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Law School Dreamer's LSAT Diary:
Week 6
This week I have busily prepared for four final exams and one final paper. I am ashamed to say, I have dedicated zero hours to my LSAT preparation. But I have dedicated approximately 30 hours to final exam preparation. At one point, I was actually lying in bed trying to go to sleep and actually feeling guilty about going to sleep and not studying the LSAT.
I still have to decide whether or not it is best for me to defer until the October administration. I am not yet to the point of feeling that all hope is lost, especially because next week I can completely devote 100% of my time to LSAT studying, and the following week, while I will be taking classes for summer session, I will have more free time than I did during the spring semester.
Week 7
Completed 2 PrepTests. Spent one entire day at a prospective law school.
Two weeks ago I took the October 2003 practice test and was thrilled to have scored six points higher than my initial diagnostic. I took it under timed conditions and included an additional section to simulate the “diagnostic section.” This week, I took the June 2005 test and scored right back down to my initial diagnostic of 143, and I did not include a fifth “experimental” section. I literally burst into tears. I have to determine whether I should defer my LSAT administration to October.
What is most disappointing to me (and probably most others who invest a substantial amount of time studying for the LSAT) is when you put in the time and feel as though you’re not making progress, or worse yet, moving backward. Once I calmed down a bit, I reassessed my PrepTest. I remember feeling so proud of myself while I was taking it under timed conditions that I had finished each section, often with time to spare. But this meant I was sacrificing quality for quantity and clearly it did not pay off.
I also question if I should not have jumped right in to taking timed practice tests. I have often felt that instead of learning as I go, I was too focused on rushing to learn the techniques and skills. Putting myself under the pressure of the stopwatch made me feel as though I had no time to learn a strategy. I wish I had come to this realization before now.
So I sat down and took another (but untimed) practice test – the October 2004 test. I did not care how long it took me; I just let time slip by. I scored each section upon completion so that I could critique myself while that section was still fresh in my mind. I also wrote notes to myself about why I thought one answer was correct over the other answer choices. When I missed an answer choice I forced myself to either verbally or in writing explain to myself why it was incorrect.
I think sometimes it is easy to trick ourselves into thinking we comprehend something when really we do not; we just breeze over it without full comprehension. Anyway, five hours later, I scored a 155. I’m not thrilled about that score, but I learned a lot. I don’t know how indicative that is of my full potential. My end goal has always been to score a 160, so even still I’m 11 raw points away from that.
Another regret I have is that I jumped into taking the PrepTests before I fully learned the strategies. I really do need to spend more time focused on reading and learning new strategies – all I am doing by taking PrepTests with high expectations under timed conditions before I’m ready is frustrating myself.
Again, I wish I had come to these realizations WEEKS – scratch that – MONTHS ago. The LSAT is a few short weeks away. I have to decide if I want to pass on the June administration date until October. I have a lot of apprehensions about this for a variety of reasons; mainly that I will have even less time to devote to LSAT studying in the fall, the fact that I want to get this over with, plus I wanted to send my applications out in September and October and if I wait until the October administration, I will not receive my score until November.
This week I visited one of the law schools that I am extremely interested in. I asked about their admissions process and was told if I send my application in before I have a reportable LSAT score, the file will not be reviewed until my file is “complete” (LSAT score included). I asked about the methodology in how the admissions committee examines applicant’s files. The answer surprised me, but I guess it should not have.
Basically, as soon as several hundred files are complete (or at least enough that merits attention by the admission committee), the files are ranked by GPA and LSAT (I could not get an answer as to which one GPA/LSAT). The highest ranked numbers go at the top of the pile, the lowest on the bottom and the committee continues to grant admission until they run out of acceptances to give. I was told they grant 500 acceptances a year. The following 600-700 applicants/files in line will likely be waitlisted. And sadly, if an applicant is 700th in line on the list of files it is likely their file will never even be looked at.
Talk about a numbers game! Imagine putting forth the effort to put together an application, personal statement, etc. (not to mention the steep application fee) and you are never given the time of day. Talk about disappointment. Plus you never knew whether the admissions committee ever looked at your file (and dinged you) or never touched it (still dinged you). I honestly can’t say which would upset me more. At least the admissions representative who gave me the tour was brutally honest and even referred to the admissions process herself as “a total crapshoot.”
On a happier note, I did gain entry to the building and test room (really a giant auditorium) where I will take my LSAT. I must say, it is pretty intimidating looking in on an auditorium that would likely seat 800 people. I was surprised to see the itty bitty flip-up style desks which aren’t even large enough for a single page of paper. At home, I had been studying using my entire desk and in the tunnel I’m sitting in a restaurant-style booth so test day will be very different.
Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Photo by wallyg
Law School Dreamer's LSAT Diary:
Week 6
This week I have busily prepared for four final exams and one final paper. I am ashamed to say, I have dedicated zero hours to my LSAT preparation. But I have dedicated approximately 30 hours to final exam preparation. At one point, I was actually lying in bed trying to go to sleep and actually feeling guilty about going to sleep and not studying the LSAT.
I still have to decide whether or not it is best for me to defer until the October administration. I am not yet to the point of feeling that all hope is lost, especially because next week I can completely devote 100% of my time to LSAT studying, and the following week, while I will be taking classes for summer session, I will have more free time than I did during the spring semester.
Week 7
Completed 2 PrepTests. Spent one entire day at a prospective law school.
Two weeks ago I took the October 2003 practice test and was thrilled to have scored six points higher than my initial diagnostic. I took it under timed conditions and included an additional section to simulate the “diagnostic section.” This week, I took the June 2005 test and scored right back down to my initial diagnostic of 143, and I did not include a fifth “experimental” section. I literally burst into tears. I have to determine whether I should defer my LSAT administration to October.
What is most disappointing to me (and probably most others who invest a substantial amount of time studying for the LSAT) is when you put in the time and feel as though you’re not making progress, or worse yet, moving backward. Once I calmed down a bit, I reassessed my PrepTest. I remember feeling so proud of myself while I was taking it under timed conditions that I had finished each section, often with time to spare. But this meant I was sacrificing quality for quantity and clearly it did not pay off.
I also question if I should not have jumped right in to taking timed practice tests. I have often felt that instead of learning as I go, I was too focused on rushing to learn the techniques and skills. Putting myself under the pressure of the stopwatch made me feel as though I had no time to learn a strategy. I wish I had come to this realization before now.
So I sat down and took another (but untimed) practice test – the October 2004 test. I did not care how long it took me; I just let time slip by. I scored each section upon completion so that I could critique myself while that section was still fresh in my mind. I also wrote notes to myself about why I thought one answer was correct over the other answer choices. When I missed an answer choice I forced myself to either verbally or in writing explain to myself why it was incorrect.
I think sometimes it is easy to trick ourselves into thinking we comprehend something when really we do not; we just breeze over it without full comprehension. Anyway, five hours later, I scored a 155. I’m not thrilled about that score, but I learned a lot. I don’t know how indicative that is of my full potential. My end goal has always been to score a 160, so even still I’m 11 raw points away from that.
Another regret I have is that I jumped into taking the PrepTests before I fully learned the strategies. I really do need to spend more time focused on reading and learning new strategies – all I am doing by taking PrepTests with high expectations under timed conditions before I’m ready is frustrating myself.
Again, I wish I had come to these realizations WEEKS – scratch that – MONTHS ago. The LSAT is a few short weeks away. I have to decide if I want to pass on the June administration date until October. I have a lot of apprehensions about this for a variety of reasons; mainly that I will have even less time to devote to LSAT studying in the fall, the fact that I want to get this over with, plus I wanted to send my applications out in September and October and if I wait until the October administration, I will not receive my score until November.
This week I visited one of the law schools that I am extremely interested in. I asked about their admissions process and was told if I send my application in before I have a reportable LSAT score, the file will not be reviewed until my file is “complete” (LSAT score included). I asked about the methodology in how the admissions committee examines applicant’s files. The answer surprised me, but I guess it should not have.
Basically, as soon as several hundred files are complete (or at least enough that merits attention by the admission committee), the files are ranked by GPA and LSAT (I could not get an answer as to which one GPA/LSAT). The highest ranked numbers go at the top of the pile, the lowest on the bottom and the committee continues to grant admission until they run out of acceptances to give. I was told they grant 500 acceptances a year. The following 600-700 applicants/files in line will likely be waitlisted. And sadly, if an applicant is 700th in line on the list of files it is likely their file will never even be looked at.
Talk about a numbers game! Imagine putting forth the effort to put together an application, personal statement, etc. (not to mention the steep application fee) and you are never given the time of day. Talk about disappointment. Plus you never knew whether the admissions committee ever looked at your file (and dinged you) or never touched it (still dinged you). I honestly can’t say which would upset me more. At least the admissions representative who gave me the tour was brutally honest and even referred to the admissions process herself as “a total crapshoot.”
On a happier note, I did gain entry to the building and test room (really a giant auditorium) where I will take my LSAT. I must say, it is pretty intimidating looking in on an auditorium that would likely seat 800 people. I was surprised to see the itty bitty flip-up style desks which aren’t even large enough for a single page of paper. At home, I had been studying using my entire desk and in the tunnel I’m sitting in a restaurant-style booth so test day will be very different.
Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Photo by wallyg
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