Many of you took the December 2010 LSAT. Hope it went well!Blog reader Schopenhauer created comic-strip-style illustrations of his Test Day experience.
They're so good that I just have to include them in this post and share them with everyone (click to enlarge):
Pete became a logic superhero:
Nobody is feeling footloose and fancy free after an hours long standardized test, and Saturday, I was no exception. Subsequently, when I noticed a casual Facebook post on a friend's wall condemning an old scandal my favorite college football team was involved in, I felt compelled to write her a 500 word email picking her argument apart. If I hadn't taken the LSAT that very weekend, I may have just quirked an eyebrow at her post and moved on, but stress is a powerful force.
Nickie was upset that the proctors didn't enforce all the rules:
This guy brought in his cell which isn't allowed, a mechanical pencil even though we could only use regular pencils and a Starbucks cup that doesn't fit in a zipbloc. The proctors let him keep the phone in the room and he had to borrow pencils...I just wanted to turn to them and say, if you can't read the instructions on your admissions ticket, how the hell are you going to make it in law school.
Brenna has had a lot of fun before the test, even though (or because) she didn't really study:
Instead of studying for my LSAT, for the past 4 months I've been traveling around Europe and exploring my new home of Madrid. Whoops...it's wicked sweet to have absolutely no idea where I'll be living 7 months from now and what I'll be doing at that point in my life.annajanine was tired:
All I know is that I was so mentally exhausted after it was done that I could barely remember my own name...
LSATtko is still studying for the LSAT, but this was too funny not to share:
I truthfully feel that the LSAT has a heart and if you start digging into it… I think you can feel the passion of the LSAT writers. They really love what they do...I’m actually finding each and everyone of those suckers so fascinating!...I can see the people visualizing me in some super hot steamy desert clutching madly at my LSAT prep tests and my tongue hanging to my knees. Believe me, that’s not where I’m coming from.***
How'd the big day go for you?
Also see "How to Wait a Long Time for Your LSAT Score".
Photo by 10350347@N06
My test day was so epic I had to illustrate it:
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These comics are amazing, Schopenhauer! You're incredibly talented. I've embedded the comics at the top of the post.
ReplyDeleteSchopenhauer, I enjoyed this so much! Sounds like your test went just as badly as mine did and well...misery loves company. I particularly sympathize with your logic games experience. Sounds like many people had the same experience all around. And to be forced to write about the Wangs after that. At least give the kids names, LSAC.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had the same ordering as I did: LR RC LR LR and LG. How do you know your third section was experimental? It seemed to me like the first section was experimental. Didn't each LR section have 26 questions anyhow?
Thank you very much Steve! Glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 5:57 PM: I'm still kind of shocked that I finished each section on time. Still worried about my score though. My second LR actually had 25 questions, so it had to be experimental. Some test takers had three LR sections with 26 questions. LSAC likes to mix it up, even in certain distributions, so I am not sure which was the experimental in your case.
Schopenhauer: forget about law school. Become a graphic designer instead. Talent like yours should not be wasted!
ReplyDeleteI also had to write about the Wangs and I also had LR RC LR LR and LG. But are the tests administered internationally the same as the ones in the US? I only ask because I took the June '10 test and when it was released it was NOT the one I had taken in London.
Awesome comics! I loved the contending answers "Shoot him! He's lying!" Funny stuff!
ReplyDeleteHaha... Wangs. I have a decidedly juvenile mind and no impulse control, so my essay on the Wangs was pretty... not-subtle.
I can imagine a professor reading it thinking, "This guy didn't really need to write the word "Wang" so many times... I wonder if he thinks he's being funny..."
And the son in the essay? Yup- referred to him as "Little Wang" in my essay.
I have no shame.
Little Wang??? LMFAO!!!! REJECT PILE
ReplyDeleteAnybody else think that hanging out in the woods, observing nature, is a shady place for their kids? What were the Wangs thinking?!
ReplyDeleteI had a Wangs essay too, but LR RC LG LR LG - inevitably, as this plays to my weaknesses. And are we supposed to try to finish the essay? Only AFTER test day did this question occur to me! I could have, but instead blathered on in my usual fashion, heaping up the justifications until there was barely time for a one sentence conclusion.
ReplyDeleteBy calling him Little Wang, were you trying to throw in a reference to Weezy?
ReplyDeleteAdcomms love hip-hop references in the Writing Sample. This is its true purpose.
LSAC prohibits discussion, including the so-called “postmortem” discussion of test questions immediately after a particular test administration, because it has the potential to affect the fairness of the LSAT and the law school admission process. This thread has been logged and appropriate action may be taken.
ReplyDeleteCaveon Test Security is a test security vendor for LSAC.
Thanks for the reminder, Caveon representative.
ReplyDeleteI'll keep an eye on things and delete any posts containing inappropriate details.
However, everything in this thread looks okay to me. Please let me know if there's anything that bothers you.
I recognize that user name- I think I saw an article on this post-mortem discussion topic on top-law-schools.com written by this person. If I remember, it was the executive assistant to the counsel for LSAC. Jim?
ReplyDeleteProbably good advice, too. I think even broad discussions of unreleased LSATs are prohibited. We're bound by agreement to this rule, though I think while its reasoning is sound its also fairly impractical. The reasoning was something to do with the fact that sometimes people might have to take the LSAT after the test day and access to discussions would give them some sort of advantage.
My argument would be that administering the test on different days in certain situations would ALREADY be inherent unfairness. LSAC should say that the test is going to be on such and such date and stick to it- no exceptions. Then they wouldn't have to worry about this post-mortem problem.
Oh, another argument is that LSAC may decide to use undisclosed test questions later. Which, A)they probably never do, and B) the worst case scenario is that they have to write more questions. If they need help writing games, I'm volunteering!
Yet while some aspects of this prohibition seem foolish, we are nonetheless obliged to comply.
Sigh. Where's Wikileaks when you need them?
"another argument is that LSAC may decide to use undisclosed test questions later. Which, A)they probably never do"
DeleteIt is a known certainty that the non-disclosed February exams are sometimes re-used in at least one of the following situations:
the Saturday Sabbath-observer exams that are given later in the week, after the Saturday exams in September/October and December
exams for the differently-abled who have different, accommodated timings than those taking the mainstream version of the exam
Further deponent sayeth not; said too much already under this username.
Hope this is helpful to someone.
Caleb: Yes, I recognize that user name being used to post a direct message from an executive assistant at LSAC.
ReplyDeleteI believe I drew that cartoon within proper bounds, but if Caveon Test Security specifically says that there is a problem with what I drew - even without a direct message from LSAC - then it should be taken down. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary, but I don't want this third party to think so and the label me as a criminal.
Don't worry, Schopenhauer. I believe Caveon is referring to comment threads, not to the content of the blog post or cartoon. If they thought there was a problem, they'd likely contact me. (I've emailed them asking me to contact me about specific problems. They haven't.) I believe they're just trying to discourage inappropriate comments.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, everyone, Schopenhauer's comics have been picked up by Above The Law - the most popular legal blog on the Internet:
http://abovethelaw.com/2010/12/non-sequiturs-12-17-10/
Congrats, Schopenhauer!
Is it so hard to just shut the hell up about the LSAT after you're done taking it? A friend currently in law school reports that the same prohibition applies to end-of-term exams. I wish everyone would get over this senior-year "what did you put down for question 23?" crap.
ReplyDeleteYou think the LSAT is bad? After 1L year, I was convinced the LSAT was the worst "indicator" of law school success. And then 2L year happened.. imagine being as stressed as you were 1L year, but subtract the emotional stress of just not fully addressing the circumstances at hand and add 100 times more work, with more information to learn (read: memorize) plus work on a journal. Trust me. With the job market as it is, if you think the LSAT was hard, seek refuge elsewhere
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 10:11 PM: I have to agree with you that if someone thinks the LSAT is the hardest thing they've ever done then they probably should not go to law school, but the stress here has more to do with this particular test than with the LSAT itself.
ReplyDeletethe comics man man made my day. Thanks for sharing that is wicked clever and how astute! The teeny tiny desk and the glazed over eyes... very poignant! I am convinced this person is in the wrong field, seriously, go elsewhere and use your god given talents! law school will suck the creative juices out of our soul and leave you agnostic and argumentative? lolll
ReplyDeleteI am a former paralegal that walked away from a cushy job that supported two anal retentive, ass kissing associates. I wiped their noses and gave them tissues after they lost their hearings on motion calendar. I stayed late to fix the copy machine and brewed the coffee for late night mediation. I quit my job (gasp, gasp) to return to college to get my Bachelor's degree. I am insanely toying with the notion that I may actually become an attorney. If anybody can stomach the grueling real-work life of a paralegal for 18 years they can suffer through 3 years of law school. Oh, favorite memory of working for flamboyant litigator: standing in the middle of conference table at the firm case status meeting, pulling off his prosthetic leg and shaking it at his staff because billings were down! I am not sure the analogy of the leg and billings? The following month resulted in a lengthy memo on the new procedure titled rationing of paperclips... no lie!
ReplyDeleteI just laughed out loud. I identify with so much of this comic. Especially the bit about screaming after the test. This is amazing. Great job!
ReplyDeleteNickie and I were in the same room at the University of Houston!!! That guy was super ridiculous and I was dyyyyying at the proctors getting mad at him.
ReplyDeleteI guess it is nice to know that Caveon exists.... however.... nothing here seems wrong.
ReplyDeleteAll the icons on my LSAT status page just changed from 'not yet available' to 'cannot be displayed'.
ReplyDeleteHmmm......
the score email date on the LSAC page has changed from 1/10/2011 to 1/06/2011 as well...
ReplyDeleteAnd the score email date changed to 1/6!
ReplyDeleteis it wrong for me to be THRILLED with scoring a 152 on the December LSAT?
ReplyDeleteI started out PT-ing in the 160s on 3 tests, but after 4 months of studying, was scoring in the 140s consistently over 7 exams. My last PT two days before the Dec test was a depressing 141.
Anyway, all of my applications are out, and now I'll sit back and see where/if I get admitted. If I don't secure a spot at any of my top 5 schools - all part-time programs - I'll probably retake in June in hopes of scoring a 160 and reapply next year.
Steve - just wanted to say I sent you the new cartoon via Top Lawn Stools.
ReplyDeleteWhomever created these comics . . . if he/she is taking the LSAT or considering going to law school, he/she might be better served embracing this comic-illustrating talent and go that route. Might be less stressful!
ReplyDeleteHahahahahahahahahahahahaha freaking classic!
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to be rude, and the artistry is good, but I don't relate to the humor. Must be just me, everyone else seems to love it.
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