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cam860

Joined: Apr 2025
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Admissions · Class of 2022 roll call!

cam860

Monday, Apr 29 2019

I realize I haven't posted to these boards in at least a year, but I'm headed to Chicago-Kent.

General · Is today Grey Day? [YES!!!]

cam860

Tuesday, Feb 28 2017

Just got mine a few mins ago. I under performed my PT's, so I'll be retaking later this year.

General · Grey day Feb 2017 approaches...

cam860

Monday, Feb 27 2017

I checked at 430PM and I will check before bed. I figure, they won't come out till the 1st...but I would love to be surprised (and then either really happy or dejected).

General · Still having timing issues

cam860

Friday, Feb 17 2017

Exactly what @ said. I had timing issues where I'd run way over on one or two games, and then have less than five minutes to complete the last game. I started to fool proof games and apply skipping strategies (99% of the time skip the rule substitution question). Getting a better grasp of which kind of setup to use paid dividends in saving time. Doing enough games to where you know which board to use after reading the setup was huge.

On the actual test day, I finished LG with a few minutes to spare. I didn't encounter a single game where I thought "How do I even set this up?".

General · Keep the Faith!

cam860

Friday, Mar 17 2017

I saw this post and appreciate it! I took the Feb 2017 test. I'm taking a break from the LSAT until early April and then will be starting back with the goal of taking the Dec 2017 test. I under-performed my PT average by 4-7 points (depending on how far back tests are included).

I'm planning on doing what they said in the Post-CC webinar.

General · [Confirmed] Unlimited LSAT takes!

cam860

Tuesday, May 16 2017

Wow. Like the others, I'm curious about the potential ramifications.

General · Long term Planning

cam860

Tuesday, May 16 2017

Depending on what the OPTEMPO is like for your command, I would plan ahead for the LSAT. If your goal is to take it in 2020, I'd be ready to take it by the December 2019 test, just in case 2020 is a high enough OPTEMPO to prevent you from taking it that year. Taking it December 2019, if your OPTEMPO is not insanely high, would also allow you to retake in 2020 as needed. For myself, I sat the Feb 2017 test, and I'm going to retake either December 2017 or Feb 2018 (I wasn't happy with my score) to apply Fall 2018 to start school in Fall 2019.

From the writing, I'm guessing you just reupped, whether it is your first hitch or your last. The next tidbit is only relevant if you're in the US Military. If you're GI Bill eligible, I'd verify whether or not the schools you are most interested in participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program. If you paid into the Montgomery GI Bill (the one where we paid $100/month for the first 12 months of our contracts), I'd verify whether that is the best option or not. Personally, I paid into Montgomery, but I'm switching to Post 9/11 since it is a far better value (you get E5 w/dependents BAH based off of the zip code of your school). Post 9/11 GI Bill at a state school = full tuition. Post 9/11 + YRP = full or nearly full tuition at a private school.

General reading wise, I'd read Ann Levine's Law School Decision Game and Law School Admission game. Another is Montauk's How to Get Into The Top Law Schools. Those books gave me a better idea of what to expect from the process.

General · Any older non-traditional students?

cam860

Monday, Jul 16 2018

I think I'm in the older, non-traditional group. I'm 32. I just finished undergrad yesterday while working full time (military). If all goes well, I'll be attending law school at 33. I have an eight year gap in my undergraduate record after I dropped out, twice. I'm hoping that the distance between when I dropped out (with a semester of F's due to dropping after the deadline) and my final attempt at undergrad will help with my admissions chances. I don't have a family (single, no kids), so that is less of a concern to me.

As far as will it hurt? I've read a mixed bag, but primarily positive attributes for the admission process. Older applicants typically have more work and life experience which can add to the incoming class.

My primary age concern has to do with actually attending school. On the campus visits I have done, there has been a mixed bag of age groups. One school, it seemed like the students skewed pretty young, another it was a bit of everyone to the point where I was not sure who was a student/prospective student and who was part of the faculty.

General · Prepping For Retake in December or February, Critique My Plan (please). Long Post.

cam860

Monday, May 15 2017

Thanks Jae.

As far as my specific job goes, when I enlisted, I had only been to a handful of states with the ones outside of the Midwest being for school trips. Now? I've been to 40ish while playing gigs in the smallest one stop sign towns all the way through Times Square NYC from ceremonial bands playing marches to rock bands playing top 40. When I've done brain storming sessions about what to write a PS on, the impact of military music on my life has been a consistent contender since I can talk about the split focus between the creative and logical/structured sides as well as a few other aspects. However, I'm not putting much time into thinking about my PS just yet, in my bigger plan, I'll start putting the work into that once I have completed take two of the LSAT. This year's primary goals: get an LSAT score that I want (160+), lose 30-35 more pounds, and maintain a 3.5+ GPA per semester. I have plans in place to accomplish all of those items.

The mental and physical health sides-I learned that during my last prep. I hit burn out a couple of times, typically when work gets busy, and it is the main reason why I'm shooting to prep for a greater number of days yet fewer hours per day/week compared to last time. At my peak of last prep, I was hitting the LSAT 5-6hrs per day on top of working full time and spending 1-2hrs (ish) per night on coursework. I joked to coworkers that I was burning the candle in 3-4 places instead of just the ends. It was OK for a month or two at a time, but as soon as an additional stressor came up (school projects,the weigh-in and readiness test at work, extended tours, etc), burn out came to say hi. I've learned there are times where I need to push head first through it, but there are also times where I need to turn on Netflix/Hulu and zone out for the night.

At this point, my nutrition is on point-I'm in the process of shedding some weight that I've accumulated the last six years, I'm down about 5 pounds with another 30-35 to go. I've found at least one new hobby that helps clear my head (target shooting) and, even outside of the LSAT, I have been doing a better job of self-care.

General · Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

cam860

Wednesday, Feb 15 2017

@ said:

lol Same. What's your favorite chocolate? And good luck for the Feb results!!!!!!

I'm not very picky with Valentine's Day Chocolate. Reese's anything is a safe bet. At least in the Midwest, if I had the day after Valentine's Day off, I'd hit up the Fannie May store shortly after they opened to pickup whatever heart shaped boxes they had left (for cheap). I don't know if they sell Fannie May in New England though (I moved out here a year ago).

General · Prepping For Retake in December or February, Critique My Plan (please). Long Post.

cam860

Sunday, May 14 2017

Alex,

I do not have the info from the test-it was undisclosed. I don't remember having any timing issues on test day. I remember thinking that it felt like everything clicked, and I seemed far less stressed out during/after the test than the others in my room. If I had to wager a guess, I'm thinking I made some over-confidence errors, e.g. fell for lots of trap answers.

As far as my last prep goes, I kept an excel sheet with the PT's I completed broken down into chunks of 6-8 PT's to get an average of where I was at at that point in time.

I studied from April thru the end of May last year, then took the summer off from PT's, restarted in August thru test day (Feb) with a couple of 1-2 week breaks in there. In October, I started using 7sage, prior to that, I went through the PS Bibles followed by the LSAT Trainer . I completed 30 PT's total, 15 of which I completed since starting to use 7sage. Part of the reason the 156 stung is that out of the 15 PT's I completed since starting 7sage, 6 total were sub 160 (2-155's, 2-158's, 2-159's), the other 9 were 160-163 (5-160's, 2-162's, 2-163's).

Score distribution averages for the last month before test day of PT's (8 tests): LG: -7, LR: -7 (per section), RC: -6.6. My numbers jump around quite a bit in LG and RC, but I'm fairly consistent at LR (-6 to -8 per section).

I like the idea of drilling/fool proofing a bit better than going back through the CC, especially with the latest bundles and PT's that were posted here.

General · Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

cam860

Tuesday, Feb 14 2017

I'm alone tonight, however, I am spending the evening doing the assigned reading for two classes. I'm waiting to buy chocolate/candy until it goes on sale tomorrow. I'm waiting till the Feb. test results come out before I get back into LSAT studying mode-I hit burn out at least twice during my prep, so a minimum of a month away from actual LSAT studying will feel great. I'm seeing a nice benefit to my undergrad courses thanks to all of the LSAT prep: my reading comprehension and attention to detail is far greater than it was before my prep.

General

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Sunday, May 14 2017

cam860

Prepping For Retake in December or February, Critique My Plan (please). Long Post.

Good morning 7sage,

Background/Additional Info

I've been lurking/slowly posting more the last week or two. I came up with a plan for my retake attempt in December or February (depending on which date my job approves the time off request for). Background: I sat for the Feb 2017 test, wrote a 156, PT average for the month going into it was a 160, BR scores were 168-170. I know, I should have postponed. My goal score is a 160+. I'm going to have an unpredictable cycle, and I'm striving to get my LSAT score as high above the 75ths for my target schools as possible . Unpredictable since I'll be a splitter, my max LSAC GPA is 2.9-3.0, military musician (there are no more than 18 people with my specific job in my branch of service), had academic issues in the past (an academic probation and academic suspension 10+ years before I'll be applying to school), upward trend in GPA (current school/degree GPA is 3.52 and rising). For my two target/goal schools, my anticipated LSAC GPA is .15 to .25 below their 25ths, my current LSAT score is right at their medians. Safety schools-I'm at/above their medians and/or 75ths already. Reach/Dream School: GPA is .5 below their 25th and LSAT is 14 points below their 75th-I'd need to get a 172+ to have even a remote chance (so, it is closer to a hail mary school). I'll be applying to start in the Fall 2019 school year, so I still have some time. My work schedule is hectic over the summer/warm months, and then in cooler months-it can be a bit busy but I get decent comp time for it. I'm also a full time student.

My overall goal for the retake is to write a 160+ to provide a greater chance of acceptance to my target schools. I'll be going to school via the GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon Program, so unless if I can talk the school into changing any potential scholarship to a non-tuition (e.g. living expense or general) scholarship, the difference between admission with scholarship and admission without scholarship does not matter much to me (GI Bill is last payer, so whatever tuition scholarship I receive would reduce the amount GI Bill pays to match it until tuition is covered). Using LSN and a few other sites, it looks like as it stands, I have solid chances of admission at my target schools now. I'm mostly concerned about my past academic issues being enough of a red flag to ADCOMs that I need to be above their 75ths to alleviate those issues.

Time per day/week for LSAT Prep and Course work

Week Days when I'm not on tour, I have 4-4.5 per day (90mins in the morning, half of my 2hr lunch break, 2-3hrs each night after work).

Week Days when I am on tour, it varies dramatically from 3hrs to 6hrs.

Week Ends when I'm not on tour, are typically free/wide open.

Week ends when I am on tour, vary quite a bit.

Course work tends to need 4 hours per class per week to get A's.

I am single, no family/relationship commitments, and get 99.9999% of my social needs met by my job. So, I'm not concerned about having time to go out/party. I hit the gun range once a week or every other week and workout 2-3 times per week for around 90mins total time commitment per workout (or trip to the range).

So, finally, my plan.

Step 1: Redo the entire Core Curriculum.

Step 1a (done concurrently with Core Curriculum): Fool proof every logic game I can get my hands on.

Step 2: Take PT's and BR each.

Step 2a: Drill question types based off of PT and BR scores.

Step 2b: Use supplemental materials to aid in weak areas (I have LSAT Trainer, PS Bibles, Manhattan LR and RC)

Once I reach the PT point, the plan is to simulate test day conditions as close as possible with a few different locations: the lounge at my job site and local library with the test starting at 0900 on a Saturday. For week day PT's, I'm thinking they would be on Tuesday and potentially Thursday, but I'd rather focus on quality over quantity. I used the odd PT's from the 70's and PT 80 for the final month of my previous prep. I'm AOK with buying additional PT's beyond what I currently have (I think I own all of the ones currently released, but not all of them are clean copies).

Sample Week Day Plan for Non-Tour Week

0600-0730: Fool Proof LG

Work Block

1100-1200ish Course Work

Work Block

430PM-530PM: CC session 1

530PM-615PM: Dinner

615PM-715PM: CC Session 2

715PM-815PM: CC session 3

Sample Saturday Plan for Non-Tour Week BEFORE starting PT's

0830-0930: Fool Proof LG

0930-1030: Relax/Eat Breakfast

1030-noon: CC session1

noon-3PM: Relax, errands, chores, lunch

3PM-430PM: CC session 2

430PM-530PM: Relax, Dinner

530PM-7PM: CC session 3

730PM--830PM: Fool Proof LG

To avoid burn out, the only LSAT studying on Mondays would be fool proofing LG in the morning, the lunch time and evening sessions would be used for course work and/or gym or range time. Fridays I would cut the last two CC session for relaxation, meditation, or gym. I'd rather not hit burnout as many times leading up to this attempt.

Questions I have

Is it okay to start fool proofing games before completing the core curriculum?

When I'm on tour (typically a week at a time, once or twice per month from May-July/August), time is a premium, so I'm thinking I'll use those weeks as mini-LG intensives where I drop the CC time and only Fool Proof games, does that make sense to others?

Does the structure of the plan make sense?

General · emotional state after completing a preptest

cam860

Saturday, May 13 2017

I've learned that my emotional state isn't always the best judge. I have completed PT's that felt really easy and bombed them, yet I have also completed PT's that felt really easy overall and did amazing on at least one section. Same deal on the opposite end.

As far as the real test goes, I sat for February 2017. I left the test feeling like I either did at the high end of my PT scores (163-164), possibly above it...or that I completely fell for every single trap answer choice (150-155). I ended up writing a 156, about 4 points below where I was PTing in the month leading up to the test (last two PT's before the test were a 160 & 163). My goal was 160+.

General · People who have already taken the LSAT: Can I circle on my bubble sheet?

cam860

Saturday, May 13 2017

I fill in the bubbles 3/4 of the way on the questions that I know that I want to go back to. Like the others have said, I would not make any additional marks on the answer sheet. It provides a quick enough reference to see that "I need to double check 2, 16, 22, etc", yet if I'm running short on time, I can fill in the bubble the rest of the way with at least 30 seconds remaining.

Admissions · How do you plan on paying for Law School?

cam860

Wednesday, Aug 09 2017

If all goes to plan, I'll be headed to school at 33.

As far as how to pay: Post 9/11 GI Bill, Yellow Ribbon Program to cover the rest of tuition, and then living off of a mix of GI Bill housing allowance and military disability payments (I should be able to hit at least 50% service connected). Using the current numbers (based off of where I want to go to school), I would have about as much money coming in per month between housing allowance and disability as I do now at my current duty station.

My goal is to not take out any student loans for law school.

General · Northwestern Pritzker to accept GRE Fall 2018

cam860

Wednesday, Aug 09 2017

@ said:

The first question that popped into my mind is whether or not schools would require an LSAC GPA vs. degree GPA if the score being submitted is the GRE, or if application will still be completed via LSAC. I'm guessing LSAC GPA will still be used (even though myself and many others would love to be able to use the degree GPA).

Lol the difference for me would be a 2.7 to a 4.0.....that's pretty dramatic

Similar here. My max LSAC GPA is 2.9. I'm 11 classes (one calendar year) away from being done with undergrad, and should be finishing with a 3.7ish degree GPA since I screwed up royally during my first attempt at college (that ended about 9 years ago).

General · Northwestern Pritzker to accept GRE Fall 2018

cam860

Tuesday, Aug 08 2017

General · What next after FEB LSAT

cam860

Sunday, Feb 05 2017

I'm in a similar position, but I don't think I would be ready for a June retake based off of what my plan is.

I'm not planning on studying till the Feb scores come out. It was my first take, but I felt very good about it, which in my case, means I did either really good or really really really bad. I'm using the rest of February to catch back up on the other elements of life that I put on the back burner during my final prep for the test. I've felt mentally spent yesterday and today, so other than the required items (e.g. homework and work), I'm avoiding mentally intensive activities for at least a few days.

If my score isn't in my target range, I'm going to go back through the CC as a general review before diving into the weaknesses. The weaknesses will, at least initially, be based off of the last three PT's I completed before the actual test mostly via targeted question types (thank you analytics section).

General · How many pencils can I bring?

cam860

Sunday, Feb 05 2017

I brought 8-10. I think I used 2 per section, including the writing sample.

LSAT · Official February LSAT Discussion Thread

cam860

Sunday, Feb 05 2017

What sections did you have LR?

2 and 5.

I had LG LR RC, LG LR.

If what I'm reading on here, TLS, and Power Score is accurate, my first LG was the real one (I thought it was going to be experimental since it seemed easier to me compared to my 2nd LG).

LSAT · Official February LSAT Discussion Thread

cam860

Sunday, Feb 05 2017

@ said:

Were these questions in both section of your > @ said:

@ said:

I had two LR sections (experimental RC, ugh) and here are some questions I haven't seen mentioned yet:

Company owner's plan doesn't deserve criticism because previous owner put them in debt

Someone being hired with lots of experience might not be great because some other guy with experience was bad before

Study with people randomly assigned to wear formal/business attire

Study with middle aged coffee drinkers and high blood pressure or cholesterol or something?

Countries that expect crappy economic conditions can deal with economic instability better?

Mystery novel private investigates are lone wolves/go against bureaucracy

Vehicle emissions 1967-90 and smog

Economics of govt sending letters across the country/connecting people

Politician who's a skilled writer makes a speech

Small earth, plate tectonics, can't sustain life

Hopefully this helps someone! :)

I had all of those. (I had LG experimental).

Were these questions in both LR sections?

I forget the split, but I remember dealing with those topics across the two LR sections I had. I had to keep from giggling out loud when reading some of the politician questions.

LSAT · Serious stupid mistake I made today (never do this)

cam860

Saturday, Feb 04 2017

@ said:

Sorry you got flustered. It takes a lot to collect yourself in the middle of LG like that.

LG, LR, RC, LG, LR. I can't tell which one was experimental. Any way I can find out without breaking the rules? If they don't change the order, I guess it was the 2nd?

I'm following 2 threads on the test. I had LG, LR, RC, LG, LR. From what I'm reading, the section with the Gold/Silver game was the real one. That was my first LG section.

General · How people approach studying for the LSAT

cam860

Wednesday, Aug 02 2017

I've worked the same type of schedule as you, and then have dealt with an inconsistent schedule.

When I'm in LSAT mode (I'm coming back from an extended break), here's what my day looks like...for a point of reference, I'm just getting back into studying for a retake. So, my overall goal at the moment is general refresher with an emphasis on fool proofing logic games.

0530-0545ish, wake up

0545-0600: shower, shave, get dressed, have caffeine (I fast until lunch)

0600-0745: LSAT Trainer reading (using it to get an overview/general review)

Lunch (if possible): 45-60mins of LG Fool Proofing

After work/once I get home: 45mins for dinner/unwinding

1845-2030: LSAT, whether that is continuing in CC or LSAT Trainer or problem type drilling.

So, today, I got home by about 415PM. So, I went for a 40minute walk to clear my head/unwind, had 45mins for dinner, so I didn't get started studying until about 545PM. I ducked into the forums after reading a chapter and fool proofing a logic game. Once I'm done with this post, it will be more fool proofing.

If this is your first time around studying, do what the others have said. Follow the Core Curriculum, watch and review the videos, do the problem sets. So if we adapted the schedule I posted to the CC and problem sets, here's about what it would look like....

0600-0745: Core Curriculum Videos and problem sets.

Lunch (if possible): problem sets that you didn't get to in the morning

1800 (645PM): finish problem sets you didn't complete, more core curriculum videos, or review the material from earlier that day.

From my previous prep, what helped me gain some comfort in RC was reading material outside of my comfort zone and treating it like an RC Passage-finding the main point, identifying the authors opinion, what the structure is, etc. I have/had subscriptions to The New Yorker, The Economist, and Scientific American.

Once you're at the point in the curriculum where you are doing practice tests, use the Analytics section to see what your weak areas are. Go back to the CC for those areas for review.

General · .

cam860

Wednesday, Mar 01 2017

I'm in a similar boat. I wrote under my PT average by about 4 points. I wrote a 156, the average of my last 15 PT's prior was a 160. I wrote PT 80 3 days prior to the test with a 163. I knew that I was going to do either much better or much worse than my PT average based off of how I felt about the test (really good). I wrote the lowest score I have had since I think October.

My plan is essentially what @ said. More than likely I will retake in December 2017 or February 2018. I work full time, take 6-9 credit hours at a time, and then don't have much of a social life. So, adjust this per your own timeline.

School/work is a bit hectic/insane in March, so I'm taking most of March off from LSAT (2 weeks of 12 credit hours while on tour). That should be enough time to give me as close to a clean slate as possible to restart my efforts.

Go back through the CC to ensure that I have a solid foundation, including practice sets. Rewatch the webinar on post-curriculum strategies and follow them. Fool proof logic games 50-80 (if time, add in 30-40 as well). Avoid burnout. I hit burnout hard in December and January. I'm applying concepts from the power lifting world since I did pretty AOK in that. Hit hard for 3 weeks, take one week pretty light, high hard for 3 weeks, take one week pretty light. The translation to LSAT, would be 3-4hrs per day during the week with a PT and blind review on the weekends for the hard weeks. The light weeks-focus on one aspect of the test for 1-2hrs per day with 3hrs on one of the weekend days either redoing a previous PT or doing 2-3 sections of whatever I am focused on for that week, for me, it will more than likely alternate between logic games and refining my RC techniques.

General · Is today Grey Day? [YES!!!]

cam860

Wednesday, Mar 01 2017

@ said:

@ Sorry to hear that- I'm sure that if you keep working for it, you'll get the score that you want later this year!

Thanks! I'm a little disappointed, but it is more so because it means i have to keep studying for this. :smile: I'm still decompressing a bit, but I feel like I have a better idea of how I should prep for my next take with the big thing not burning out the month before the test. I'm applying to start fall 2019, so I still have about 18 months worth of potential retake dates left. Goal is to move my actual PT score to match my BR scores.