw option. This lets students decide up until the day before the test to chose to not take the exam without having to be marked absent or cancel a score.
This policy significantly increases student flexibility but comes with a price: students now need to give serious thought to whether they are ready to take a given exam since there is little penalty to postponing. Especially for June test-takers (who can easily postpone to October), this can be a tough decision. Here is some guidance:
1) Have you spent at least two months of focused LSAT study? Some students have successfully reached their top scores with under 4 weeks of study, but they are few and far between. Additionally, if you started with plenty of time but let your study taper off as Dancing With The Stars heated up, you might want to refocus. Another metric to consider is that if you haven’t done at least 10 timed LSAT practice tests, you’re probably not where you should be.
2) Have your LSAT scores leveled off? The goal is always to get the very best score possible; if you’re still seeing significant increases as you put in more work, it might be beneficial to hold off until you’ve started to plateau.
3) Are there areas where you fundamentally don’t understand what’s going on? Nearly everyone misses a few problems, but if there are particular issues that you can identify holding you back, you need to address those before sitting for the test. While you might have been able to stumble through algebra without knowing how to factor, if you don’t understand formal logic you really just aren’t ready to take the LSAT.
4) Is one section significantly weaker than the rest? While some variance is normal, if you routinely get 25/26 in LR but only 12/23 in LG, you probably have the aptitude to do a lot better on the games. Glaring weaknesses can usually be addressed.
If you just didn’t devote enough time to the LSAT, re-committing might be all that’s required. If you’re still missing some basic concepts, it might be time to consider a different set of books or an LSAT tutor.
Next Step Test Preparation provides complete courses of one-on-one tutoring with an LSAT expert for less than the price of a commercial prep course. Email us <mailto:info@nextsteptestprep.com> or call 888-530-NEXT (6398) for a complimentary consultation.
Categories: LSAT
No Comments yet, your thoughts are welcome!
Thanks to Steve Schwartz and his LSATBlog (follow it on Facebook!) for his post about how you can now withdraw from taking the LSAT rather than being marked as “absent.”
Categories: Application Timeline, LSAT, LSAT Prep, LSAT; Rolling Admissions
1 Comment »
There have been a number of postings this week about when to take the LSAT. We talk about this at length in The Law School Admission Game: Play Like an Expert.
The last day to change your test date for the June 2011 LSAT is May 13th. If you’re not close to where you need to be by this date, then put the test off into October. October is not too late – even for schools where you might apply Early Decision or under Early Notification programs. You will have your October LSAT scores by October 26th, which is plenty of time to fire off applications with early deadlines of November 1 and November 15th.
Here are some posts about application timelines:
Which LSAT to take?
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/which-lsat-should-i-take/
Application process per Power Score
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/how-does-the-law-school-admissions-process-work/
Lawschoolexpert timeline:
http://www.lawschoolexpert.com/blog/application-timeline/get-your-act-together/
http://www.lawschoolexpert.com/blog/application-timeline/5-things-fall-2009-applicants-can-do-right-now/
Podcasts:
http://www.insidersecrets.com/getting-into-law-school/
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ann-levine/2010/06/17/the-law-school-application-timeline-getting-started
|
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,
