I had have Narcolepsy. I didn't have any accommodations for the LSAT, as I had just been diagnosed. However, I'm in law school now, and I got my paperwork in place the 2nd week of school. I have a few key accommodations, but the big one to me is the extra time for exams. I didn't want that accommodation at first. When I met with the disability office, she asked me what I thought I needed for support, and I told her that I was mostly concerned with absences and tardiness (two of the biggest problems narcoleptics have) and I wanted some accommodation to the attendance policy. She recommended extra time for testing and I quickly rebuked it. I've always been a high performer, and I didn't feel right about using that help. BUT, she talked to me into it, by saying, "look, you might feel fine today, but you don't know how you'll feel on test day. what if you over sleep? what if you were up all night?" She made a good argument, and I figured it better to be safe than sorry. VERY quickly I realized that she was right. Law school is insanely cognitively demanding. All day. every day. I catch myself, a little sleepy, zoning out etc. When I read or study, depending on how I feel that day, I need more breaks, and to really MAKE myself do it, because the intensity level is so high, and my narcolepsy kicks in. Narcolepsy is often stress induced. Isn't that ironic? Go to law school: the most stressful thing ever ever ever. Stress exacerbates Narcolepsy so I am so tired that I feel like someone drugged me. Thus, I MUST take a nap. Napping takes up time I should be reading or studying, leaving me a lot of work to do, and less time to do it. Which stresses me out. And the cycle starts again.....

I say all this to say, I am so happy I sucked it up and put the accommodations in place. I know I have the brain power, IQ, cognitive ability, motivation, etc etc to do this. But, Narcolepsy seriously gets in the way, in a way I cannot control. Depending on the day, I might need a little more time to get through these marathon exams because my brain keeps telling itself that stress means sleep when I'm trying to get work done, and I have to fight it every step of the way.

I say all this to say: if you plan to go to law school, I promise you that chemo brain is going to make your life harder. You'll have to work harder and longer than others to learn the same material. You might not be able to spit out an eloquent and well formed response to the professor when cold-called in class. You might have to read slower to make sure you're getting exactly what's on the pages. DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT try to do this on your own. Get the accommodations in place. Maybe it will all go swimmingly and you'll end up not needing them and you can waive them (you have the right to do this). But, for your protection, PUT THEM IN PLACE. I don't know a lot about chemo brain, but from the little you are describing, if things don't improve, and you're just trying to brave it on your own, without help, you won't make it. Law school is freakin hard dude. I had a career before this, and I say every day that my full time job and career was easier than law school.

BTW - my previous career was in education. I worked as a middle school math teacher for 6.5 years, and I cannot tell you the number of meetings I was a part of, trying to formulate a plan for a student who needed assistance. Here are some things you might consider, just in case you are totally knew to this world:

-extra time on exams

-professor will give student at least 3 minute warning before requiring him to answer out loud (to -give the student time to formulate his thoughts) ***this would look something like the teacher what say, "Ok, XXXX, you're next, so get ready! blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Ok, XXXXX, so tell me what you know about....."

-student will be provided all textbooks in e-text/pdf format (this is so you can use a phone or laptop etc to have it read to you. It might seem silly, but if you mix up words or letters or whatever sometimes, this could prevent that, because you would be LISTENING to your cases, rather than reading them - although you could follow along and take notes. In fact, this is recommended.)

-student may regularly visit professor office hours to fill gaps/holes in notes that occurred due to disability

Do a google search for IEP accommodations for cognitive speed/impairment/delay (i'm not sure which would be best. You want one that conveys that you are cognitively OK, but that things works slowly sometimes, or that it messes up sometimes. Cognitive issues can often mean low IQ in the world of special education, so be careful about what you are reading.)

I hope some of this helps. I'm sorry for the long response, but I'm super passionate about this, and my previous career actually makes me well informed to give meaningful advice. Pair that with the fact that I'm a 1L right now, literally sitting in the law library as I type, and I thought I could maybe offer you something of use to your situation.

Good luck!!!

You probably already know this, but just in case:

I like to look at the applicant profile grid on LSAC to get a good idea of my chances for different schools. Here's what they have for Victoria (scroll to bottom)

http://www.lsac.org/jd/choosing-a-law-school/canadian/victoria

On a related note, the first thing I do when starting a section is mark next to the last question number. The answer document has more spots than needed. I flip to last page and put a dot next to the correct number on answer document. I have such anxiety about getting to the end and being "off" with marking answers. Marking which question number is last saves me a little bit of worry and stress.

I did about 10 LR questions and 2 LG. All untimed, and I didn't check my answers. I didn't want to shake my confidence right before going in. But, especially with LG, a warm-up helps me get in that mindset. I will probably do something similar when I retake.

The school to which I am applying does not give a suggested length. I was referring to guidelines I've seen on 7sage and other resources. I wouldn't directly contradict what the school specifically says to (not) do.

I have the PS add on and it's awesome. Just having trouble getting down to the suggested 850 words. I'm at about 1800, down from 2200. Thinking if in and get down to about 1400 I'll just submit.

Missed last time, but I'll be there this time. Reading Comp somehow went from my best to worst section and more practice doesn't seem to be making much difference.

Looking forward to this!

LSAT scores are weighted so heavily, in my opinion, because all of the other factors can too easily be manipulated in a way that does not accurately reflect the candidate. Even a high GPA in a rigorous degree program could be skewed based on the professors etc. Letters of Recommendation are biased. Surely we've all known someone (a colleague or otherwise) who was "highly recommended" but did not live up to the hype. Further, a candidate might write well (personal statement etc), but lack the reasoning skills to be successful in law school. In fact, it's possible the PS is written by someone else altogether.

Although it is surely possible that someone would do well on the LSAT and be less than stellar in school, or do poorly on the LSAT and turns out the be an amazing attorney, it is part of the application that is least able to be skewed and manipulated in a way that inaccurately reflects the ability and potential of the candidate.

Additionally, there is already a surplus of attorneys in the US. If we lower the barrier to entry into law school, than the prestige and clout associated with such a career will diminish, and then who will want to do it? We have to have at least one component of the application which eliminates people from the mix, so that schools are considering a manageable number of people, rather than way more than could ever be evaluated effectively.

I currently work as a teacher, where the barriers to entry into the career field are low. Although I work with some amazing teachers, I also work with others that are less than amazing - and do not show the potential to be better. But it's so easy to become a teacher, so they get in, and get hired. It's really a detriment to the career field, and, of course, to students. But with a current teacher shortage, I don't see the requirements changing any time soon.

Thanks @974. Good to know and gives me something to think about.

I know that graduate work and GPA are not heavily weighted in the admissions process, but I don't think that a grad prof vs ugrad prof matters - as long as that prof can speak to your academic ability and likelihood of success in law school. I graduated from Undergrad 6 years ago, thus I asked a grad prof to write for me. He wrote an amazing letter that I believe will be difficult to ignore.

Just because ugrad GPA is used over grad work, doesn't mean a grad prof LOR isn't preferred.

My current boss could and probably would write me a really awesome letter, but I'm not willing to risk my standing at my job, just in case law school doesn't work out (for whatever reason). Once I put it it there that I'm even thinking about leaving I know she'll quit thinking of me for future roles and responsibilities.

Does anyone know if tests administered with accommodations are flagged so schools and admissions counselors know you received an accommodation during testing? I've considered filing the paperwork to see if I would qualify for an extra time accommodation, but probably won't if it would be known by admissions departments.

I bought PDFs on Cambridgelsat.com and then had them printed at Office Depot. It's nice to have an electronic and a hard copy.

I was told that a 166 would get me a full scholarship, even considering my low gpa. The Dean of Admissions told me this when I met with her during my school visit. This is at the University of South Carolina. Of course, higher ranked schools have higher score requirements, but that might give you an idea about whichever school you are considering.

I got my score back, earned a 158. This should get me admitted.

Still gotta do a detailed study of what I missed, but I was -4 in LG and -9 in RC. I am shocked I did this well overall, and especially in LG. -9 is the worst I've done in RC I recent PTs, but I knew it when I was testing. This is the section I freaked out during.

With all this in mind, I feel pretty good about my study plan: keeping drilling LG to stay fresh and focus on RC and specific LR question types. PT recent tests.

I kinda feel like maybe 166 is in reach since I had a meltdown during test and still did ok. If I stay calm and get my weaknesses fixed I might get close (?).

Any thoughts or feedback?

I'm gonna take a PT Friday (I have the day off of work!) and see where I stand. I'm hoping the past few weeks of focusing on my weak areas shows up in my score. I'll reasses my current plan after that.

Y'all have brought up some good points. I was PTing leading up to October, but when the test didn't go well I thought it would be smart to go back and focus my efforts on weaknesses. What's the point in taking a test I know I'm not ready for?

You all are right about taking time off. I don't want to burn out. BUT it's hard. When I skip days I feel guilty. I always think that I can rest after the LSAT in Dec. There is so much on the line.

Thanks ya'll. I think her advice is sound for an untimed test (or a test I wasn't worried about being able to finish). However, the LSAT doesn't give you any time to waste. What I would do for even 5 more minutes!!

I decided to buy them all. I need something that I could use to drill the memory method etc. Once I'm scoring -0 on the old PTS I'll know I'm ready to move on to harder PTs.

Anyone have an idea what# PT has the rigor of modern tests? Like where do we see the shift in difficulty?