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mehreenmir

Hello Everyone! I am new here. I am from Pakistan and applying for fall 2017 at Northwestern University! There's no LSAT group studying or coaching provided in my country I have a full time job right now, I am Assistant Manager Legal for a company in the energy sector. I am going to take the December LSAT. My husband is in Chicago and I'll be moving to the US next year (just waiting on my immigration visa) sooooooooooooo basically i'm REALLY nervous and just wanted to introduce myself and get some help from you guys! is anyone opting for the 2 yr JD program at northwestern? what are your thoughts on it? and is two months enough for a good LSAT score? (i understand there's not really a yes or no for this question!) sorry if i am all over the place!

tanes256

@mehreenmir88 howdy! You have chosen a great community. I cannot provide any info from Northwestern, but I'm sure someone in the community can. As for two months being enough time to prepare??? You'll get some "yes" and "no" responses. It really just depends on where you are. Have you taken your diagnostic? This will help give a realistic answer to your question. I don't think you'll be able to really get through the curriculum though and get into some thorough BR. The mentor's will be along soon to give you more advice. Just prepare for the test, not necessary a test date. I'm sure you don't need that pressure. Again, welcome aboard!

Cant Get Right

It really will depend on your starting point. Northwestern's median LSAT score is a 168, which is among the highest in the country. For the vast majority of people, a score range like that takes way longer than two months to reach. I think to have a reasonable chance to pull it off, you want your diagnostic to be within 4-5 points (which is in the neighborhood of 20 points higher than where I think the average diagnostic probably falls). Even then, two months is going to be tough.

So it really does just depend, but as a general rule with only a very few exceptions, I'd say no, unfortunately two months is not enough time to prepare for the LSAT. Take your diagnostic though and see where you fall. If you're within a few points, it's worth a shot.

You have definitely come to the right place though. Take your diagnostic and then, wherever you fall, get started with the best LSAT curriculum available. Welcome to 7Sage!

mehreenmir

Thank you so much for your response guys! And no I have not yet taken a diagnostic I mean j tried but I failed so miserably at logic games that I didn't bother with it! I had zero idea of how to solve them. But I have now studied some material and was considering taking it. Everyone insists on taking the diagnostic test so that's what I'm going to do as 'step 1'. Again, thank you for the warm and encouraging welcome!

Sprinkles

Salaam and welcome! although the general consensus is to take a cold diagnostic to see where you stand, take your score with a grain of salt. Depending on what you score after you've learned the fundamentals is a good estimate on how long you need to achieve you target score.

Alex

Hey! Nice to meet you and welcome to our 7Sage LSAT family!

I like your enthusiasm and plan to attend NU. One of our sages @"Nicole Hopkins" started there in August and seems to be lovin' it! Amazing school!

@mehreenmir said:
and is two months enough for a good LSAT score? (i understand there's not really a yes or no for this question!) sorry if i am all over the place!

2 months... Hmmm. I agree with @"Cant Get Right" to take your diagnostic and see where you are at. NU has a median in the high 160s so you'll want to aim for a 168-169 on the low side to be safe.

Before I took my diagnostic I imagined that I'd probably test in the low 160s. Took PT June07 for my diagnostic test in June and got a 154 or something really low. My hubris and plan to take the LSAT a few months later disappeared and were replaced by a plan to only take once I was already PT'ing where I needed to be. Right now I'm planning on taking in June 2017. That will be a year after I began!

The good news is you have 7Sage now and that will help a lot! And you never know, you might score in the 160s on your diagnostic. You never know! Some people are just naturally inclined at this test (I am not one of them, lol)

My only advice is to just get the 7Sage course, work consistently, and don't put the unnecessary stress of a test date on yourself before you are ready. I'd recommend at the very, very, very least 4 months to prepare. You'll want to give yourself proper time to learn the foundational stuff and then take a good amount of practice tests.

Good luck!

mehreenmir

@montaha.rizeq Walekumaslam! thanks for the insight. @"Alex Divine" you're right. i need that diagnostic reality check! although, i don't mind taking the LSAT once for the experience! in my country the last date to take it this year is December, the next one will be June 2017. i am not even sure if ill be in America for the Feb 2017 test date so i might end up aiming for my June 2017 test in america for fall 2018 session. since i hear that the universities take your highest score from your multiple attempts, what is the trend and views regarding retakes?

Alex

@mehreenmir said:
although, i don't mind taking the LSAT once for the experience! in my country the last date to take it this year is December, the next one will be June 2017. i am not even sure if ill be in America for the Feb 2017 test date so i might end up aiming for my June 2017 test in america for fall 2018 session. since i hear that the universities take your highest score from your multiple attempts, what is the trend and views regarding retakes?

I advise against using an LSAT take for experience. You only get 3 takes every 2 years and many people I have known have needed 2-3 to get their target score AFTER they had been consistently hitting it on PTs. Best to save them! You can always simulate testing conditions and get an accurate read on what you would score on the real test; probably as close as +3/-3 of what you'd get on the real deal.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about test dates or all of that right now. You could certainly set a contingency date and work towards it, but don't let it stress you out more and have you taking it before you are ready. For instance, I'm loosely planning on taking in June with Sept/Dec 2017 as backup tests. If June comes and I'm still not PT'ing in the 170s (I'm going to be really pissed! lol) and I will gladly defer until Sept 2017 to ensure I am ready. I always think about it like this:

The LSAT is one of the few tests that you can literally take whenever you are ready. Imagine if in undergrad a professor told you that you could take the final whenever you wanted. Wouldn't it make sense to study for a long(er) time and do everything you can to ensure you get that A+ ?


As far as multiple LSAT scores you have heard correctly that *most* law schools only care about your highest LSAT. I know Yale and NYU both admit to considering all of your scores. Generally speaking though, most schools only seem to care about your best LSAT because at the end of the day that's all they have to report.

BinghamtonDave

Hello and welcome! This community is one of the most helpful and caring around. Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions you have regarding any specifics on the exam.

Typically speaking, 2 months is not enough time to get a score that a school like Northwestern will accept. I suppose in theory it can be done, but is contingent on starting point etc.

mehreenmir

Thank you so much guys! thanks for the wise words