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I enjoy studying for the LSAT--logical reasoning and reading comprehension. I get stressed out and depressed if I take too long to finish a practice session and get so many problems wrong. I know that I have to practice, practice, and practice some more, but failing over and over again can be demoralizing. It is hard for me to learn from my mistakes, as even if I stop to think and apply logic, I still miss the question. It is like my brain is wired to go fast, as I answer questions, seeing which questions seem logical, which look and sound right. What I have going for me, is my confidence in myself, and the desire to study, to do well on the LSAT. When I did Blueprint, I had gone through hundreds of passages, logical reasoning question, and logic games. I have re-read the Powerscore Bibles, read books on logic, re-read the Blueprint books, also those booklets when I first took their live classes. I had even considered taking a class on logic, from Bunker Hill Community College and Boston University. I am dedicated and passionate about going to law school.

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So I was blessed to be accepted to all but one school to where I applied (*I did NOT apply to any T14 schools). I was also incredibly blessed to get scholarship at them all (ranging from $5,000 to $40,000 / year). I am a non-traditional student with kids, (and a full-time job that I'm taking a sabbatical from for 1L), who would either stay local and attend a school barely in the 100s, so my family is not uprooted -- or I can go to a higher ranked school (50-70 range) where I'd also be happy living...but would have to hope my spouse can find a job, the kids aren't waitlisted on daycare/preschool, that we can find a home and sell ours, etc. etc. etc.

I'm struggling with my decision. Do I stay local at the University of Buffalo and not change my life drastically? The local school probably would work out the best financially, not only because the spouse could keep their job, but we would already have living, etc., figured out -- so I'm JUST looking at tuition/fees/books in that case. Or do I go to either higher / lower ranked schools both in NYS or New England where I would love to live (e.g., I'm from CT and always imagined my children growing up there) where I may not have as much scholarship (e.g., UConn offered the least) or maybe more scholarship but cost of living is higher?

If I stay local, I can continue my job post-1L (I am a professor). However, almost all my instruction is online classes, so I could technically go anywhere; I just have to put in one more year at my professor gig after taking the sabbatical for 1L. On sabbatical, my salary is cut in half, but I'm still paid (so there's that). I could also just quit completely, but that's not ideal because I carry the healt benefits, and well, half salary is better than no salary. If we move, we'd be going back to where I have friends / family, but is very HCOL ("gold coast" / Connecticut; Massachusetts). If I choose one of the highest offers (Albany), if I decided to go a political route that might be smart because that is our state capital. In terms of goals, I'm not looking Big Law. I'm already a professor so I don't care so much about T14 / academia. I'm more interested in children, immigration.

I should also mention I placed first deposits at all 8 schools I got good awards from because I was hoping to use them all as leverage. I just withdrew from two, knowing I probably wouldn't realistically go to them. However, I'm really struggling with the others. Two emails just came in asking for a confirmed enrollment form to be completed. These emails strongly suggested I withdraw from the other institutions, which I get, and they do not have 2nd deposits. Everywhere else does.

I'm very torn. And can I also say how hard it was to withdraw?? I just withdrew from MSU and Syracuse. Considering withdrawing from Case Western because they offered the least in comparison to total cost of attendance.

Thanks for tips / commiseration.

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Does anyone else have this problem? Early morning PTs were no issue but since June is in the afternoon, I started taking them around that time and have noticed that's usually when my brain feels like shutting down. Maybe its because of lunch? Maybe it's because I tend to wake up early. I dunno but has anyone figured out how to overcome this themselves? I'm thinking about eating an early and light lunch or taking a power nap/meditating before the test might help but haven't tried that.

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Monday, May 20, 2019

BR

Hi all! So I'm preparing for the July 15 test, average is 169, and BR is almost always above 170 (took a bit of a hit transitioning from PTs 36-44, and now in the 70s). Working me bum off to routinely score 170+.

I am planning on taking 3 PTs/week (being okay with only 2 if time gets away from me--- I'm a full time grad student). Spending 20 hrs/week studying.

Because I'm doing so much BRing, I started to think that skipping the BR on the first 7 (or 10) LR questions for one out of three PTs each week would save massive time where I don't feel like I am actually gaining that much. The reasoning always seems natural, and I almost always get all of these questions correct.

Help me check myself: am I being lazy, or it this a fine strategic use of time?

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Throughout my undergrad years, I started taking (non-transferable) community college courses through my local CC for purely recreational purposes. My UG didn’t offer much in the way of law-related or criminal justice-related courses, so it wasn’t hard to take two or three per semester through the CC. Now that I’m looking at applying to law schools, I’ve just found out that these courses will count towards my LSAC GPA. This is good, it seems, because they bring up my 3.7 UG GPA to about a 3.9. However, I’m also worried it may look like an attempt to game the LSAC GPA system. Should I write an addendum explaining that or will it not be a significant issue? My LSAT is a 176 so I’m hoping to apply to schools that I assume will look pretty carefully at my full transcript. Thanks so much!

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I don't know where to start. Most of the schools I am applying to state that the PS is optional but I obviously plan to write one. That being said, these schools do not have topics or anything to write said statement on and I was wondering if anyone could give me a guideline for this?

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Reposting, hoping someone feels me on this: If we do all the work upfront, then the questions will fly by.

If we do all the work upfront, then the questions will fly by.

You guys, this is my new mantra. So simple, but so hard to grasp. I've been watching videos of terrified me ~ staring at answer choices for way too long and hesitating for what looks like an eternity ~ and it hit me! If we do all the work upfront, then the questions will fly by. JY has told us this, but we have to live it and learn it. This mantra may just save my ass on June 3. All together now, "If we do all the work upfront, then the questions will fly by!"

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I was taking the tests in order, I skipped (1-13) and everything was going fine until I got to test 55. I took PTs 55-60 this month and my score completely tanked. Im getting near 165 and when im lucky I get 168. I've noticed that the tests were starting to get really weird. Games got a lot harder, there was the annoying "dinosaur game" and "bus game". But what really caused my score to sink the most was the RC. I always averaged around -4 on RC and now my range from these last 6 tests were -5 to -10. With LR, I still maintained -4.

I think RC changed drastically because there used to only be just a few inference or most strongly supported questions and now it seems like they put a lot more on the RC section and they made those question types the hardest. During BR, i reread the passage many times and I still end up missing a few of those inference or most strongly supported questions.

Is it normal for my score to drop this much when I encounter newer PTs?

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I was wondering if some of yall could post examples of how you BR the logical reasoning section. I am stuck in the 20-22 per section and would really like that to be 22-24.

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Hey everyone,

I have made steady progress since the beginning of my studies five months ago. And as satisfying as seeing this progress is, when it comes to sitting and taking practice exams, I get terrible testing anxiety. It's almost as if my mind switches from on to off and everything I remember flies out the window-- all while my mind feels like its wandering in a million places. I can sit and take a section, two, or even three and perform well, but as soon as I sit down to take a full length PT, my mind shifts to panic mode. I began meditating daily in February and this seems to help and exercise is also a part of my daily routine as well, but I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to dial in and focus better on practice exams and to alleviate testing anxiety. I am sitting for the July exam and any advice would be helpful! Thanks in advance!

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Hi,

I am due to take the July LSAT and I'm beginning to get so discouraged. Unable to afford the traditional study websites, I've chosen to self-study (like I'm sure many of you have) using 7Sage, Kahn, and books. The problem is, I'm terrible at this. I've never been a good test taker but the LSAT is in its own league of how terrible I am. My diagnostic was 140, my next test tonight was 139. I was hoping to at least get 168 when it's time to take the actual test but Idk how if my score is going down even though I study everyday. Idk what to do to get my score up besides keep studying but I feel like I'm doing it wrong. Any advice?

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Hi all! So I'm starting to organize all the paperwork I will need to ask professors for letters of rec from my undergrad. I graduated in December 2016... which was a while ago.

I want to ask three professors. One professor who I took two courses with in Fall of 2015, and two others, one in 2015 and one in 2016. How do I go about starting an e-mail to professors I haven't seen or spoken to in a while? All advice is appreciated! thank you so much!

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I have taken the LSAT in June 2018. I scored a 142. I was devastated that I achieved such a low score. I took a sabbatical from studying. I am practicing and studying now. I do not know if I should hire a take another LSAT prep class, use a web site like 7sage for self study, or hire a private tutor. I do not know if I should hire get disability testing for testing accommodations. I do not know if I should just apply to law school with my score. I do want to re-take the test, for a better score. So many questions in my head, so little time.

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