Hi everyone!
I'm getting excited (gotta stay positive!) for next Saturday and I'm mapping out my plans for this coming week. I'm going to take a PT in the 80s tomorrow, BR it on Sunday, and then spend maybe an hour or so each day until Friday (which I'll take off) drilling weaknesses. What's your week looking like?
If anyone wants to swap diversity statements or other materials, PM me!
If you were declining calls, I would not include that time period. I think that any time you were "on call" would be good to include.
This is not my personal experience, but it is extremely common- it's the only way to go straight to law school from undergrad. They won't rescind your acceptance unless you do something crazy (bad run in with the law, big drop in grades)
I would retake for sure, but it doesn't hurt to keep your current score (unless you need the free retake).
Oh okay, yeah you should be fine with just using the first one! Honestly, if I were an adcomm I don't think I'd enjoy reading multiple LSAT writing samples from one person
My topic has absolutely nothing to do with my work experience! It's about my favorite/lifelong activity and how it has shaped who I am and how that translates to law. It's totally okay if you're not talking about law related experience.
When was your first PT? To be quite honest, if you have only made a two point improvement after 3 hours a day studying over the last 3 months, you need to re examine your study methods. It's really unlikely to score six points above your highest practice test on the real thing.
What does your studying look like right now? Are you using a specific book, etc.?
I would not cancel if I were you. It's really hard to guess your score after the LSAT, and the fact that 1) you already have a score on record and 2) you think you might have done better, makes me lean toward not canceling.
I find that I often circle the correct answer and then erase it and switch to an incorrect error. On my last PT this cost me about three points. Also, if I go back to my circled questions when I still have time remaining in the section, when I change my answers I often change them from the correct answer to an incorrect one. Has anyone had any experience with this/have any ideas to solve it? I think that sometimes I don't really understand why the right answer is right but I can "tell" that it's right, but not knowing for sure makes me hesitate. This is specifically with LR, not really in the other sections.
I realize that on the actual test there's no need for this at all, but I often practice sections during my down time at work and like the ability to pause if I get a phone call or something like that. If this has already been addressed somewhere or if it's super obvious, I'm sorry!
It really depends on the school range and your score honestly. The higher ranked the school, the more important it is to apply earlier (generally). For T-14 schools the January LSAT is pretty late, unless you pull like a 175+ in which case they'll probably still want you. For T100 schools, it's probably okay if you're at/above median.
Or other written application materials!
Have any of you found a convenient solution to fool proofing now that the PDF ban is in place? I've fool proofed all of the games that are included in the CC so now I'm looking for my next step. I am thinking about just using the 10 Actual books in the 40s and 50s for drilling/proofing and using an eraser so that I can do the games more than once. Any ideas?
I think that these both sound more like personal statement material rather than diversity statements. Remember, there's no need to force out a diversity statement. They won't think anything negative about you if you don't have one. If you really want to write one, just make sure to reach each school's prompt, because diversity is defined differently at different schools
This has been speculated to be the case, but I don't believe there has been a definitive answer.
There's really no rush to take it sooner if you aren't applying this cycle, other than needing to study for the GRE
So I have a little bit of a dilemma. I am currently taking a prescribed anxiety medication, which does a really great job of keeping away panic attacks, but makes me not sleep very well and I often feel drowsy and my brain is foggy. I know that ultimately I am the only one who can answer this for myself, but does anyone have any thoughts about taking a break on the medicine until the September LSAT is over so that I can get better sleep?
I would say yes, if you are planning on applying this cycle
I felt the same, even when I was PTing my highest. I’m not sure if this is helpful, but I tried to embrace the fear by telling myself that I would be nervous of test day so I might as well just get used to it
My diagnostic (not quite cold) was 157. After going through the Powerscore LG and LR bibles my personal high score was 168. Just took my first PT after finishing the CC, and I scored 172 with a BR score of 174! Thank you 7sage!
I have tested in a school and at a hotel, and the experiences were pretty similar. Honestly, parking at a school is often harder (unless you go to that school I guess). To answer your question, I think it probably depends on the hotel, but generally you will have to pay for parking.
I have tested three times, twice at schools and once at a hotel. The hotel was slightly less comfortable, and the proctors weren't quite as good, but honestly it's such a small sample size that you can't really draw any conclusions from one person's experience. Overall, I don't think it should be detrimental to your test day performance.
They are saved for several years, so asking them now is a good idea! It will be nice to have those out of the way when you're ready to apply. You might want to give them a heads up (if you haven't already) that you are applying next year and not this year, just so that they know for updates and stuff like that
Proctors: Very good about giving the five minute warning and reading instructions. No complaints.
Facilities: SUPER NICE. I've heard that people in the past who have taken it here had a crappy experience with desks, etc. but this test was administered in the business school instead of the law school so it was all brand new. I'm not sure if this is a permanent change or not.
What kind of room: Sort of a small/medium auditorium style classroom.
How many in the room: 20-30
Desks: Long table desks with three people at a desk/table with one empty seat between each tester.
Left-handed accommodation: See above.
Noise levels: One proctor got up to use the restroom during the test, so we heard the door open and shut, but nothing other than that one incident.
Parking: Free parking in a garage adjacent to the testing building.
Time elapsed from arrival to test: Exam started right around 9
Irregularities or mishaps: None
Other comments:
Would you take the test here again? Definitely!
Date[s] of Exam[s]: September 8th 2018
Hi everyone,
Just like the title says, I’m on the fence about a retake. I took September and got a 169 and then got a 172 in November. My PT average over the last five PTs was 171 with a high score of 175. My gpa is 3.9. I’m not planning on applying til next cycle. Is it worth the time and stress to try to bump myself up the one point to Harvard and Yale’s medians?
I think if you have a diagnosed condition that makes something about the LSAT harder than it is meant to be, it doesn't hurt to seek accommodations. I don't specifically know what sort of accommodations people have received for bipolar (are you looking for extra time? testing alone in a room?), but again I don't think it hurts to try.
Yay for small victories! Studying works guys (who'd've thought lol). The only thing I've been doing differently is doing the last passage first. It's helped my timing and confidence. Woo hoo!
If you have a few minutes left at the end of the section, what do you like to do?
For this cycle, November would be much better. I'm not sure if it's the exact same for Canadian schools, but generally the January LSAT is really pushing it. Since you're pretty close to your goal score, I think you can get there over the next month. The only thing you'll need to keep in mind is that school is probably going to get even busier over the next month and you'll really have to balance that with the LSAT studying
Now that we're a little over a month away from the September LSAT, I'm just curious what everyone is focusing on/how you're hammering out your routines. I'm taking one PT per week and reviewing/drilling/fool proofing in between PTs. I'm a little bit nervous that that won't be enough PTs before the test, but I tend to do better when I do fewer PTs and put more focus on the other aspects of studying.
I feel like this is a really dumb question, but does your admission ticket have to be printed in color (for the photo)?
@aisling has a lot of good suggestions. I am also a member of the LGBTQ community, and I have been reaching out to various schools' OutLaw groups to get a feel for students' perspectives on diversity and general experience at their schools. So far, every person I've emailed has emailed me back within a day or two and is more than happy to talk.
I am not particularly religious, but I went to a Methodist "affiliated" school. I never experienced poor treatment there from anyone for not being straight. My understanding is that most christian schools are very open and accepting. Now, if we're talking about say Liberty, that might be a different story as far as how they would view your statement. But like the above commenter said, would you really want to go to a school like that?
I would say yes, it can't hurt, unless the application fees are too burdensome
What on earth??? Did you have to actually send them through college board or whatever or did you just type it in and they take your word for it?
Hi!
If you've ever tested in a hotel, do you have any recommendations/stories of experience? I'm thinking about staying at the hotel the night before, even though I only live about fifteen minutes away. Have any of you stayed in the hotel where you were testing before?
You can leave your application at any time, it won’t submit until you actually pay. You can work in pieces.
It's definitely possible, although like the above poster said it's more likely to score around your average.
I don’t think anyone can give you great advice without more info. When are you wanting to take the LSAT? How much of an improvement from your current average are you hoping to have?
How long have you been BRing? It will take several PTs to make improvements. What is your BR process?