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LSAT prep advice: quick tips on how/where to study
Do Law Schools Average LSAT Scores?
Law schools do NOT average multiple LSAT scores. It's one of the biggest myths I still hear from students even though law schools have not been averaging multiple scores since 2006. It was back in 2006 when the American Bar Association changed their policy from averaging multiple scores. Now, they only require law schools to submit their students' highest scores of their students - and that's what US News and World Report uses for their ever-important rankings.
(And it's funny because nobody reads the US News for anything else, but they suddenly think they're the most important source when it comes to rankings.)
Other places do rankings too. And one of the biggest things you want to look for rankings on is employment outcomes, not their highest average LSAT scores. But anyway, I digress. The point is that law schools don't average multiple scores anymore. They have not done so since 2006 and any school that tells you they're averaging multiple scores is lying to you.
And I don't really know why they're lying to you. But I think it's because they want to seem more holistic - but they have no incentive to average multiple scores.
They care a lot about the rankings. It's part of why they keep working to solicit as many applications as they possibly can. That's why they now want to open it up to the GRE and get rid of the LSAT requirement entirely, which is totally absurd, but that's a topic for another conversation. The point is that they are not averaging multiple scores.
So you have no reason to worry about getting a score that is slightly below what you were hoping for, even if it was five or 10 points lower than what you were hoping for. You can retake. It would not be the end of the world for you.
Relatedly, the only time that you should cancel is if something went horribly, horribly wrong. Like the person next to you vomited on you, or there was a marching band outside, or the fire alarm went off, or the proctor didn't even give you proper time per section. Those are cases where you should cancel, LSAC will likely give you a free retake. But ultimately, re-taking, not a big deal.
And it's not really worth canceling. If you don't want to take it when you're already scheduled for it and it's coming up very soon, then you could withdraw. That is an option for you. And if the LSAT is more than a couple of weeks away for you, you could postpone your test date, and I think they charge you a lesser fee or let you just pay a small difference to change to the next test date instead.
And that's nice. You get a little bit less of your money. If you withdraw, they keep all your money, but either way, not, it's only a small drop in the big scheme of what your law school tuition will be. So I wouldn't worry too much about the fee.
For more, I've got an entire playlist focused on LSAT Test Day prep here -----> and several articles on LSAT Test Day prep here ----->
For more, I've got an entire playlist focused on LSAT Test Day prep here -----> and several articles on LSAT Test Day prep here ----->
June vs July/August 2020 LSATs
If you're aiming for the June 2020 LSAT but still feeling pressured, why rush it?
Instead, you could aim for the July or August 2020 LSATs (which seem relatively more likely to happen) and still apply at the beginning of the cycle in the fall.
And if you're just starting out, don't worry too much about how you're doing on any section - it can seem like an incomprehensible foreign language at first, but you can learn it with time.
For more: I put together a free series of simple videos on Logical Reasoning that can help.
Instead, you could aim for the July or August 2020 LSATs (which seem relatively more likely to happen) and still apply at the beginning of the cycle in the fall.
And if you're just starting out, don't worry too much about how you're doing on any section - it can seem like an incomprehensible foreign language at first, but you can learn it with time.
For more: I put together a free series of simple videos on Logical Reasoning that can help.
LSAT Coronavirus Update: How LSAC is Affected (and what to do)
LSAC will almost certainly cancel the April LSAT -- the virus is expected to peak in mid-April. LSAC said they will decide before that, but you should switch your registration as soon as possible to secure the best possible test center because once LSAC cancels April, many people will switch to the June and July LSAT. If you want the best and most conveniently located test center (those toughest to get), do it now.
Sidenote: when they canceled the March LSAT, they auto-registered everybody to the April LSAT.
Be aware that the LSAC is allowing you to change your test date with no fee. Many are quarantined and many cannot travel as they previously could. June may also be canceled. LSAC says they are hopeful about the April and June LSAT, but we'll see what happens.
LSAC also said they are aggressively exploring new options to test the LSAT such as remote testing. They might explore testing in smaller, more frequent administrations. They will probably do that for those who have only expired scores or scores that aren't great, and scores that were canceled. They might also actually let you apply with an expired or canceled score because many people simply cannot retake the LSAT right now. They might allow those people to participate in pilot testing, allowing them to take the LSAT online.
Of course, there are a number of potential issues with giving the LSAT online like tech glitches, Internet connectivity issues, and cheating. If the LSAT writing session is any indication, these could certainly be factors that prevent or slow an online LSAT administration. The Digital LSAT writing sample has not gone that smoothly. There have been lots of issues like when you are interrupted and thought to be cheating.
LSAC is also working with law schools to extend deadlines, which the schools certainly feel is needed. Many people can apply right now even if they don't have the score they want. This will vary from school to school, so I suggest contacting each school for details with regard to extending deadlines. No one really knows how long the coronavirus will last; the situation is worsening, and LSAC is following along with the rest of us. They're not making any specific promises right now, but they are doing their best.
In the meantime, stay safe, stay home, and hopefully, this thing will resolve sooner rather than later.
Sidenote: when they canceled the March LSAT, they auto-registered everybody to the April LSAT.
Be aware that the LSAC is allowing you to change your test date with no fee. Many are quarantined and many cannot travel as they previously could. June may also be canceled. LSAC says they are hopeful about the April and June LSAT, but we'll see what happens.
LSAC also said they are aggressively exploring new options to test the LSAT such as remote testing. They might explore testing in smaller, more frequent administrations. They will probably do that for those who have only expired scores or scores that aren't great, and scores that were canceled. They might also actually let you apply with an expired or canceled score because many people simply cannot retake the LSAT right now. They might allow those people to participate in pilot testing, allowing them to take the LSAT online.
Of course, there are a number of potential issues with giving the LSAT online like tech glitches, Internet connectivity issues, and cheating. If the LSAT writing session is any indication, these could certainly be factors that prevent or slow an online LSAT administration. The Digital LSAT writing sample has not gone that smoothly. There have been lots of issues like when you are interrupted and thought to be cheating.
LSAC is also working with law schools to extend deadlines, which the schools certainly feel is needed. Many people can apply right now even if they don't have the score they want. This will vary from school to school, so I suggest contacting each school for details with regard to extending deadlines. No one really knows how long the coronavirus will last; the situation is worsening, and LSAC is following along with the rest of us. They're not making any specific promises right now, but they are doing their best.
In the meantime, stay safe, stay home, and hopefully, this thing will resolve sooner rather than later.
MEGA-list of LSAT logical fallacies
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Coronavirus LSAT Prep: Studying During Quarantine
Take advantage of this time when everything is shut down and you can't really go anywhere. This is your opportunity to buckle down and focus on mastering this exam. If you've got nothing but time, get the PrepTests available on LSAC's site in the Digital LSAT format. You can practice exactly like it's game day from home.
Everything you need is online so all the excuses are gone. If there's nothing else keeping you busy, or you have more free time than usual, sit down and focus. Block off the time in your schedule day by day, week by week, for the next two and a half months till June. Have it all plotted out so there's no ambiguity about what to be doing every single day.
My LSAT study plans will help you do it. They lay out exactly what to do every single day over the course of your prep. I talk about moving from building the foundation to the preparing for Test Day itself. And accuracy comes only after you've got pacing and endurance: pacing is individual timed 35-minute sections while endurance is for those full-length five-section exams so build up slowly, but use my plans to have the road map laid out for you.
If you're scoring low, you haven't built the foundation fully yet. And, in that case, I wouldn't focus on pacing and endurance yet. If you're still in the 130s, there's a lot of groundwork to lay down in terms of gaining basic familiarity with all the different sections and question types.
So slow down, build the foundation (spend at least a month or two on that), and then move into the other phases. June might not be enough time, but ultimately, whether you do June or July or August or October, it doesn't really matter. If you want this bad enough, you'll put in the time that you need to reach your goal.
LSAT Test Day - Getting Ready + the Morning Of
Have your gallon-size Ziploc bag ready to go. Have your pencils, erasers, energy bars, your banana, your 20-ounce water bottle, your admission ticket, your photo, your government ID with your full name, that is also the same exact name that is on your admission ticket.
If it varies even slightly, you could have a problem. So figure that out before the morning of. If there's an issue, email LSAC at lsacinfo@lsac.org
Print out your admission ticket - don't wait until the morning of when you realize your printer's out of ink or you don't have a printer. This is something you could deal with now.
On LSAT Test Day, you're going to want to arrive at your test center early. I wouldn't recommend talking with anyone else because you never know what other people will say, and sometimes strangers are crazy and stressed.
If you encounter someone you'd rather not speak with, say something like, “I'm trying to meditate and focus in my own space right now. Let's chat afterwards.” Then just be in your own zone and meditate. Do your practice problems. Go take a walk. As long as you know where the test center is, you can always circle back just a couple minutes beforehand.
They're going to have you spend take some time to confirm your basic biographical details like your name, address, and the rules. Consider this your moment of zen, and try to relax. At least this isn't the scored stuff.
One last thing - don't drink too much water or coffee before it starts. You don't want to have to go to the bathroom during the test. And make sure you go to the bathroom before you walk in there because you'll likely be nervous (which is to be expected) and not want to go again until the break.
Should you take "Intro to Logic" for LSAT prep?
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Predicting Your LSAT Score
How many tests should you take to have a good idea of what your performance on test day would be approximately like? So I'll answer it by starting with a different question is, how many tests should you take overall, timed? You should take at least 10 timed exams before test day.
But if you're in the final week before your exam, I'm not saying take 10 exams in a week. (Just take one or two instead.)
If you want to know where you currently stand, what your current LSAT aptitude is, and where you would most likely score on test day if you took the exam right now, what you want to do is you want to take the average of your most recent five exams (assuming you've taken them in a fairly recent period of time).
So, let's say, maybe over the past 2-3 weeks, you've taken five exams (and these are five sections, not four). You take the average of those five exams. That's a pretty good indication of where you currently stand.
Now, LSAC has what they call a score band, which means that, let's say someone's scored a 170. This person's range is approximately 167 to 173, which is a 6-point range. So that person could one day get a 167, the next day get a 173, and LSAC would say the LSAT is perfectly valid, and this is just within our normal realm of score variation. And that comes back to the question of why scores fluctuate.
They fluctuate because each exam only has 100-to-101 questions approximately, but the LSAT tests more than 101 concepts (and they come up in a variety of ways). There are game types that come up once every 10 exams. There are logical reasoning arguments, i.e. methods of reasoning, that only come up once every dozen exams, and there are reading comp topics that come up only once, ever.
So if you respond particularly well or poorly to one of those things and it shows up on your exam, then your score will vary accordingly. If you get a circle game and you hate circle games, maybe that's your 167. If your exam does not contain a circle game and it contains your favorite reading comp topic ever, then you might get a 173, but you're still the same person. And you're probably feeling sharper some days than others.
Based on how you slept and what you ate the night before, whether the person next to you was distracting or not, all of those things make a difference. That's why we need an average. That's why we need a large data set from which to make an estimate. If you did great three days ago and your exam tomorrow goes poorly, that doesn't mean that Test Day will go poorly for you.
For more, I've got an entire playlist focused on LSAT Test Day prep here -----> and several articles on LSAT Test Day prep here ----->
LSAT Coronavirus Pandemic Relief (and Study Schedule)
-Meals on Wheels
-No Kid Hungry
-Restaurant Workers Community Foundation COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund
-One Fair Wage
-National Domestic Workers Alliance
How to get your LSAT study schedule:
1. Make a donation to any coronavirus relief organization of $19.97 or $24.97 (or more!) depending on which schedule you'd like.
2. Forward me the email receipt from your donation, and let me know the schedule you'd like.
3. Sit back and wait for me to email you the schedule.
You can support an important cause and get a ton of guidance for your LSAT prep at the same time.
How to overcome your fear of LSAT Logic Games
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LSAT Prep Distractions and Your Reality
And so, if maybe over the past few weeks you, maybe you go out late one Friday night cause you just needed a break. You had a few too many drinks, then you go take a full length exam Saturday morning cause you feel like you should, even though you're probably not feeling that great and maybe it's not the best use of your time and you're better off sleeping a few more hours, guess what?
The test doesn't go well for you and it's because you're hungover. Your mind is cloudy and honestly you have no one to blame but yourself and I'm sorry to tell you that. But alcohol, drugs, these are not things that you have room for in your life right now if you want to achieve your maximum potential.
And we all know people who somehow are the comeback kid and somehow they're always able to roll off a binge like it was nothing, or they’re a pothead and they smoke every night and they’re still an uber-genius and can still get 175+. Those people, they're super-impressive.
I don't know how they do it. And they might not live to be 80, but most people are not that. I'm certainly not like that. And you might not be either. So what that means is that you need to take control of your mindset. Take control of your schedule. If you're studying for the exam only a few days away, these next 70 to 90 hours, whatever it is, you keep that very rigid.
Block out all the people and things in your life that are not setting you up for success. So if you have some emotionally-draining vampire friend who just wants to tell you all their problems, cut them off for the next few days. Say, “I'm busy. I've got the LSAT coming up, and I will check in with you afterwards.”
And you surround yourself with positive, uplifting people who want the best for you. And that means maybe you block all the narcissists on Facebook who are just trying to show off how concerned they are about the latest political thing. Or they're posting selfies of how great they look with their summer bod.
None of that matters right now. And you don't need to see some artificially-constructed perfect version of someone else's life. You need to sit there with your practice problems and put that positive media in front of yourself and believe me, you're not getting it on Facebook. You're not getting it on the news.
You're getting it from a carefully-curated reality that you've created for yourself (not what Facebook creates for you. You're putting something nice in front of yourself that you want to be there and it's either that, or the LSAT, or a walk in the park and that's all you do the next few days.
You are going into an isolation tank of butterflies and snowflakes. It's not going to be forever, but you need to make this your mission right now.
For more, I've got an entire LSAT Unplugged playlist focused on LSAT Test Day prep here -----> and several articles on LSAT Test Day prep here ----->
