@ said:

Do you guys ever feel that by studying really hard for the LSAT you are "sneaking" into a school where you don't belong or don't deserve to attend? I was thinking about this last night on my drive home...

I could delay my apps, take another year to study, and achieve an elite score in order to get into a T14... But when I get there, would I be surrounded by a bunch of naturally brilliant people who achieved a 170+ with little effort? I started worrying, "how could I possibly contribute to a community of people who can achieve with minimal effort, a task that took me maximum effort?!"

This isn't something that I worry about deeply... I just thought it would make an interesting discussion since I'm sure I am not the only one who has encountered feelings of self-doubt from time to time.

Seeking insight from people who have experienced this for themselves.. If you spent a very long time mastering the LSAT and gaining admissions to a top notch school, how did you fare as a 1L? Did you find anything that surprised you about your classmates? Did you suffer from Imposter Syndrome? If so, how did you overcome?

Keep in mind that there will be plenty of people at T14 schools that studied very, very hard for the LSAT to get above a 170. And then there will also be URMs that slide in with a mediocre mid-160s LSAT due to the URM boost. Either they didn't put in much effort or they did, and still couldn't get a good score. So you won't be at the very bottom.

@ said:

That whole story of your LSAT journey and you don't even tell us what your final LSAT score was?!?!? I feel cheated :P congratulations though!

I'm pretty certain that the OP is an URM. How else would they have waitlisted at U Chicago and Columbia and accepted into Georgetown with a 153? Based on the timeline they provided, they would not have had much work experience at this point. If I had to guess, I would say that the OP's final LSAT score was somewhere in the mid 160s. They said it themself, "If this is the results I got with a 153, imagine what I could do with a 163 or 170."

Anything in the 170s is respectable enough to post. 169 is basically 170 so that's good. 168 is basically 169 - two more guesses right and in the 170 club, albeit disappointing. I think it's possible they got a 167 - perfectly respectable score, but not to the level they set for themself. 166 it is.

Yes. Only because you're an URM. Congrats

Team WS (writing sample). My June writing sample would have convinced every one of you to be pro toll bridge.

@ said:

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Really, no harm. I wasn't aware of LSAT accommodations until the disabiliity coordinator at my university made me aware and helped me begin the process. The fact that the system is being scammed is frustrating to me as well. I apologize if my comment was harsh, it was more directed at the initial post and how sophomoric the poll was.

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Here's a simple "accommodation" attorneys use with a varied amount of frequency it's called

"Motion for Continuance". Law schools and state bar exams both have disability accommodations for those that qualify.

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Great advice. Guilty but will rehabilitate by no longer feeding the troll.

Ok. Let's say you're a Public Defender and you have a case set for Jury Trial. You request a continuance because you need more time to prepare for trial due to your mental disability. You might get away with it once or twice, and you can try sugar coating it with other actual legitimate reasons, but you're not going to be able to pull that shit all the time. Eventually judges and prosecutors are going to catch on. And it's not fair to the client who could be facing potential consequences like prison, loss of their job if convicted, etc. It's a client based profession.

There's a recent trend of people wanting to let others know how victimized they are. Tough shit. As the OP mentioned, there's been a huge jump in the number of people receiving accommodations. Quit fabricating excuses for yourself and actually put in the work for it.

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@ said:

At the end of the day, what must be considered is the net harm. The percentage of individuals applying and getting approved for accommodations is minimal. Of those, sure a few probably do get through who really do not need them, thus unfairly taking a seat or two at any given school. But what about every student who needs them to perform, who can certainly become an extraordinary lawyer, but cannot perform on a standardized test do their brain not being, well, 'standard'.

For my entire life, I was always the 'smart' kid, I was moved up a grade, aced everything, etc, but in my sophomore year of high-school, I sustained a serious concussion. I missed six weeks of classes and returned slowly, but every day was this painful exercise in simply completing basic tasks. Re-reading math problems five times because my short term memory was all but destroyed, staring at a jumbled mix of words hoping to make some sense of it, misreading instructions, and so forth. It felt like my identity had been ripped away, and every minute of that year was difficult. Ultimately, I received accommodations for the remainder of the semester, which allowed me to preform to my fullest abilities. It was not a matter of me being less intelligent, it was simply that I needed additional time to prove my intelligence. Luckily my symptoms gradually lessened and by the fall I was able to complete my studies normally.

Those few months ingrained in me such empathy for individuals who struggle like that every day. I it was debilitating, and agonizing. As for the LSAT it all boils down to a proportionate balancing of salutary and deleterious effects. If for every ten students who need accommodations, one takes the exam and benefits disproportionately, it is not the end of the world. Your opinion is callous, lacking basic compassion, and fosters an environment when individuals with invisible struggles are cast away even further.

I think you need to grow up a little.

If you become a lawyer, are you going to request that your clients give you accommodations as well?

If I was hiring a lawyer, I would certainly prefer one that didn't need to have accommodations to get to where they are because they are mentally disabled. Are people that request accommodations for the LSAT going to request accommodations for law school exams, for the bar exam, and eventually their clients when a deadline is set?