Writing LSAT's

[Sheva #7]

Hi guys

I've just registered for LSAT for June 11. I am interesting in any experiences/opinions/tips about your LSAT exams (for those of you who already passed it i guess).

I've also signed up LSAT prep course through Oxford seminars, so I am curious if anyone here knows how helpfull it actually is and did it actually help you to get better mark on LSAT.

I've heard that admission to all law schools in Canada is really competitive, something like 10 candidates for 1 seat, so it will be tough to get in but I hope for the best

[Slava]

I wrote the LSAT a few years ago. Its a long, long experience. I think that it went from 12-6pm and you basically cannot leave the room. I studied on my own and did pretty decent, so I can't say whether the course is useful, but the studying helps to some extent.

[troutman]

Practice, practice, practice. I didn't take a course, but get some books and old exams and get used to the types of questions you will be asked. My score got better by practice.

Then, ask yourself - why would you want to be a lawyer?

[SaskaBushFire]

The prep course is a great way to get a feel for the LSAT. There are a few books you can pick up at your Universities book store as well that will help prep you up, I got all of my books from a Law student friend so I am not sure exactly where they came from but that would be my guess.

When I wrote my LSAT I studied a hour a day for a month, then within the last 10 days of the LSAT I studied for about 3-4 hours per day, with a good ol cram session 2 days before (that is my style of studying, I love to cram). I found myself very prepared, but it was still incredibly tough. The biggest enemy in the LSAT is time, you only get so much time per section so you must allocate it accordingly.

If you manage your time, study at your level of comfort and do a lot of practice questions you will be fine. The only place you will have trouble is if you don't watch your time and you end up having to leave part of a section blank.

Best of luck to you though it truly is a rewarding experience.

[Flashpoint]

I did the Renart LSAT course, it was great, and worth every penny.

Practice, practice, practace. Don't cram - it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Each school only accepts 1 in 10 applicants, but almost all applicants apply to more than one school, so it is more like 30% placement rate.

The hardest part of law school was getting in. After that it was 30% how hard you studied, and 70% who you knew. At least that was my experience. If you had good study partners you were light years ahead. If you had contacts in your area of interest, you could lock up an article easy as pie.

The more people you know, the better.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by troutman

Practice, practice, practice. I didn't take a course, but get some books and old exams and get used to the types of questions you will be asked. My score got better by practice.

Then, ask yourself - why would you want to be a lawyer?

QFD.

I took the LSAT in 2002. Imagine the most fun you could possibly have in your life time. Now imagine the exact opposite. The test writing experience sucks a lot. You're crammed up in a lecture theatre with a hundred or so other wannabe-law-students sweating and stinking up the joint. On top of that, the test itself doesn't seem to have any real life connection to the practice of law. They might as well use some other arbitrary measuring stick like foot size to determine law school entry.

On the other hand, if the idea is to see how somoene deals with pressure doing a completely mundane and useless task, then the LSAT may be a halfway decent diagnostic test after all. Guess you could also describe the practice of law in similar terms too...

[GlobeTrotter]

Writing the LSAT isn't a fun experience. You will be stuffed in a giant theatre classroom with 300 other people. You will hear everyone cough, sneeze, snort etc. If you get distracted easily take some ear plugs.

I didn't take a prep course, so can't say much about that. I bought one prep book and wrote three practice exams. I ended up doing fine, the material isn't that tough once you understand the types of questions that you are being asked. Its all a game of logic.

I still can't really understand the value of the LSAT. Before law school I was told that it is the best tool available to determine how people will do in law school. Those with the highest LSAT scores will have the highest grades...

I don't buy it, I had a good - but not great LSAT score - and ended up doing very well in law school. Law school is all about learning how to write the exams...you don't need to do well on the LSAT to figure that out.

Anyway, law school admission committees still think the LSAT is important, so best of luck!

[troutman]

Originally Posted by GlobeTrotter

Law school is all about learning how to write the exams...you don't need to do well on the LSAT to figure that out.

A further principle:

Law school is all about having legible hand-writing.

[GlobeTrotter]

True enough. Legible hand writing that you can put onto paper at a very rapid pace!

[fredr123]

For anyone interested, I didn't take any prep courses. Couldn't justify the expense. However, I did buy the Princeton Review book and a pile of old tests. Practice, practice, practice. I got better the more old exams I did. Though I never cracked the 98th percentile or anything, I did well enough to get accepted to each of the schools I applied to.

[Kidder]

They have a couple old exams on the LSAT website.

http://www.lsac.org/

I took a practise one a while ago just to see what it was all about. I found the test really fun, it's really just a logic test, and who doesn't enjoy that? But I guess that's without all the pressure.

I've been thinking about going into law but I'm not sure if I'm ready to part with my soul yet. hmm...

[corporatejay]

A further principle:

Law school is all about having legible hand-writing.

True enough. Legible hand writing that you can put onto paper at a very rapid pace!

Okay old timers.

They have piloting exams on computers here at UofA for at least two years and within a few they will all be on laptops (2/4 are this semester).

ALso, i have terrible handwriting, it's all relative, everyone who writes out 20-30 pages of material in 2 hours is going to have crap handwriting, but unlike undergrad, if they can't read it they WILL NOT give you the benefit of the doubt.


also, I wrote my LSAT at UofA (even though i lived in calgary) we got full size desks and everything, it was beautiful, my calgary counterparts got a stupid little tablet in a 400 person theatre.

I did the kaplan course which was extensive and expensive but that's because i'm sadly not much of a self starter and without that course I wouldn't have done much on my own until it was too late.

The key...PRACTICE, then practice, then practice some more, people will say "you can't study" but oh, you can, do not try and wing it.

good luck! PM if you want any more information about my current Law School experience.

[GlobeTrotter]

Quote = "Okay old timers."

I guess instead of writing fast you just have to type fast...

I'm a recent grad (I sometimes feel old though...) and I would have liked the option to use a laptop for my exams. I'm not sure all my classmates would have though - some people don't have the typing skills.

Either way, you have to get as much down as possible in an exam that seems to take forever, but isn't always long enough.

[fredr123]

I wrote more in every law school exam than during all my other classes the entire semester combined. You write fast, you write frantically and you write a lot.

LSAT was a lot of bubble-filling with the exception of the stupid essay portion of the exam.

[flylock shox]

As pretty much everyone else here has already noted, practice is the key. My advice would be to write a couple of timed practice exams, and identify the portion of the test which gives you the most difficulty. Your rewards for practicing will be greatest for that section, so concentrate on it.

The most critical section for most people is the problem-solving section. The reason for this is the time-pressure. If you had 3 minutes longer to work on it, you'd probably get every question right. However, with the time you're given, it's actually the hardest section of the exam. You MUST know how you're going to approach problems in this section before you enter the exam. Unless you can identify problem-types right off the bat, and you know what approach to use for each type, you will likely panic and lose valuable time trying to figure out a way of approaching the problem. If you know what you're doing going in, then you can attack the questions, finish with enough time to review your answers, and even score perfect (or near to it) on this section of the exam.

Also, if you find yourself under time pressure, and are struggling with a question, cross off any answers you've eliminated or are fairly sure aren't correct and then move on. That way, if you have time to go back, or if you have to guess, you don't waste time or points on answers your instincts tell you are wrong.

Oh, and as others have noted, the exam experience sucks. It really sucks.

May I ask where you're thinking of going to law school?

[Bobblehead]

Is it similar to the GMAT in that there is one section (which they don't identify) that they use to test questions for future tests (and don't include in the mark, obviously)?

I believe the GMAT is way shorter and probably easier, but that section that blew me out of the water really adds to the stress (even though I did pretty well).

[automaton 3]

Lol troutman

In all honesty, the job really, really sucks at times. At other times, ok. I don't know many lawyers who spring from their bed in the morning and can't wait to go to work!

Make sure you practice under the clock. You'd probably get every question right if you had enough time, the key is to efficiently answer as many questions as possible.

I didn't take a prep course, but heard good things about them. I just bought a prep book and practiced some, but not tons and did fine.

I distinctly recall one person running out of the test sobbing, and several others in tears afterwards. The test is brutal.

[JohnnyB]

I actually enjoyed the writing of the LSAT. I suppose it suits me.
I agree that time is by far the biggest challenge in writing it though. I recommend that you write a lot of practice exams, systematize your methods of evaluating the questions, and do all of your practice exams under timed conditions. If you can reduce the time needed for you to evaluate each question your chances of success go up a lot.

[Thunderball]

Prayer! Lots of Prayer!

I wrote it last June, and it was a long 5 hours. Apparently the courses only help certain people... I didn't take one, just bought a pile of prep tests and went to town. I didn't find my score went up the more I did them, but I did do a little better on the actual LSAT than my average mock score.

[icarus]

I wrote 1.5 practice LSATs in preparation with no other study. I think those prep courses just give you the placebo effect!