My Journey With The LSAT

January 24th, 2023

Happy Tuesday everyone! This week I've decided to switch up my usual content pertaining to pursing an undergraduate degree and talk a bit about my experience writing the LSAT. This article might be a bit more interesting to some of you who are looking at pursuing a career in law and eventually will have to go through the process of applying to law school.

First and foremost, if you are unaware, the LSAT is also known as the Law School Admissions Test. This is (normally) a four-part exam in which you are primarily tested on your logic and reading comprehension skills. The test scores are converted into a number that ranges from 120 (being the lowest) to 180 (being the highest). If you are thinking about pursuing a career in law, I highly recommend researching more information about what the test is, since it is a requirement for your law school application.

A common consensus among most undergraduate students is to write the test either in between your second and third year, or your third and fourth year. This is because it can give you an opportunity to see where you are at in terms of scoring, and leave time if you need to write the test again. When I took the LSAT, I wrote it in the summer after my second year of university, before I started my third year. This gave me a total of 4 months from May to August to study for the test. I personally recommend a minimum of 4 months of dedicated studying, since there is a lot of material to learn, conceptualize, and practice before drastic results are shown in your practice test scores.

Flashback to May 2021, I had just finished my last final of second year and decided to give myself a two week break until I started an intensive study schedule. After my break, I started off by writing a diagnostic test to gage where I was initially at. After coming to a consensus on how much time I would need to master each section, I allotted 4 hours a day, 4 days a week of study time, with one day dedicated to writing and revising a practice test and one day of rest. I also happened to be working a full-time job during that summer, so I was sticking to a strict schedule to make sure I was meeting monthly goals and deadline I made for myself. This self study technique is how many students start their studying process.

I personally found the self-study guides from PowerScore, along with the Khan Academy LSAT training, very effective for my first two months of studying. Each week, I would write my practice test on Saturday morning (which was the day of the week my real test was taking place), and each week I saw my scores slowly rise about 1 to 2 points. Until I didn't. At the end of June, I hit a plateau for about 3 weeks straight and could not (for the life of me) figure out what I needed to do to get out of that rut. This is when I realized I needed something more than self-study.

I decided to do a bit of research and invest in a tutor to help me reach my ideal test score. Now, many people are reluctant to go this route, given that it can be very expensive. I was one of these people at first, I was hoping that used practice books and online tools would suffice. I will also admit that I was very reluctant, but with the test slowly approaching, I was more desperate to see my scores rise. I can safely say that I do not have a singular regret about hiring a tutor. Not only did I start to use more effective study techniques, I saw my practice test scores start to rise again. I also gained a great friend that has (willingly) supported me through my academic journey after the test day. I keep in touch with my tutor to this day and consider her more as a friend than anything!

When I was two weeks out from test day, I became extremely nervous and was constantly overstudying. I wish I could say that I took some time to relax and clear my head, but I would be lying. The two weeks leading up to the test consisted of TONS of tears and perpetual headaches. I was in constant fear and stress of not achieving a high enough score on the test. Admittedly, having a tutor was very helpful for this aspect as well. It was nice to have someone who understood what I was feeling and to coach me through my fears and anxiety.

On the day of the test, I took the online LSAT from my childhood bedroom (in light of COVID-19 restrictions) and the rest was history. Truthfully, this was a very difficult 4 months of my life. It was very difficult making time for things outside of work and studying. Thankfully, I didn't need to take the test for a second time, so I was proud to see how all of my hard work had paid off. Can the entire experience be intimidating? Yes, very much so. Luckily, my email is open and so is my direct messages on instagram if you have any interest in taking the LSAT at all. I'm happy to divulge in to much more detail than I do in this article if you have any questions! I hope you all enjoyed the new subject this week and as always, thank you for reading! :)

-Sam