any advice for people who study and begin to hate their lives?

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Why the rush? Is there something preventing you from a more reasonable and methodical approach to taking this test preparation seriously and giving it the time a serious life goal deserves? While a lot is possible in five weeks, why not give yourself five months (or a year) and commit to achieving your highest potential?

I'm very much opposed to taking a year off and believe that my transition from UCSD to Law School will be smoother if I choose to continue my education. I'm graduting a quarter early (March) to work for a small niche law office in Santa Barbara and feel as if I work and become more and more comfortable with my earnings I'll put off Law School all together.

One dude's opinion, take it for what its worth: If my math is right, you are willing to base your choices / options of law school on 3 months of half-a$$ LSAT study (based on the timeline and effort you yourself laid out in the original post). The range of potential outcomes for a person scoring in the high 150's and another scoring the high 160's are astronomically different. Just look at 7Sage's consolidated list of 2018 LSAT medians for all schools. Scoring higher gets you entirely different range of schools and better scholarship opportunities. Better scholarships mean you graduate with the freedom to do what you want to, not what you have to do in order to service debt. Its absolutely amazing to me the sheer number of people that are willing to needlessly rush LSAT preparation because they are unwilling to give themselves an opportunity to properly prepare and reach their true potential. Additionally, if you are worried that working at another job will be more rewarding / satisfying than a career in law, then don't go to law school.

Again, this is just my (an anonymous internet stranger's) opinion. You do you. But, speaking as someone who delayed a cycle because I was ill-prepared for the LSAT the first time I started studying (in my late 40's), I know that somehow, the LSAT and law schools were still here a year later after I hit what I considered a good score and now I have much better options (including scholarships) because I was willing to give serious preparation to a serious task.

Either way, I wish you the best of luck.

Thanks again for your opinion; My decision to go to law school during this cycle will be tremendously based on what instiution chooses to accept me.

(T-14,T-20,T2 In California)

I'm only applying to schools in California so UCB and Stanford are the only T14 schools that are available in my region and of these schools I'll only be applying to Berkeley (because of my background), with that being said I've met numerous amounts of people throughout my experiences in Internships and Seminars that have went to T2 schools and still have done well for themselves.

Everyones situation is different, although T14- T20 schools do have low unemployment rates, not all of these individuals who graduate from these schools end up making 6 figures right off the bat; Networking can play a huge factor in ones legal career

My life as it is, is tremendously different from the average Law School applicant. Statistically speaking me graduating from UCSD is a lottery win; compared to many of my peers who I've grown up with. Numbers are a good way to have an idea of where you are but I do not agree that they should be the concrete determining factor of where you'll end up.

On a side note; If I do well during my 1L i could always transfer or obtain scholarship money if I haven't done so already

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Hi there! To answer your interest in achieving that specific LSAT score directly, I went through the CC. Then I began PTing at 150, after only two tests my score stabilized to 158 and 157; therefore, I believe if you took this seriously with enough effort placed into PTs, I believe you can achieve a high the high 150's! Definitely doable in 5 weeks as long as you get used to the pacing and learn to translate lawgic, and practice LGs!

Thank you for the insight Harvey! I hope I'll find as much success as you did with 7sage!

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I have no sight on whether or not you can raise you score in that short time period. But I know taking more practice tests is very important, so you have the right idea. But if you get your scores up, with your urm status and unique background you can definitely get into some decent schools with scholarships. I've seen minorities on LSN score in the mid 150's, ED and get into the T-14. Also if you're score doesn't reach your goal, you can always apply to some tier 2 schools and get some significant scholarships. Just focus on raising that score

Thank you ! It's crunch time !

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Découragement n'est pas Ivoirien. :)

You can absolutely go from 143 to 157+. Like others have already recommended, I’d start by planning to tackle a rigorous study schedule and go from there (I.e., the one here on 7sage). As far as when to take the exam, I think it truly depends on how prepared you feel ~a week out. Don’t be afraid to change your test date if you believe that pushing it back will increase the chances of hitting your goal score.

Merci beaucoup ma soeur!

Thanks for the encouraging words! I'll do my best

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Why the rush? Is there something preventing you from a more reasonable and methodical approach to taking this test preparation seriously and giving it the time a serious life goal deserves? While a lot is possible in five weeks, why not give yourself five months (or a year) and commit to achieving your highest potential?

I'm very much opposed to taking a year off and believe that my transition from UCSD to Law School will be smoother if I choose to continue my education. I'm graduting a quarter early (March) to work for a small niche law office in Santa Barbara and feel as if I work and become more and more comfortable with my earnings I'll put off Law School all together.

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This is doable, as ppl said, because of the scoring band in which you fall right now. However, five weeks of study means five weeks of study. Plan on really packing it in, especially since you’ll want enough spacing between practice tests. In general, I would urge against such a short study schedule: there’s just too much chance that one will ultimately end up half-assing study, and end up with a half-ass score. I’d also say that just because somethings doable, don’t invest too much in the expectations; that’s because, it would really suck if you didn’t hit the score you wanted but read more into that than you should. Temper expectations, and work hard!

P.S. Curious as to how you’re first -gen but your dad has a doctorate.

P.P.S. I am a bit sceptical about the 159 average cited (for AA males). I know someone with a 161 who got into Yale, but by all accounts that was an unusual case—not the rule for AAs. Are you getting that from reddit, LSL, LSN, or somewhere else?

Thank you so much for the encouraging words; I'll try my best and hope that my scores reflect the effort I'll be putting in these next few weeks

My Father went to Universidad Catolica de Milan in Italy and received his PhD in Economics before moving to New York with my Mother in 1993. For one reason or another many of his credentials did not transfer over to the U.S., so he ended up going to New York City College where he obtained a Masters in Economics.

I've gotten this information from Law Schools forums located here:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=195443

So all October Test Takers must take the Test the in-person option is no longer available?