LSAT Diary: The LSAT Love Story

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Rob's LSAT Diary:

‘Love Story’ and ‘LSAT’ -- a surprisingly common combination on the Internet. “I got a 148 on my first LSAT… then I fell in love with the LSAT… then I got a 165.” Ugh. Really? I mean, I get the premise, but when you’re in the 250th hour of studying in the little closet you laughingly call an ‘office’ for a test where the difference between ‘most’ and ‘some’ can cost you difference between T20 and “Oh, I think I’ve heard of that school”… ‘love’ might be a bit of a stretch.

Luckily, my LSAT love story is a bit less commonplace.

Law school has always been the eventual goal. I, like many of you reading this blog, graduated college thinking that a free-wheeling year on my own would make interesting cocktail party conversation and cleanse my palate before I delved into the real business of being an adult. My Alma Mater is a small university in the UK and really only well known in the Northeast, so I initially thought I’d settle in the Northeast within shooting distance of law schools that would recognize my degree (it is also, coincidentally, where I’m from). But as fate would have it, I got a job offer through a friend for a position at a firm in the South.

As we like to say in the UK, I did it for the banter. The South? And this is ‘real south.’ Awesome. What an experience. Give it a year, mix the indigenous population, watch football, study for the LSAT, and go on my merry way to a law school back home. Banter.

Well, I messed up. My plan went all higgledly-piggledly, as I now find myself saying. I met a girl. Not just ‘a’ girl, but ‘the’ girl. Oh, shucks. As I got to know her better, and we started to hang out more, life became less about the LSAT and more about her. The LSAT could always wait, this little southern belle most definitely could not. The December LSAT got closer and closer, and I studied less and less. What studying I did was laughable. Untimed. Without rhyme or reason. I’d put in an hour (while watching ‘The Office’) and would then head out to see her. We got within a few days of the test and she asked, “You okay DD-ing [ed. designated driving] Friday night?”

Sure, I said. Not a big deal that it’s the night before the LSAT, I’ll DD. Well, DD I did. And not only did I DD, but we managed to get into our first fight as a couple (cute, I know). Two hours of sleep later, I was up, late for the LSAT, breakfast-less, forgetting my glasses at home, and having simply no idea about the clear plastic bag we’re supposed to have.

Months later, she would tell me it was part of her plan to have me stay. In honesty, my score on that LSAT was probably a breaking point in our relationship – good score, I consider leaving; bad score, why not stay? Rather then tell you what I decided, I’ll just tell you my score: 151.

Tanking that LSAT was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. Later that month, she introduced me to her daughter, a four year-old of unequaled flair, intelligence, and charm. Within six months, that little girl asked me to be ‘her new daddy.’ Within eight months, I asked that little girl’s mommy to be my wife.

I share this story for one reason: for many of us, studying for the LSAT is probably one of the greatest intellectual undertakings of our life. And again, for many of us, it is probably the first time in our lives where we’ve studied for something not just for ourselves. My score on the October LSAT doesn’t just affect me; it affects my family as well. It’s a heavy burden for anyone.

In terms of law schools, my options are limited. The physically abusive, adulterous, redneck, man-child -- that for reasons surpassing understanding is my fiancée’s ex-husband -- has (unconscionably) visitation rights. So any move to law school has to be within 8 hours driving. Of acceptable law schools who fit the driving criteria, the median score varies from a 157 to a 168. The school with the 168 is the first choice, of course.

151 to 168? Unheard of?

Please stay tuned for next installment: ‘Study schedule.’

Photo by doug88888