AtlasLSAT posted a great article today about the struggles of those currently serving our country who are applying to law school. I have worked -and currently work – with a number of law school applicants who are worrying about the LSAT while serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, or on warships.
This post might help put your noisy proctor problem in perspective : )
2 Responses
Hi Ann,
Thank you always for your helpful postings.
I am a junior and I am thinking about taking my spring quarter off (leave of absence) to study for LSAT. That way, I can devote April-June for intensive studying for LSAT and I can spend the rest of my summer break preparing for my application.
I can return in the Fall quarter of my senior year (late September), and take LSAT, and also apply when I resume my school.
I was going to graduate early anyways, so even if I take a leave of absence for one quarter, I can still graduate on time.
The question is, is it worth taking a quarter off?
I know I can’t study for LSAT during school year for sure. I have so much workload and I also want to maintain my currently very high GPA. I have seen people taking a quarte off or being “part time” students just to study for LSAT. I’ve also seen several who believed they can study LSAT while in school, and miserably fail to get good score in September.
Given the importance of LSAT scores, I feel taking a quarter off (which will be displayed in my transcript) is relatively safer choice than scoring low in LSAT in terms of law school admissions. But would law schools really care that I took a quarter off right before I apply? Would it negatively impact my chances of getting in?
I know this question is hard to answer in generic way, but I’d much appreciate it if you could at least let me know how Law School admissions will view my leave of absence, how I could explain it to them, and, given your experience with the numerous applicants, if you personally think it’s worth the time and the risk.
Thank you so much in advance!!
Best,
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
The answer really depends on how strong your grades are and whether you could use these grades to show continuing improvement at school, etc. It seems extreme to take a quarter off to study for the LSAT, but you know yourself best. Depending on where you go to school, you could take the Sept. LSAT and spend the summer preparing for it.
Ann