Studying for the LSAT while abroad in the Peace Corps

This installment of LSAT Diaries comes from Carly, who's studying for the LSAT while serving in the Peace Corps in Tanzania.

In this LSAT Diary, she talks about the struggles involved in studying for the LSAT with shaky Internet access, getting food poisoning, and taking 17-hour bus rides with defecating chickens.

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 Carly some encouragement below in the comments!

Carly's LSAT Diary:

Habari za Masomo? [News of the studies?] I am 24-year-old Peace Corps volunteer living in Tanzania, teaching high school math and physics while simultaneously studying for the LSAT in December.

In the spring of 2009 I graduated from an Ivy League school without a job, but had applied to many teaching jobs and also the Peace Corps. Eventually I was offered an internship position teaching Biology at a private school, but still continued to complete my application for the Peace Corps (it takes over a year) because I wanted to finish what I had started. In the summer of 2010, after completing my application I received an invitation to serve. So, I quit my teaching job and decided to serve because I wanted to volunteer my time, see a different part of the world and figure out what I really wanted to do with my life.

The first few months of my service I did a little soul searching. After ruling out journalism (just because a grandparent says they think you are a good writer, does not mean you are one), paleontology and countless other potential careers I figured the best way to combine my interest in humanitarian work, challenges, environmentalism and international relations would be to go into law. Thus, my LSAT odyssey began.

Initially, I did mountain of research on careers, the LSAT and law schools. [I should add that thankfully they have these wonderful USB modems now, which means I have Internet access, albeit slow, out in the bush.] I originally planned to take the LSAT in October, but soon realized I would have to establish an international non-published test center for a hefty fee or travel to Nairobi, Kenya at which point I reset my sights on the December test. I figured I would take the extra time to study, save money and take the test, once, in Nairobi. Alas, now because of security concerns in Kenya, I had to have the December test center moved to Tanzania anyway.

So, you maybe asking, how have I gone about studying for the wonderful entity that is the LSAT… in Africa? Well, it has not been easy. Because printing is very expensive here ($.40 a page), especially when you are living on $120 a month, and so is the shipment of materials, so I decided early on to mainly use my Kindle and laptop to study. To date, I have only taken three PrepTests on actual paper and the rest I have taken off of my computer or my Kindle (which was recently lost/ stolen). I started by taking and reviewing early Prep tests (7-18) section by section. After a few tests I began to identify each question by type and would keep track of the types that consistently gave me trouble (Assumption questions you are my Everest!)

When the four-month mark hit, I downloaded Steve’s 4-month LSAT study plan (I am on a budget) and started to time myself during all of the sections. Around this time I also read A Rulebook for Arguments, which was extremely helpful. It allowed me to step back from the LSAT and realize that logic really does exists in everyday life, especially in Tanzania! Also, now that I am in the last month of studying I am focusing on slowing down and taking more time with questions (I have been finishing sections with, on average, five minutes to spare). I am working mainly on logical reasoning questions, as this is the section that gives me the most trouble. I’ve also made a habit of looking up unfamiliar words in LSAT questions and making flashcards because I have found the question usually hinges on them.

As with any journey there have been many setbacks, besides the lack of paper tests and a tutor. During this period I experienced countless power outages (many times I had no access to study materials because my laptop and/or Kindle was not charged), two nasty bouts of food poisoning and two trips to the dentist (due to rocks in my rice) which interrupted my study schedule, study sessions on 17-hour bus rides with screaming babies, defecating chickens and blown tires and countless more session while being subjected to my neighbor's loud Christian rock music.

I was/am also studying while teaching full days and 130 students, running a girls’ empowerment conference and writing a grant for a school library. If all of the above is not enough, I also have to do all of my household chores by hand (washing clothes and dishes) and make all of my meals from scratch (no frozen meals, refrigerator or oven here), which means less time to study. Despite all of this, I still feel fairly prepared for the LSAT in a month. I know that if I were at home in the States I would probably fare better on test day, but if I can successfully manage studying here, I am hoping I will not be in for the huge 1L shock.

So, what can I share with the other brave souls out there studying for the LSAT? Here are few pearls of wisdom I have picked up along the way, take them for what they are worth:

Firstly, you need to realize that you still have a life outside of this test. Yes, studying is very important, but do not forget to make time for your friends, family and for exercise! You are not doing yourself, or your test score, any good if you don’t get out of your bubble, see other life forms and move your body. Yes, make time to exercise! In the word of Elle Woods, “exercise gives people endorphins, endorphins make people happy and happy people just don’t kill their husbands” (still waiting for that logic to show up on the LSAT).

Secondly, during the logical reasoning section I found that my brain has to work like a thesaurus. I need to be looking at words in the stimulus and finding corresponding words among the answer choices. This usually helps me narrow down the right answer to two choices, which is much better than five.

Thirdly, stick to a schedule. It is very easy to put off studying when you do not have anyone or anything keeping you honest. I find it especially easy here to do other things besides study, (i.e. convincing myself that I deserve to take a study break then watching Pride and Prejudice for the umpteenth time). Once I started the 4-month plan, I found I could not make excuses for myself and eventually took pride in the fact that I was able to sit down, focus, and feel like I was actually making progress. Lastly, if your brain is really not in “LSAT Mode”, do not force it. There have been days I only answered 10 questions correctly on a section. I decided to put the pencil down and walk away rather than beat a dead horse, as my father would say. Remember: sometimes your brain needs a break!

The last year has been an interesting ride and studying for the LSAT has only made it more so. Hopefully by this time next year I will have rocked the LSAT, been accepted to a law school (with the help of a kick butt addendum), completed my service as a volunteer and learned a little something more about myself and the world along the way.

Safari njema! [Good journey]

Photo by swiv

Logic and Games

* Some advice on getting your law school admission officer to like you. [LSAT Blog]

* A critical look at the financial sector's recruitment of the best and brightest on college campuses. [NYTimes]

* Just think - when the economy recovers, you can have a few of these at your fancy law firm. [The Diamond Bathtub]

* Judge orders divorcing couple to swap Facebook and dating site passwords. [Forbes]

* 10 stubborn food myths that just won’t die, debunked by science. [Lifehacker]

Law School Admissions Guides

These guides are no longer available - but you can check out the other law school admission guides here ------>

***

I want to take a break from LSAT prep to share something with you.

You see, showing the LSAT who’s boss is only one step towards getting into law school. After you get that awesome score back, you still have to actually APPLY!

And, the last thing you want to do is ruin a great LSAT score with a second-rate law school applications.

I have plenty of articles on law school admissions, but I wanted to give you something a little more comprehensive.

So, I partnered with a law school admission counselor to offer two different law school admissions guides.

The first is A Guide to Optional Essays and Addenda. My favorite section is the one titled “Which Statements are Optional, and Why?” I feel like that's at the heart of most students' questions, and the guide only goes into more detail from there.

The second is A Guide to Law School Recommendations covering important areas like  “Balancing the Pool of Recommenders” and “Educating the Educators.” I like that last one because it sounds like a campaign slogan for someone running for class president.
More importantly, it shows you all the ways that YOU can make a difference in how your recommendation letters turn out!

Get both guides at once:

A Guide to Optional Essays and Addenda + A Guide to Law School Recommendations

Or, get just one of them: 

A Guide to Optional Essays and Addenda

A Guide to Law School Recommendations

Want more info on them?

Here's the table of contents of A Guide to Optional Essays and Addenda:

Which Statements are Optional, and Why?

Why is it So Important to Answer General Application Questions?

When is It Helpful to Answer Targeted Questions?

When Should I Include an “Explanation” Statement?

When an Explanation is Required

When an Explanation is Optional

Making the Most of Optional Statements and Addenda

Required Explanation Statements

Optional Explanation Statements

Targeted Optional Statements

General Optional Statements

A Note about Outside Help

Optional Essays and Addenda in a Nutshell

And here's the table of contents of A Guide to Law School Recommendations:

A Note about Evaluations

Choosing Your Recommenders

Assessing Your Prospective Recommenders

Balancing the Pool of Recommenders

Educating the Educators

Recommender Packets

Creating a Compelling Letter of Recommendation

Targeted Letters

Logistics

Waiving Your Right to Review Letters of Recommendation

Letters of Recommendation in a Nutshell

Appendix A: Sample Thank You/Cover Letter for Recommender Packet

Appendix B: Effective Letters of Recommendation for Law School

Appendix C: Sample Recommender Summary

Other stuff:

-These are PDFs available for instant download after submitting payment via PayPal. You can use Adobe Reader to open the files. 

-If you're already registered with PayPal, the instant download link will be sent to your PayPal email address. Otherwise, it'll be sent to whichever email address you submit.



P.S. These guides paired with Personal Statement Triumph are a lethal combination.

Sincerely,
Steve "making sure you have all your bases covered" Schwartz


P.P.S. If you consider how much money you'll make from getting into a better law school...or getting more scholarship money...this is such a tiny drop in the bucket.

Law School Recommendation Letter Tips

The below excerpt about choosing recommenders for your law school recommendation letters is from A Guide to Law School Recommendations.

***

Choosing Your Recommenders

Too often, applicants assume that the highest-profile recommender is the best choice, whether that means getting a friend of a distant cousin to obtain a letter from the Lieutenant Governor or choosing a full professor over an instructor. And, of course, it’s true that prestige and credentials may carry some weight and that the number of years a professor has been teaching impacts his ability to compare you with other students and assess your academic abilities. But the recommender’s title and background are just one consideration, and not the most important one by a longshot. And, if the effort is too blatantly political—that is, if you’re obtaining a letter from a judge or elected official who truly doesn’t know you and is just doing someone a favor—it can backfire. Assess your recommenders on the merits of the letters they’ll be able to write first.


Assessing Your Prospective Recommenders

To begin the selection process, make a list of all possible recommenders— don’t try to narrow down the list at this point. When you have the list in hand, consider:

- How well the recommender knows you: a letter of recommendation carries considerably more weight if it appears to be rooted in adequate personal experience and observation to allow the writer to speak authoritatively about your qualifications. Consider how long the recommender has known you, in what context and the number and quality of opportunities he or she has had to personally observe and interact with you. For this reason, professors of seminar classes, self-study advisors and the like are often in a better position to write a solid letter. If you attend a large university and have primarily taken lecture classes in which you have little direct contact with the professors, consider asking a TA with whom you have a closer relationship to write one of your letters.

- How relevant the context in which the recommenders knows you is: If you’ve known someone for years because you play park district baseball together, that experience of you is probably less relevant to law schools than that of a professor you’ve taken three classes with or a long-time employer. Think in terms not only of how long and how well a person has known you, but also what that person knows about you firsthand that is of interest to law schools.

- What characteristics the recommender will be able to speak to: this consideration is related to the one above, but may involve thinking beyond the formal constructs of your interactions with the prospective recommender: while not every applicant has three solid “academic” recommenders available, relevant experience can often be found in other contexts. Though of course you don’t know exactly what a recommender will say, you know what each prospect’s experience with you entailed, what stories she has at her disposal and which characteristics she has had an opportunity to observe.

- How the recommender fits into your overall application package: Just as you balanced the content of your personal statement and your optional essays, you’ll want to balance your recommendations. Although most applicants will want to keep the focus on academics, you don’t want to submit three letters that say basically the same thing. As mentioned above, you don’t know and can’t control exactly what the recommender will say. But you do know something about the basis for the recommendation, and you can remind the recommender of specifics that you think are relevant when you make the request. Don’t think about each prospect purely in isolation: consider which possible recommenders will combine to create the strongest overall package.

- The recommender’s ability to write a compelling letter: Weigh the potential recommender’s ability to communicate clearly and compellingly; though this factor won’t necessarily rule someone out if the other factors are strong, it must be considered. Just as with your personal statement and other admissions essays, a letter of recommendation is more likely to have a positive impact if it catches the reader’s attention early and draws him along.

- The recommender’s willingness to invest: all of the factors listed above only matter if the recommender takes the time to craft a personal, compelling letter. To the extent that you have adequate information to assess this, consider how likely the potential recommender is to make that investment—to consider you as an individual and write a letter that supports his recommendation rather than just saying he recommends you.

Photo by jonno23

Law School Applications: Character and Fitness, and Addenda Tips

The below excerpt on writing character and fitness disclosures, as well as other required addenda, is from  A Guide to Optional Essays and Addenda.

***

- Keep it Short: There’s rarely a reason that an explanation statement should run beyond a double-spaced page, and even that’s too long for most situations. Many applicants feel the need to provide a lot of backstory, but it’s usually not necessary and can be harmful in a number of ways: it can muddy the waters and distract from the key point, or it can take you into areas it would have been better not to make the committee aware of, and it can result in the appearance that you’re trying to justify or explain away whatever negative you’re addressing.

In addition, explanation statements are rarely very interesting and certainly aren’t the piece of the application your readers are most interested in spending time on. In most cases, ½ to 2/3 of a page, double-spaced, should be sufficient to provide the information they need without belaboring the point or digressing.


- One Explanation per Statement: There are exceptions to this “rule”, but generally speaking each explanation statement should address a single issue. The exception is when there is a common cause underlying the two issues.

For example, if you were on academic probation and also were arrested for underage drinking during the same semester, which happened to be the semester during which your mother died suddenly or you suffered a serious injury and were in constant pain, it may make sense to combine those statements.

But if you were on academic probation during your freshman year because you started out in the wrong major and discovered that you didn’t have the math skills to be an engineer but excelled at foreign languages and then were arrested for DUI in your junior year, after you’d switched majors and brought your grades up, those are separate statements for clarity’s sake and for yours: you don’t want to have to write a statement that says “I messed up one thing, then got it together, then messed up something new and unrelated…”

If it does make sense to combine your responses, make sure that doing so complies with the application instructions and that your explanation is properly labeled and associated with any necessary or appropriate documentation.


- Make a Clear, Concise Statement of the Facts: Yes, the purpose of your explanation statement is to provide context and any insight you can offer as to why the admissions committee can expect better of you if you’re admitted to the law school, but don’t skip straight to that. Even if you’ve provided supporting documents that reflect the facts, don’t make your reader put together a puzzle. Begin with a very brief and very specific statement such as “On October 17, 2008, I was cited for “Minor in Possession of Alcohol” on the University of Illinois campus in Champaign-Urbana.” You may have reason to offer further details of the incident, but if so, elaborate after you’ve laid out the key facts.

- Take Responsibility: You’ve undoubtedly heard that it’s important to take responsibility for your actions in an explanation statement, and that’s true. An explanation statement that attempts to minimize or shift the blame is a bit like one of those “sorry you were offended” apologies that aren’t really apologies at all, and the admissions committee won’t be impressed. Many applicants seem to be under the impression that the purpose of this statement is to convince the reader that whatever negative is being discussed really isn’t so bad.

In a few rare circumstances, that may even be true. But essays explaining how you wouldn’t have gotten arrested at all if the cops had been more reasonable or your roommate hadn’t dragged you into a bad situation tend to backfire. In the vast majority of cases, there was some element of bad judgment or a faulty decision involved in creating the situation, and it’s important to recognize that and cop to it. Keep it reasonable, though. Because we’ve seen so many excuse statements, professionals tend to heavily emphasize the need to take responsibility, and this can lead applicants to go too far in the opposite direction.

If you made a bad decision say so, explain the circumstances and move on. Don’t fall on your sword because you got caught drinking three months before your 21st birthday or didn’t take school seriously enough during your first semester. Not only is it not necessary, it’s likely to sound insincere.

Photo by aepoc

Logic and Games

* Gawker commits a correlation-causation flaw (a post hoc fallacy, in particular) by assuming that kicking out "laptop hobos" is the *reason* for Starbucks' increased profits. [Gawker]

* Some good general test prep tips. [WSJ]

* University of Illinois College of Law claims only one person is responsible for six years of reporting false LSAT / GPA numbers. [ABA Journal; Above The Law]

* The man behind the scandal had yet-another plan to keep his #s up: "That way, I can trap about 20 of the little bastards with high GPA's that count and no LSAT score to count against my median. It is quite ingenious." [Chicago Tribune]

* Doctor found guilty in Michael Jackson's death. [NYTimes]

* Investors may begin funding lawsuits in exchange for a percentage of the winnings. [Colorado Springs Gazette]

Law School Applications: Diversity Statement and Addendum Tips

I recently interviewed Stefanie Arr of The Advanced Edit via email.

(Also see our previous interview about law school personal statement topics.)

Our discussion follows.

***

1. Now that it’s “application crunch-time” or, that much closer to Thanksgiving, what is your advice to students reaching burnout already?

Law school admissions is such an arduous process-- between LSAT studying and putting together all the actual application materials, it’s no wonder many students reach burnout levels relatively quickly.

To combat this, I often recommend that students rotate what they are focusing on so that they don’t become so bogged down with the task at hand that they want to just throw in the towel. As I’m sure you advise your own students,, a break is highly recommended when you feel you just can’t go on.

When working on such an important essay, the last thing you want to do is make careless mistakes out of oversight or tiredness. That is easy to do when staring at the same piece of writing day in and day out-- it can become rote and downright mind-numbing, allowing for mistakes to happen. Taking a break would prevent this, as it’ll allow you both time to rest and to stay alert when working on it.

A break is also beneficial because you’ll often come back to your essay with a refreshed, newer perspective and catch things you would have otherwise missed, or come up with newer and better material than you did the first time around. So, if your eyes are starting to glaze over and the term “personal statement” makes you cringe, maybe you should think about working on other parts of your application, and letting go of your statement for a little while.


2. Now, about supplemental essays. What do you tell your students about writing diversity statements?

There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding the diversity statement. Two of those are that:

1. Diversity statements is only for underrepresented minorities (URMs)
2. Diversity statements are mandatory.

Both of these statements are far from correct.

You don’t have to be an underrepresented minority to write a diversity statement. Similarly, diversity statements are not adversity statements, either. Anyone who feels that their background or upbringing has allowed them to have a more diverse experience can write one. This also goes for anyone who feels that, by being part of the representative admitted class, will bring diversity to the student body of their prospective school.

That being said, you don’t have to write a diversity statement. Yes, it can be a valuable asset to your application package, but it’s not mandatory and, therefore, isn’t necessary. If you are considering writing a diversity statement, be sure that you have something well-argued and genuinely compelling to say; it’s better to submit your application “as is” with its required materials than to submit an extra essay that is questionable or, worse, written poorly.


3. When should applicants write addenda?

I appreciate your use of the proper plural form of “addendum”, Steve.

Addenda are used to explain extenuating circumstances arising from low LSAT scores or less-than-stellar GPA, or from disciplinary actions that must be disclosed. In an addendum, you can explain how getting mono during the school year resulted in you having to withdraw your fall semester junior year, or how illness prevented you from doing as well as you hoped during your first LSAT exam.

However, do note that this is not a place for excuses. Rather, it’s for genuine explanations of extenuating and adverse circumstances that negatively affected you. Also, some schools require an addendum to explain LSAT score increases of 5 points or more; so, if you’re lucky to have improved your score considerably, check with your school to make sure an explanation is not required. And, congrats.

Similarly, if disciplinary or judicial action has been taken against you, you must disclose these circumstances-- part of succeeding in law school lies in being admitted to the bar, which includes a Character and Fitness examination. Some schools specify whether they want you to disclose convictions, violations (even moving violations). However, for uniformity, and to be on the safe side, I recommend that you always disclose. An important thing to remember is that you won’t be penalized for disclosing such information, but you definitely risk being penalized if you don’t.


4. Anything else?

When writing your personal statement, remember to breathe. Keeping your head clear is probably one of the best things you can do to guarantee a well-written statement.

If you want to write a diversity statement, think carefully. If you’re stuck and find yourself grasping at straws, don’t force yourself. Remember, it’s not mandatory.

An addendum is not for excuses. If you have viable reasons as to why you didn’t do so well in school or on the LSAT, you already know them. When deciding whether that moving violation/academic warning/disciplinary hearing needs to be disclosed, just do it. When in doubt, always disclose, disclose, disclose!

***

Stefanie Arr is a professional writing tutor and editor based in New York City. She has nearly a decade of publishing and editing experience and offers expert, in-depth editing and revision services. She can help you develop and improve the skills necessary to deliver a clear, finished product, including brainstorming and paper organization, grammar and syntax mechanics, academic research, argument structure, style, and draft revision.

Photo by nicmcphee

Berkeley Law School Admissions Dean Interview

In this LSAT Blog post, I interview UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall) Law School’s dean of admissions, Edward Tom. Our discussion follows.

1. UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall) received media coverage for its "Law School Admission Project: Looking Beyond the LSAT." Would you please comment on your office's involvement, if any? If your office is not involved, what is its opinion regarding the LSAT in light of this project?

The admissions office has been involved to the extent that it provided demographic and statistical information to the research committee and the dean of admissions is a member of the committee. The Admissions Office concurs with the Committee that the LSAT remains a valid tool in determining admission decisions but should be only one of many factors taken into consideration. If there are other valid measurements of success in the profession - something the LSAT does not predict at all - then these tools should be considered for the future.


2. How has the student body changed in recent years?

The student body has evolved in step with society over the years. Perhaps the biggest change has been the level of interest in our interdisciplinary options. Many students are interested in taking advantage of how Berkeley Law can train them to be great lawyers who have a comprehensive understanding of policy issues.


3. In a typical year, what percentage of spots are still open on the day that applications are due?

About 25 percent.


4. In your opinion, what's the best rock band of all time?

That is too hard a question! Too many choices to narrow it to one! Candidates are Grateful Dead, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Steely Dan, Cream, and Led Zeppelin.

***

Bio: Edward G. Tom is the Assistant Dean for Admissions at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall). In his spare time, Mr. Tom builds, plays, and collects guitars.


Photo by 51170735@N02

Logic and Games

* 5 logical fallacies that make you more wrong than you think. [Cracked]

* Justin Bieber may be considered a victim of statutory rape. [Boston Globe]

* Judge beats disabled daughter on video for downloading games and music. [Gawker]

* Court rules Janet Jackson nipplegate fine was unfair to CBS. [Ars Technica]

* Think your high school teachers were awesome? A new iPhone game has turned them into superheroes. [NYTimes]

LSAT Diary: Becoming Obsessed With The LSAT

This installment of LSAT Diaries comes from Rebecca, who studied for the LSAT while dieting to fit into a size 2 dress for her sister's wedding. She took the October 2011 LSAT.

In this LSAT Diary, she talks about becoming obsessed with the LSAT while using one of my LSAT study schedules.

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.)

Thanks to Rebeccara for sharing her experience and advice, and please leave your questions for her below in the comments!

Rebecca's LSAT Diary:

Studying for the LSAT changed me. It was life-consuming, perhaps to a slightly unhealthy degree. But instead of trying in vain to fight it and bring balance to my life, I decided to fully embrace my LSAT obsession by integrating it into my daily life as much as possible. These revelations did not come immediately. At first, I started studying casually. Then, when my score wasn’t breaking 170 as soon as I had originally thought, I began to panic. I pushed back my LSAT date from June to October and decided to dedicate my entire summer to the LSAT.

It was important to me to do this by myself, without a class. This was a personal choice and one that is really difficult to tangibly justify. I wanted to prove that I could do well without help; kind of like how some smokers want to quit smoking cold turkey. There is an obvious risk to this and one that should not be considered lightly. I’m not knocking LSAT tutors or the classes. I think they are great resources. I guess my parents’ Midwestern-pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps ideology somehow rubbed off on me. I used Steve’s LSAT study schedules, which gave me the structure and guidance I needed, and I also bought an overwhelming yet necessary amount of LSAT books and PrepTest PDFs from this site.

I treated studying like a job. I would get up about 6 am every morning and be at the library by 8:30 (the time of the actual LSAT… thanks Steve for the article about how long it takes to actually get awake…). Then, at the beginning of July, I had to play bridesmaid in my sister’s southern belle wedding. In order to fit into an insane size 2 dress, I was dieting pretty hard near the end there. Apparently, logic games are much harder when you are about to pass out from hunger. Who knew?

My advice for studying for the LSAT is to be fat, healthy, and happy. Hungry people don’t meet their LSAT goals. Before the wedding, I struggled through and broke 170 (on the LSAT, not the scale…) and was pretty pumped. After the wedding, I spent 2 weeks, 3 including the wedding festivities, doing NOTHING. And low and behold, my score was back down to the low 160s. 160 is still a good score, but a 10 point drop is pretty disheartening and I started freaking out.

Then came the logic dreams…

If you have seen the movie The Labyrinth, you might remember, aside from Bowie in spandex, Jennifer Connelly standing in front of two twin guys blocking the way through the maze. They explain that one of them always lies and one of them always tells the truth (if you pay attention they mess this up but that’s not important). I haven’t seen this movie since childhood but doing Logic Games all day prompted a dream of this riddle. I had never understood the riddle, but then, in a dream, I figured it out. I woke up, diagrammed the solution and felt like I was crazy. LSAT logic was consuming my life, but I began to realize that this might not be such a bad thing after all.

I started looking for real (or fantasy) examples of conditional and formal logic. One day while taking practice tests in the library, I realized that my study carrel was next to the aisle on formal logic. While lightly perusing the books, I struck gold: Formal Logic in Alice in Wonderland. While this is way more in depth than anything that the LSAT was going to throw at me, it sent me on an extremely beneficial tangent. I re-read all of Lewis Carroll and some Oscar Wilde. When I wasn’t studying for the LSAT, I was finding a way to enjoy logic. I felt a little burst of nerdy excitement every time I recognized conditional reasoning or some form of complex logic in books that I loved.

I let the LSAT take over my life. Acceptance is the first step. However, I think my obsession, helped me in several ways. First, when I went into the LSAT (even after the stress of the proctor trying to turn me away because he thought my photo was too dark, and then getting the pleasure of successfully arguing my way back in) I saw it as a game. I told myself that I wasn’t going to beat the LSAT. I said that I was going to rock the LSAT. I know that’s corny, but seeing the LSAT as a tool instead of an obstacle really helped me. Also, my obsession helped me keep studying, even when I wasn’t actually looking at LSAT books. Everything was unconsciously LSAT. It’s pretty easy to study when you don’t realize that you are. I was putting almost all of my thoughts into conditional statements.

Most importantly, I am smarter and better at studying because of the way I studied for the LSAT. Professors have told me that my work has greatly improved, even while I was studying for the LSAT for 3-5 hours a day instead of reading for my classes. Even if I don’t go to law school (I’m still on the fence), I am better able to understand things and pick apart ideas because of the LSAT. Even if I don’t get the score that I want, I know that there is no possible way that I could have studied harder (or at least this is what I told myself during the 3 weeks of waiting for LSAC to run scantrons… seriously??? 3 weeks???).

In addition to developing a strange love for Alice in Wonderland, wooden Ticonderoga pencils, logic games, and the dance patterns of bees, I am actually smarter because I studied for the LSAT.

Photo by Paul Watson

Law School: Case Briefs

The below excerpt about briefing cases is from Professor David Hricik's Law School Basics (Amazon).

Briefing Cases

“Briefing cases” is something you will hear a lot about even before your first day of class. Everyone will be talking about how it is important to “brief” the cases you are assigned to read before the class begins. What is a case brief?

It is not what lawyers call “briefs,” which are documents written to file in a court to persuade a judge on a particular issue. Instead, a “case brief” is a way for you to break down each case you read for class into useful, categorized information.

There is no One True Way to write a case brief. Their purposes, in my view, are two: to make it so that (a) I never had to re-read the case again, and (b) so that if I were called on in class, I could answer likely questions without having to pour over the case. (Cases can be very long, and the ones chosen for inclusion in law school casebooks seemed to be deliberately longer and more opaquely written than they are in “real life.”) To meet these two purposes, my case briefs typically followed this format:

Name of case (court/year)

Facts:
Issue:
Holding:
Rationale:
Dissent:
Class Notes:

We will discuss each part in detail.

In the name of the case, I included information which let me know who was the plaintiff. So, for example, in the “name” section, I might have written:

“Smith (∆) v. Jones (π) (Tex. S.Ct. 1987).”

“π” means plaintiff; “∆” means defendant. You can’t tell from the name of an appellate case who sued whom. On appeal, the loser in the trial court will be listed first in the caption of the case, even if that party was the defendant (the party who was sued) in the trial court, because it is the party which is appealing—the party listed first is the party who lost in the court below and is the one appealing to a higher court. Professors often asked basic questions such as who won below. In addition, understanding the basic facts of cases made them a lot easier to understand. (You will be amazed, though, at how difficult it can be to figure out who sued whom about what.)

The “Facts” section was usually a chronological, short explanation (three or four sentences, or less) of what seemed to be the relevant facts. (You can know which facts are relevant only after you have read the whole case.) I might have written, for example, “π went to ∆-doctor to get nose job. ∆ allegedly made the nose worse. π then sued ∆, and jury found for π, awarding damages equal to the difference between the value of the nose as promised and the value of the nose actually delivered.”

The “Issue” section would lay out the primary legal issue in the case. For example, “Was the proper measure of damages the difference between the nose as delivered and the nose as promised, or should it have been the difference between the nose as delivered and the nose as it had been before surgery?”

The “Holding” would be what the court held the answer to the primary legal question was. For example, “The correct measure of damages was expectancy damages—the difference in value between as delivered and as promised.” This was, in essence, the “rule” from the case.

The “Rationale” section could be quite long. Again, my goals were not to re-read the case and to have something I could rely on were I called on in class. I learned a lot by “outlining” the rationale of the court in some detail, usually following the court’s own structure. Look at the outlines in the appendices to see how I did this. Some are quite elaborate and detailed. It varied a lot, depending primarily upon my mood.

Next, if a judge dissented from the case, I would summarize what he said.

Photo by davidortez

Logic and Games

* A foreclosure firm holds a homeless-themed Halloween party. [Gawker]

* University of Chicago academics hold a conference on "Jersey Shore Studies." [NYTimes]

* Blockbuster uses the "first sale doctrine" to get around studios' delay tactics. Too bad no one uses Blockbuster anymore. [Ars Technica]

* It's been a bad year to graduate from college. [Washington Post]

* In which a fellow blogger overcomes depression, in comic form. [Hyperbole and a Half]