Advice needed ASAP!

LegalE_07

I originally wanted to sit for the sept lsat but my brother died and I just couldnt get back to studying. I have been studying consistently since november. I purchased the 7sage starter pack around the second week in december. My plan was to take the Feb Lsat. The holiday break set me back a week. I havent taken a practice test since nov and I am concerned that If I register for the exam and won't begin taking pt until next week that I won't be ready to tests. I am not working so I have been studying about 6- 8 hours a day. I have a family and I have been using this time to study but I will eventully have to get a job to begin to pay for all the lsat apps and etc. My family and friends say I should just take the exam being that I currently have the time and free schedule to do it, beacuse once I get a job I will have to juggle family, work, and lsat study time. Im just confused beacuse I dont want to waste an exam and limit myself. I really wanted to start law school in the fall as well. I dont have the money in my budget to pay additional fees. I would appreciate as much advice as possible.

jdawg113

First of all thats horrible and I am sorry to hear that. my first bit of advice is to take a PT tomorrow. Wake up, eat breakfast, maybe go for a run or find something to preoccupy yourself for a little and then sit down and take a PT(can be 4 sections, doesnt matter) do this stricly. use the 7sage app, dont give yourself extra time, take the break after 3rd section, have a snack on ur break. Then eat lunch relax a little bit. Go back and redo the test... untimed, make sure you understand each question and are sure of the answers. Once your done grade it(7sage allows u to include a BR answer changes too) and get back to us with how it felt, what ur timed score and breakdown was along with BR breakdown... it will allow for the best advice. If you are not ready dont take Feb just to get it out of the way. If you take this PT and felt great and in a good spot, maybe Feb is feasible This test is huge, especially if money is an issue... every point is worth thousands

LegalE_07

If I run out of a time on a section do I a go back and complete the section at the end of the exam. Is that what you mean when you say untimed. This may sound silly but I can just jump to the practice test before completing the curriculum? The reality is money is an issue, if I can get free money for doing well then why not.

jdawg113

well what was ur PT score from the one u did back in Nov? and if your running out of time(should be using an analog watch) circle what you can but take note of what was random guess... and by untimed I mean literally do the test again from S1Q1 to S4Q24/6/7 the questions you get will take veryyyy little time to review but those that you dont you need to know. You can do PT's b4 you finish, but its all about having the fundamentals down, the curriculum enforces those after teaching you. If you are taking in Feb you want to be taking PTs atleast once a week now. you need to become familiar with the test. but what goal score/school are you looking for and again whats ur last PT score (was it strictly timed too)

LegalE_07

The nov test I took I got a 134 and I retook the exam with 7sage in dec and got a 143, dont know if its a real indicator. I want to apply to all down state new york schools. I want the best score possible but I havent offically written a score down. For the schools on the long island I need a 160 to be competitive and get money. If I can score high enough to get in T-14 school in ny then I want that. Im a bit all over the place but I hope you understand my jibberish. lol

jdawg113

ok so do not take Feb, you are not and will not be ready for your goals by then. This test takes a whole lot of work and you can def get up to a nice score that can get you where you want, but you need to work for it and for where you are now the month we have is not enough to get anywhere close to where you want to be unfortunately. Plan for June, Work hard but dont burn out. Go through the lessons, drillllll a lot. I get money is an issue but you want as much material as you can get, Cambridge packets are a great resource. Avoid PTs for a bit as well and focus on fundamentals more. Do questions b4 you press play on the video, then watch and if needed rewatch/read comments till you understand what happened

ddakjiking

What's your GPA?
That aside, don't worry about specific schools just yet. As you might know, the LSAT is a HUGE component of admissions, even more so than GPA + softs.

LegalE_07

Ok great. I recently bought the 10 Actual, official Lsat preptest for more practice material but I will look into cambridge. Financially I couldnt see myself paying for the exam and then paying an addtional $85 to push the test back. I could be using it on prep materials. Thank you for all the advice, you have helped me see what I have been feeling.

jdawg113

I would try to get pdf material since it allows you to reprint stuff, the first stuff I got was the 10 actuals and now theyre preactically useless since I wrote in them. and although it may seem a waste to spend it to push back, its more of a waste to take when you will not get a score you want and take away a chance you may need down the line. IK lsac is stingy and idk if uve tried but if money is rough you can try for a waiver (tho like i said, theyre stingy af)

LegalE_07

My GPA is 3.0 from a SUNY school. I just felt like although I want to take the test, I know I am not ready and to get that same diappointing feeling again of not feeling accomplished stinks. I have been on this Lsat journey since 09 but having a family a got in the way and I needed to shift my focus. I started self studying but realize i needed more help and then I found this blessing called 7sage.

LegalE_07

Yes I tried the fee waiver but I was denied and didnt want or have the time to do the appeal process.

ddakjiking

With your gpa, you need to score close to a 170+ as possible to maximize scholarship offers at reputable schools. Don't give up on the LSAT and you can improve to a 170. After a long journey, I'm finally approaching that territory. Like you, I had a diagnostic score in the 130's.

jdawg113

yeah you will def need a very good LSAT score for T14 with that GPA, dont take until you're ready, dont think about registering until your getting much closer to your goal score. if you want a 169 but are at 150 in may, I probably wouldnt even register for June. take it seriously and really work for it and be realistic about your abilities and process if this is something you really want to do. do it right

jdawg113

yeah, @licknee10 has been making crazy gains and been improving his score his progression has been awesome and shows you can go from a very low start and make it up to the top

LegalE_07

@licknee10 your progress is encouraging and when I saw a post you wrote about where you started from it was motivating. Many people don't post their beginning story or if they do they dont start in the 130's. @jdawg113 this test has been my life, I literally study 6 days a week. I don't know what a social life is anymore and that is okay because this is what I want.

jdawg113

make sure youre not over doing it too that can hurt you

LegalE_07

Hurt me by burn out or by not being able to retain the information?

LegalE_07

@licknee10 you used the term "reputable schools " are there schools I shouldnt even think of attending?

ddakjiking

Thanks! What I suggest is try not to be mentally burnt out when you make this a full-time affair. I was stuck for pretty damn long in the 150-162 range. I was probably stuck there for the duration of 3 months while I was taking a live blueprint class. Aside from working for my parents part-time, that prep course was essentially my full-time job and I think it actually hindered my progress. Besides going to the gym regularly and maybe meeting up with friends once/twice a week, I had no social life. And because some of the proctored PT's provided by Blueprint took place on Sundays, I eventually stopped going to Church period during this 3 month stretch. I think this combination just made me burn out.

Once my prep course ended, I took an entire month off from timed PT'ing and did the entire 7Sage curriculum along with most of the Cambridge drilling packets. Just started doing timed sections/PT's this past week and am now easily scoring in the 164-169 range. I actually made it a priority to join a new Church/meet with friends more often during this past month and believe that also contributed to this improvement.

ddakjiking

Yeah, there's a website out there called LST that analyzes employment prospects for every ABA-accredited schools in the country.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/

The higher the LST score, the more likely a graduate of that school will find a job with a JD-required position. There are some mediocre schools out there where only 33% of their graduates secure legit lawyer jobs and that's scary when you have to pay $$$$ for tuition.

joegotbored-1

EDIT: @licknee beat me to it! I'll leave this for posterity.

@legalE. Check out lawschooltransparency.com. If you click on "School Reports" just below the big map on the home page, you go to a page where you can search schools by name. When you click on a school, a bunch of info comes up. You can see costs, scores over time (which can tell you a lot if they're dropping/not getting better), and even job prospects upon graduation.

Rule of thumb, if their jobs score isn't over 50%, you should not give them your money. I would probably say 65% is minimum, but that's just me. Check out the cost of attending a school and ask yourself if you can pay that loan back if you don't get a job paying 6 figures.

Compare schools to the best of the best. For example, compare No Name School of Law to Harvard, just to get a baseline comparison. Then move down to say a top 20 school, then top 50 school and so on. You'll see just how quick the drop off is in terms of likelihood of getting a job at any particular school.

LegalE_07

Thank you very much the website was extremely helpful, I had no idea it existed. I once was lost but now I am found.