Getting Started With LSAT Prep: LSAT Diaries

This installment of LSAT Diaries comes from Erika, who's taking the October 2012 LSAT.

In this diary, she talks about getting started with her LSAT prep after a false start 4 years ago.

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.)

Please leave Erika some encouragement and advice below in the comments!

Erika's LSAT Diary:

T-minus 7 days until the start of a structured 20-week study regimen - Steve's 5-month day-by-day LSAT study plan.

T-minus 15 months until I plan to start law school.

I've notified only a few close friends and family members who will notice my withdrawal from social events that I am starting down the long trail to law school. Again. Not everyone will get to know this glorious news right away, because when it feels like deja vu, no one really takes you very seriously.


2008:

I just completed my undergrad having spent the majority of that final year in a panic about what to do with myself and have settled on law school. All my peers on this path already completed their LSAT a year prior, had been accepted to a school, had lined up recommendation letters, or at the very least had the semblance of a game plan.

I, on the other hand, purchase a year-old used LSAT book two months after graduation and decide not to crack it open until I feel "ready." One Saturday morning I figure I might as well start. The brief Introduction section recommends I sit through a diagnostic, to gauge my inherent ability.

Additionally, random internet searches informed me that most people show an average improvement of about six points. Armed with this knowledge, and the all seeing truth that is Google searches, my future law school prospects were a simple diagnostic exam away. How had I put this off for so long? The truth about my ability to succeed in a JD program, my future, all just 3 and a half hours away!

I eagerly decide to take the test cold turkey, as recommended by the study conglomerate from which I purchased my LSAT book. However, given my already squeezed wallet and my I-can-just-do-this-myself attitude, I set up my own diagnostic at home. With guinea pigs squealing, cat begging for attention at my feet, and boyfriend asking if I was done yet, I managed a 145. Yes, I was done.

Given my lackluster grade point average and statistics to back up my inability to do better than a 151, I decide that I can never have the degree I want and give up. I endured the kind of despair only a self-aggrandizing young twenty-something freshly graduated from a top 20 undergrad program can endure.


2012:

I've matured and conducted four years of soul searching and tested the waters in a number of different fields. Today, I have not merely settled on law school, I have affirmed that this is the best action I can take to continue developing my professional career and personal interests.

Giving up back in 2008 was a mixture of fear and uncertainty, if I had truly desired to succeed, I would have continued after it. I would have conducted the type of research I've done now and read the books I'm currently reading. Thanks to Steve's article about diagnostic exams, I also realize how silly it all was anyway. I was simply not ready, and I have never been more grateful for being at least that self aware.

So here I am, on a count down to begin Steve's structured 5-month day-by-day LSAT study plan, I am also working full time and completing a very unique internship. But rather than burning off steam and partying it up, knowing that my life is about to become 24/7 LSAT and LSAC. I know I will have limited time to plan out the next critical few months, LSAT and beyond.

I just finished reading through Richard Montauk's book "How to Get into the Top Law Schools" and am completing his recommended personal inventory, developing a list of possible references/recommenders and the topics I may wish them to address, and am doing as much set up work as possible in this "down time". I don't want these necessary preparations to get too burdensome, as I try to concentrate on achieving the best possible LSAT score in October.

I plan to take the LSAT once. I anticipate that this mindset will encourage the best performance possible. This process will be a study in proper preparation and streamlined logistics. I hope to get my applications in as early in the cycle as possible so that I can begin in the fall of 2013. Delaying until the February 2013 LSAT would mean sacrificing possible scholarships and financial aid in the rolling admission cycles or waiting another year to submit applications; I have all the motivation in the world to do it right to get things going, right now.

For reasons best left to the personal statement, I'm taking it in October even though some would argue that the timing is wrong. I've learned one of the best LSAT lessons so far just by reading and preparing to begin preparing for law school; the only good time to start this journey is when you know you're ready for it. I've refused to be pressured into my decision and have not been dissuaded from it either. The stakes are high, given the timing of the test and application period, but high stakes have always been my game, so here's hoping I don't crap out.

Photo by bdorfman