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Full time work study
ariincharge
Alum Member
Im registered for july 2019 LSAT and working full time at a law firm and starting to feel like im wasting precious time during the day doing work when I could be studying all day and getting better at LSAT PTs. Anyone else have this feeling or have any ideas/advice for me? getting anxiety that ive given up studying lsat for a job at a law firm.
Comments
Hi @ariincharge , I just worked in a busy practice area at a large law firm for the past year. Recently, I had to quit due to the stress, anxiety and some depression from not being able to pursue my passions and progressing on my journey to law school----the first step being the LSAT----and doing well at work. Although I performed well at work, I often was burnt out after work and on the weekends I just needed a break. I also wasn't able to partake in hobbies of mine due to the mental wearing of this situation as well. Time spent on my hobbies like video games, golf and hanging out with my friends all decreased due to the large amount of time spent at work and being extremely tried from studying on top of the dense job. As a result, this made my studying not efficient and lackluster. This also caused me to be burnout because of the lack of breaks (through hobbies and relationships). So, I feel like I could give some advice or comfort as I have recently gone through similar circumstances.
First, if you're unhappy and want to pursue the LSAT full-time or even part-time, I'd say do it----if you're situationally able to. I had the option to quit my job and pursue the LSAT full-time with a great support group that is helping me be able to do so. However, I understand that some people may not be financially able to do this at the moment and must work.
Second, I would recommend delaying the LSAT if you can. From your statements above noting that you feel as you are wasting precious time that could be spent on getting better at PTs, I assume you want to spend more time on the LSAT to reach your maximum potential. If that is the case, I recommend delaying and maybe taking it in September. From what I have read and seen others say, your LSAT and GPA weigh more in admissions than experience. So, I understand where you are coming from when you feel as you are wasting precious time and getting anxiety about having the job vs. LSAT studying time. That is why I think a good alternative is to push back the test whether you keep the job or not.
Lastly, when I left my firm, they were very understanding, were excited about my decision to invest all my time into the LSAT and supported my decision as well. My hard work at the job and good relationships with my superiors/coworkers made it easier to communicate the truth to them and paid off. Although I denied, they offered me part-time solutions and were very kind about the whole thing. So, if you're interested in doing part-time that is another great option that I don't think hurts to ask.
I hope this helped and gave you some advice/options to consider. Message me if you'd like to talk more about it. Good luck at the job and studying. I hope all goes well.
I feel you. I'm sometimes not sure if I'm considered a nontraditional student- I've had to work my whole academic career, on many occasions sacrificing school for work and taking multiple breaks from school to stay afloat, but, I completed my B.A. a year ago so it's not like I've been out of school for a long time either. I've been interested in the legal field on a serious level academically and professionally since 2013, so it's been something I've thought about for a long time, and usually thinking it would be impossible. My recent job was a corporate gig that was pretty soul sucking- it was good money but I had already climbed as high as I could there and with no enrichment. I knew I didn't want to stay there forever, so coupled with my decision to start studying for the LSAT, I decided to leave then, since I'd be leaving anyways. My situation has some unique elements- I actually got married recently as well, and my husband's support is a big part of what has enabled me, a perpetual worker bee, to feel comfortable taking a pause from the workforce for study.
Everyone's situation is going to be different. Not bringing in an income will always stress me out, but, in this case, the negative stress of my job as well as the negative impact it had on my studying made it the right choice for me. Depending on your financial and support situation, I would honestly evaluate how long you can go not working if that's the route you want to go. Also keeping in mind that if you are ready to work again, it will likely take a while to find something else comparable. I understand how part of the stress may be related to leaving a law firm job- I worked as a paralegal previously and I do sometimes ruminate that it would have been ideal if I could have stayed there perpetually, but, it was not the fit for me at the time, because working there full time+ made it impossible to complete my B.A. coursework.
Good luck to you! I really empathize- I know first hand how hard it is dealing with nontraditional or non K-JD problems. It's not impossible to overcome, but it does require honestly assessing your situation and making the right call for you.
@ariincharge maybe you can adjust your schedule. I work full time but they let me adjust my schedule. If you’ve been studying for 3-4 hours a day plus your days off you should be good.
I did this too--it's really hard, I think particularly when you're trying to perform well in a job requiring a lot of brain power, like a law job, and then feeling like you have nothing left over for studying. As others have said, my advice is to chip away as much as you can while working---even just doing a section of LR or LG before/during lunch/after work can really help you improve. Don't feel like you need to be dedicating enormous hours each day to studying; just doing a little consistently can certainly mean big strides in score improvement. That being said, it's very hard for me to find the energy to study on weekends when I'm already burnt out from working a full week, so I recommend not doing massive amounts of studying on weekends to "make up" for time lost during the week, or you will quickly tire yourself. Instead, I would take a full day or several hours every other week to take PTs/do BR, and keep up what you're learning in smaller chunks during the week. Make time for other things to keep yourself sane. Now that summer is coming up, don't make yourself feel guilty for sometimes going out with friends or getting some fresh air instead of using every free minute to cram some info in. The hardest part of studying and working FT is finding continued energy to do both, so do not force yourself to be working on one or the other constantly, or life will truly become miserable. Finally, I recommend being forthcoming about this part of your life to your supervisors/colleagues so that they can give you tips and take pity on you if you're not able to work at 100% all the time. Everyone at a law firm, who is a lawyer at least, knows this process very well and will likely be sympathetic and possibly cut you some slack so you can do better on this exam. If you can't take off substantial time, at the very least, I would take off a few days in the week/weeks leading up to the exam (at a minimum you need to take off the last workday before your exam) to really let yourself cool down and focus exclusively on testing as well as you can. Best of luck--if you can do this, you can do anything!
I work full time for the social security administration adjudicating applications for long term disability. I feel you on the feeling burnt out after work and on the weekends. A lot of people will tell you to push through it, but for me that lead to burn out. Use your common sense and realize not everyday is a good study day. Take days off. Progress with the knowledge of the LSAT at your own speed. As someone that tried to grind it out and failed, please take it from me. Once I redid my priorities and reestablished my schedule, my score has done nothing but jump. Also, look into a tutor to help with scheduling what you need to get done during the week. One love.
I think the key is to do shorter bursts of work. It just isn't like college where you get 3 hour blocks to knock something out. The more efficient you get, the less painful it will be to knock out a section. No one—not even the full time study-ers—have unlimited time, so everyone has to make judgements about what to do. Even they can feel like they could be doing more.
I totally get how you feel. I work as a data engineer, so most of my days are spent either working with lots of code or in long meetings. One thing you could try to do is wake up early and study in the morning when your mind is totally fresh. It can be hard at first but your body adapts over time. Also, as others have stated, don't be afraid to take a break or push the test back. Good luck, you're gonna do great!
It’s a personal decision of course. I didn’t have the option to quit or only work part time. I studied evenings and weekends but made sure to take enough breaks to keep my sanity. Studying full time would have cut down the number of months it took me, but wasn’t an option. There are a good number of people around here who study while working full time, so if that’s what’s best for you financially, we can give you our best tips for balancing things. I think it’s good practice for law school too, knowing how to balance a very busy schedule without going too crazy haha.
I can 100% relate. When I graduated I took a litigation job and I had a lotttt of late night federal filings, coupled with early morning state court filings, and a lot of stuff I just could not plan for. What really hurt me was not being able to establish a consistent study schedule around work hours because my overtime fluctuated unpredictably. & on days I didn't have overtime, I'd be stuck in horrendous traffic eating away 2-4 hours of my day.
I ended up having a conversation with the partners and associates I worked for about how this wasn't working for me and how I needed to block out time for prep. This kinda worked in that on most days I could come in later (~10:30 am) and study in the mornings and over lunch break (7-10:30 am + 12 pm - 1pm). But as the LSAT I had registered for at the time approached, one of my cases really ramped up with multiple ex parte appearances-I had to drop prep entirely for a couple of weeks. This left me really derailed, which ultimately led to the decision to quit and study full time (my firm wouldn't accept me temporarily being part time).
Full time prep was nice in that I did have the whole day to study, but at the same time, if I did use the whole day it was very draining, and at a certain point it became inefficient. Still, I got to a PT average I was comfortable with and sat for the test in Nov '18. Unfortunately, I underperformed, which really sucked since I had left my job to study full time in September and I thought that would have been enough.
After I got my November score I decided I wanted to give the LSAT another shot, but I knew full time study really wasn't motivating for me. So I looked for a part time legal assistant job I was interested in, and I eventually found one, applied & got hired. Part time work was the sweet spot for me. It balanced prep and work really well. Having engaging breaks from long days of LSAT prep (work days) was energizing. I also now work for attorneys who are 100% supportive of me taking the LSAT & respectful of my schedule and time (even though I still work in litigation). I sat for the June '19 test and a partner I work closely with even texted me a pep talk before and after the test.
That said, I know not everyone has the luxury of working part time. If that's your situation, I think your best bet is to carve out time during the work day to study/drill/do timed sections/BR and take PTs on the weekends. Do you use public transport or carpool? Can you do some studying then? Is it hard for you to leave the office for the day once you get in? If so, can you get to your office earlier in the day and study at a nearby coffee shop before work? Can you study on your lunch break? & when you do carve out time to prep, let the people you work with know that you're unavailable at those times.
TLDR: My anecdotal take is that studying full time doesn't necessarily translate to a better score; carving out time during the weekdays (working full time or part time) can be just as effective if not more.
You need to write a book.
I totally agree with the part about people just telling you to push through it leading to burnout. I feel that you are the only person who knows what works best, in terms of study/work balance.
I second this 100%. Quality > Quantity for sure!