What would you have done differently?

anthonydhartog

Hi all,

I am 22 and planning to take the LSAT in a couple of years. I was wondering: If you had the opportunity to go back to age 22, and knowing that you would be taking the lsat later, what are some useful habits you would have cultivated to give you an edge at the lsat? would you have read more, read more difficult stuff, practiced grammar in some way,...

Many thanks!

studyingandrestudying

So you're graduating soon? Or you just graduated? One thing is you're probably going on to demanding jobs and internships and getting established in field(s) will take some time. If you're not a KJD, which many of us aren't, there may be some frustration of wanting to go to law school but not having it in the stars just yet, and while being a paralegal or something can be instructive, it can also be tough if what you really want is a JD. Finding the time to study is a challenge as your obligations either stay at the same high stacks or increase, but it's still a worthy goal, but just realize you'll be testing and drilling when perhaps you'll hear about peers socializing and/or doing nothing, and for some of this time you're going to be exhausted, but if you join our study family on here, you'll have plenty of company.

For the LSAT, there's a ton of not so great books and many media sources don't capture what this test means so don't waste your time on books that don't have real LSAT questions. The copyright statement and test citations will help clear this up. Also, buy unmarked or barely marked used books and tests. Now for the fun part. The Thinking LSAT podcast has so many back episodes you could listen for years. Though some episodes have more LSAT discussion than others, they can help set a new student on a good path. Also, the LSAT Unplugged YouTube channel is pretty good, as is the website. Reading will help. You might even watch movies on silent with closed captioning. The LSAT is like an A-Z of just about any subject you'd imagine. Logic is frustrating but fun, but it's not just formal logic, it's also language and content. On the LawSchooli blog, there's a list of where to find every practice test. There's a lot of them now, but that's mostly a good thing. Also, no pressure, but please consider joining this site as it has a free trial and many of us will happily respond to messages if you have questions.

Bagelinthemorning-2-1-1

I would make studying for the LSAT the most enjoyable experience I could have. It's good that you know what you want and when you want to take the test. For me, the first two times I took the test, I gave myself less than three months to study while doing internships/work. This time around, I am starting early and giving myself enough time to study, to question, and to have genuine wonder about the exam. I don't know if it will have a huge impact, but I like studying now better than before. Hope this helps!

Law and Yoda

I would have given myself a more reasonable timeline. Everyone told me 3 months is plenty of time...I'm about 6 months into studying and still need time to reach my full potential. However, everyone learns at a different pace but definitely give yourself plenty of room to grow and don't cut yourself short of anything. Get comfortable reading topics you're unfamiliar with and learn how to navigate that (what makes it difficult for you to understand the subject, what can you take away from reading it, etc). Best of luck in the future!

EagerestBeaver

1. Take this time to do something exciting. I worked/lived abroad dicking around for a year. If I had a dollar for every time somebody in the legal world told me they wished they did something like that, I would have a whole lot of dollars and I regret nothing about it despite being "untraditional".

2. @"Law and Yoda-Brandi" is completely right about having enough time. I have been considered "good at school" and thought 3 months would be perfectly adequate to get a good LSAT score. False. Some people can do that. If you can, that is dope. However, this site is filled with people who take multiple years to get to top level of this test. Give yourself enough time that you are not freaking out because if you don't get your target score in time you have to delay another cycle.

The Great White Shark

I have to say, I believe you are going to be an excellent attorney because you are clearly a person who thinks and plans for the future. Well done.

I would incorporate both of the practices you mentioned. Let’s say you are going to take the LSAT in three years. For the first year I would start out by getting a grammar workbook and going through it. Start reading difficult material at least 30 minutes a day. This should become a life long practice. I also would get a book on the introduction to logic and work through it first. It will cover more than needed for the LSAT but ultimately this will only help you. Then once your done with that book, and certainly no later than the end of the first year, I would start working through 7Sage’s course in it’s entirety and continue returning to it until everything makes sense. This will sharpen your logic skills specific to the LSAT.

Save your PTs. 7Sage is the only prep test community I have worked with that actually cares about the students’ success. Other places will pull questions from recent exams to teach. This is horrible because it takes away from your ability to accurately judge your score and needlessly wastes a lot of PTs you could have used for practice. JY has carefully designed 7Sage’s course so that you preserve many exams for practice and especially the most recent exams so you can take them as you progress.

Don’t officially take the LSAT until your average score is your target score.

Best of luck to you!