Quick Tip: Understand previews and cancellations
Students frequently ask me what it means to purchase Score Preview, or to cancel a score. This is understandable; it’s complicated and it feels like the rules from LSAC are often changing! You can understand this by thinking about your options at various stages. First, upon taking your test, you have the option to unconditionally cancel it, without a score appearing on your record. This is true with or without Score Preview; however, it is a blind cancellation, since you’ll be canceling without knowing what your score was. Second, imagine you purchased Score Preview. This gives you a second option others won’t have: upon seeing your score, you can choose to cancel it. If you cancel it, a cancellation will appear on your record, instead of your score. So to put it simply: non-preview test-takers will have two options: the option to cancel without seeing their score or the option to keep the score they receive. Preview test-takers have a third option: cancel without seeing the score, cancel after seeing the score, or keep the score.
Discussion: How long do you need?
When designing a schedule, students often wonder how long they need to study for the test. Spoiler alert: the answer is a typical lawyerly one…it depends! It depends on your diagnostic score, your goal score, the sections you’re struggling with, and the number of hours you can put into study each week. However, while each person is different, I’ll give examples of 2 imaginary “students” and plausible timelines for them. These may be helpful to keep in mind when designing your own schedule.
“Student 1” comes to the test with a fair degree of existing proficiency, having gotten a diagnostic score between 155 and 160, and is aiming for a score anywhere in the 170s. Their primary weakness is Logic Games. They also have a fairly relaxed schedule (perhaps this is over a summer) and can commit several hours a day of studying. For this student, I’d say 3-4 months of intense study might be enough to do it. While improving from a 160 to 170+ is never assured, focusing intensely for a few months (and focusing on Logic Games, the most learnable section) should be enough to do it. This is because they won’t need to go through the Core Curriculum nearly as rigorously, and can probably pick and choose particular things to focus on learning, with a greater emphasis on taking PrepTests.
However, Student 1’s timeline is probably the shortest realistic one I can imagine. Even the most “prepared” student likely won’t be able to study fewer than 3-4 months. Most people will need far more time.
“Student 2” has a similar target score—around a 170—but has a few additional constraints. Their diagnostic was a bit lower (around a 145-150) and they don’t have the ability to study full-time, because they’re balancing study with a full-time work schedule. Realistically, they can put 1 hour into studying each day after work and a good chunk of one weekend day. For this student, they’d likely need to review most (if not all) of the Core Curriculum, since a 20-point jump requires some real improvement in the fundamentals. This is completely realistic! But it will require some effort. I’d guess a minimum of 6-8 months, and maybe as much as a year.
What makes these timelines so different? It comes down to the extent to which one student may need to really learn “the fundamentals” and start from the ground up, versus one who comes in with the fundamentals down and is instead trying to do more “fine-tuning.” While both students can absolutely reach the same point, their paths may be slightly different. No one path is better than the other, but a starting point (and schedule) can result in different journeys.
Do you see yourself in either of these students? While it may not be a perfect approximation, it’s a good litmus test for what you should expect on your study journey.