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Jeysa's LSAT Diary:
Now, I have heard that this is relatively common, but I was set on medical school, not law school. I did quite a lot of thinking about this and decided a few things (albeit important ones).
1) I do not wish to be in school until I’m 30 (haha).
2) While the salary and prestige of a doctor may be appealing, it is not where my heart truly lies. To embark on such a profession, I believe, you need to be pseudo in love with it. I did a bit more ‘soul-searching’ you could say and am one of those semi rare individuals who has always loved law and was thus ‘meant to be a lawyer’ for essentially my entire life. Every single individual I talked to agrees wholeheartedly with me, so that was a great feeling as well. I have, and always will be a lover of semantics, pointing out (at times obnoxiously) argumentative flaws, hard work, and lastly analytical and logical reasoning.
Now I would like to add that in September of last year I was involved in a rather serious ‘no-fault’ car accident near Cornell University, and endured a subsequent TBI or ‘traumatic brain injury’. Now countless individuals might be daunted by this absolutely huge step back, but in many, many ways I feel very lucky. I am still dealing with rehabilitation, primarily in the physical sense. The situation is exceedingly difficult, but forced me to reprioritize my life and become far more certain of my choice in the legal system. I performed extensive research.
In many ways I strongly encourage this for all. I do not believe that law school should be selected in a haphazard manner. We are adults, and it is more than time to start taking the weight and responsibility for our choices, and show determination to commence a strict study schedule. For all intents and purposes, it is time to grow up. Now it might be easy to say this from my perspective perhaps (being a ‘little adult’ from age two according to my parents) and I know full well that collegiate life or life in general has so many distractions. But this is a choice that should never be taken lightly, and will arguably change your life.
Main Advice and Study Strategies
My major piece of advice for the LSAT is this – when I started studying for the LSAT, I perceived it as my worst enemy. That is to say, my goal was to outsmart the exam, and therefore manipulate my way into obtaining the correct answers. This is the complete WRONG way to think about it. Think of the beloved, ever-important LSAT as a knowledgeable and dear friend. (You know, the type who will disclose all of his or her secrets over a warm cup of coffee). Be interested in it. Desire to learn from it, and grow as a person. It is a distinctive way of thinking through and through and should be worshiped and admired. This may be extreme, as it is a test, but it is imperative and should be treated with the utmost respect.
I am relatively young in my undergraduate studies (a sophomore in college) but having a plethora of time to study is comforting and makes one confident. For the time being I devote week days to focusing on studies, and weekends to studying immensely. I take a full, timed, practice test on Saturday, and spend Sunday grading myself and practicing areas I scored lower on.
Like many, many others my weakest section involves Logic Games. They can be so catastrophic and extremely frustrating, I know. But with the help of Steve’s study schedules, my scores and ability in Logic Games is improving dramatically. For example, I started with an overall score in the low 160’s and am now already scoring 170+. Now this might be a classic studying strategy, but it is so important to incorporate confidence (maybe bordering on arrogance) before taking practice exams. Give yourself incentives. For example, something like ‘after I finish this exam I will journey to a restaurant with friends, or watch a movie'). Have fun with it, and try your absolute hardest! Do not be afraid to ask for help. Good luck to everyone, and leave a comment!
Photo by americanpsycho
