How Usma got a $15,000 merit scholarship for law school

This LSAT Diary is from Usma, who got a $15,000 merit scholarship from Rutgers Law after taking the Premium LSAT course and working with me!

If you want to be in LSAT Diaries, please email me at LSATUnplugged@gmail.com. (You can be in LSAT Diaries whether you've taken the exam already or not.)


Here's the email she sent me right after she found out:

Usma's LSAT Diary:

As it is the case for many people, the LSAT was the one thing between me getting into law school. I had the GPA and the resume but standardized testing is the death of me. I did pretty awful on my SAT too but hey, I graduated from Rutgers with honors so take that College Board.

I took the LSAT twice. The first time was in October and the second was in February.

Before I actually started studying for the October exam, I felt kind of confident. I mean after all, it's an exam testing your sense of logic and obviously I can think. Well, boy was I wrong.

I signed up for a live online LSAT course which started in August. I thought it was going well. Some stuff was more confusing than the other but I worked in the workbooks and felt like I was kind of getting it. My instructors recommended not taking a practice test until we were a couple of weeks into the class so I waited until September to take my first practice LSAT. While taking it, I wasn't really concentrating and not strictly timing myself, so when I scored a 145, I was making excuses for why I did so poorly. The scary thing was that my test was only a month away but I kept telling myself I would do better. I kept taking practice tests and would score around 150.

My studying technique was taking practice tests every other day. One day I would take them and the next I would go over them. I would try to find out what I did wrong on my own, but I tended to find explanations on the internet that I would just read without fully comprehending my mistakes. I liked logic games but could never finish them fast enough. Reading comprehension and logical reasoning was usually a hit or miss.

As test day approached, I was trying my best not to stress out and I kept telling myself this is my first time and if I do badly, I can retake it. Although low, I wanted to get at least a 150. To be honest, I figured I would do better than that.

Well too bad I can't predict the future. Test day was awful. I wore three layers of clothing and it was so cold during my exam that I had to keep my jacket on. I hadn't been sick since sophomore year of high school and after my October LSAT, I was running a high fever and got a sinus infection so I had to miss classes for a week. Anyways, I was sitting all the way in the back right by the window and it wasn't helping the proctor was looking over my shoulder. I get that, that is their job but I wasn't cheating and honestly, it's impossible to cheat on the LSAT. The exam was over and the proctor made an announcement that if anyone wants to cancel their scores they should bubble in the circles on the booklet. A little part of my contemplated it but at the same time I wanted to know how I did after sitting in a freezing room for five hours.

I left the exam feeling not so relieved. I didn't finish any section and was stuck to quickly fill in the answer sheet as there was 30 seconds left for the section to finish. I knew I would have to retake the exam and the deadline for the December exam came and I still did not get my October score. I ended up signing up for it anyways so I didn't have to pay late fees. Three weeks after test day, I got an email from LSAC and when I opened it my score was written in bold. My heart dropped and I was in shock. I got a 145 again. After weeks of studying, I got the same score I got, the first time I ever took a practice test. I felt like all my hard work was meaningless and I was extremely upset.

I emailed Steve immediately after I open my LSAC email and told him how I had heard great things about him and I'll need all the help I can get. He replied right away and when I spoke to him, Steve advised me to cancel my December test and to take it in February instead. That was some of the best advice I could have ever received because instead of having a month to study I now had 3 months to change my study habits and work on the problems I was having.

I started LSAT tutoring sessions with Steve and took the Premium LSAT course. The studying schedule was a life saver. Whenever I tried to study on my own, I was all over the place and didn't know how to start. Steve's lesson plan gave me a strict guideline as in what I should be doing every day. From originally scoring below 150, my practice tests were consistently above 155.

For my February test I wore double the amount of layers but ironically it was much warmer this day than it was in October. I was feeling much better than I was the first time around and I got to a point where the LSAT just stopped fazing me. Once I got my exam, I finish my first two sections completely and felt good about it. By the third section I started getting mentally drained and felt like I was doing badly, but I just tried thinking positively.

On a side note, I got in an argument with the proctors. They wouldn't let me go to the bathroom even though I got to the exam early, they were talking to each other as people were testing and were constantly entering and leaving the room throughout the exam. Since a bunch of us were complaining about how annoying and disruptive they were being during our break, I asked them to be a little more considerate to the test takers and they showed me a whole bunch of attitude. I had to do what I had to do to be able to concentrate the best I could during my exam and I didn't care if the proctors hated me. I wouldn't say I was rude about it, but if something like this ever happens during one of your exams, don't be shy and not say anything. It's your future on the line.

So, the second time around I got a 153. I know it's not the best score, but it was an eight point improvement from my first time. I was hoping for at least a 155 but I was still happy. My biggest worry was that I would only score one or two points better.

On my applications, there was an optional question asking whether or not I felt as though my LSAT score was a good representation of myself. I filled out the section and explained how I know both my scores were low, but I worked hard to improve it the second time around and I will continue to work hard in law school.

In the fall I will be attending Rutgers Law School on a merit scholarship. With my low exam score, I never imagined of such a thing, but this is just evidence that the LSAT isn't everything. Yes, it's important part but don't feel defeated over your score since you can't know what the admissions council is thinking when they are looking at your file.

The LSAT and I had a complicated relationship to say the least. For any The Office fans out there, I like to explain the LSAT in terms of Jim and Dwight: two people who hated each other and kept playing pranks on each other but eventually worked it out and tolerated each other despite the jello and stapler trick. The LSAT constantly pranked me and teased me. I thought I would be doing great but I would do awful and vice versa.

At the end of the day, the LSAT is not dreadful. It takes time, patience, and practice to conquer it but it is possible. Of course I wish I could have scored in the 170s or even the 160s but I know I tried my hardest and did everything I possible could have.

If you are one of those people who struggled like me, don't feel like you are stupid because you aren't. Everything will eventually work out and you will get into law school and be able to fulfill your dreams.