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Related Discussions
The LSAT does not define you!
FutureLawyer77
Member
Hi all. I wanted to write this post because I have struggled immensely with the LSAT for over a year. I have never struggled on an exam/anything school related so much in my life. I have always done very well in school and considered myself pretty smart but, most importantly, a very hard worker. With the LSAT I have worked very, very hard and truly given it my all and tried everything. I've taken it twice and both times, unfortunately, my score was much lower than my expectations & practice tests. It has been so frustrating to me to put in so much effort into something and not see the results of that labor.
The LSAT has challenged me tremendously and really affected my mental and physical health in ways that I have tried so hard to work through for years. All that being said, even though my scores have been disappointing, I'm proud of myself for giving it my all. I'll be studying for a few months and giving it one last shot but I've made a conscious decision not to go crazy over this exam. I will find another way to get into the schools I want, and wherever I end up it's where I'm meant to be.
As a first-generation college grad, immigrant, and low-income woman of color especially this exam has made me doubt myself in so many ways and doubt whether I am good enough to even go to law school. It is incredibly upsetting and unfair how much importance is given to the LSAT in the admissions process at top schools. In my opinion it is a way of gatekeeping certain kinds of students out and that is so unfair and angering.
YOU ARE MORE THAN THIS EXAM. Your LSAT score does not define you.
Comments
Well said FutureLawyer77, I've been studying full-time now for more than a year and I completely agree; your score doesn't define you: its just a snapshot of a moment in time. Improvement is possible and probable. My score has gone up, just like countless others. Great job keeping at it, I'm sure with your positive attitude and tenacity, that you will achieve the goal that you need!
Thank you for sharing your story and for your well said words of encouragement! To echo that sentiment: Something I wish I had learned earlier in life is that what we do does not have to define who we are. We should always try to find value in the parts of ourselves that are not necessarily validated by an exam, or how we choose to make a living.
I am sure that whatever happens from this point forward, your hard work will pay off. Each of our unique abilities are needed somewhere in the world. You will end up where you belong.
thank you for sharing! I don't think it is said enough. The LSAT is such a huge part of the application process that is sometimes drowns out everything else w have going for us. We do not notice all the things that come easy because we did not struggle for them. This happened to me I use to struggle so much on the LSAT and it consumed me that I would forget all the good things that are happening to me. I think it is very important to take a step back every once in a while and look at how far we have come from.
I definitely needed to see this today as I'm totally freaked out about the test this week and I'm disappointed that I haven't been doing as well as I hoped. I'm just like you in that i've always done well in school and consider myself smart and hardworking and it's definitely been a struggle and f*cked with my head the last few months. So I just wanted to say thank you for this post and I'm glad I'm not alone.
Well said! Fellow first gen, immigrant, low income woc here! This test makes you go through some crazy things but you've overcome all these institutional barriers! Keep it up we got this
Feel free to connect with me, I'd love to network and find ways to support others with similar backgrounds/experiences as me. 
Dear FutureLawyer77: I was touched by your post, and I want to say I've experienced the same thing. I'm giving it another go, through another admissions cycle, because I want to say I've done my best. I'm also a first gen college student (and high school dropout), son of a third-world immigrant, and I grew up without any resources whatever. Growing up, my family was for periods recipients of welfare, and one memory that has stayed with me all these years is my mother purchasing a second-hand refrigerator that had no shelves. I am also a father. Two of my children are heroin addicts, and my son-in-law, at the age of twenty-seven, just passed away from IV drug related infective endocarditis. I understand both the desire and challenge of changing your personal destiny. There are many frictions and many unique challenges. Consequently, students like you have a different escape velocity than others who are more fortunate. You must overcome more, and will have traveled farther in your efforts to redefine your context. This, in itself, is of value to law school admission committees. The conversations you can bring to law school classrooms will be unlike many that traditional students can bring. Your experiences will be valued by one or more of the schools you apply to. Make sure, in your statement and addenda, to let them know who you are—all of you. Wishing you all the best. Keep at it.
Thank you for this. I needed this in the season I’m in with the LSAT. It has a way of making you feel like that’s all that matters in life. I need reminders to know that I am who God says I am. A series of 3 numbers will not define my intelligence. I see little improvements, and I need to be proud of myself for it. Good luck to everyone on this future endeavors. WE GOT THIS!
Thanks so much everyone for sharing your story. I am glad to know I'm not alone in feeling this way or having this LSAT experience. Proud of everyone for trying our best!
Thank you for sharing this. I can relate to your post so much as well. It is an incredibly challenging exam and it seems as if what we did in undergraduate and the time and effort placed into our studies falls short in comparison to the LSAT. I also considered myself to be smart yet when it comes to this exam, it makes you question your being. I am also coming to terms with this as well.
I cannot tell you how much this post means to me. I am an extremely hard worker, I’ve had a 4.0 for my entire undergrad program, and I work full-time just to survive. This test has made me question not only my academic abilities, but also my character as a person. I have studied through 7sage, youtube, many practice tests, the LSAT trainer, and regularly do drills through the Kahn site. Despite literally hundreds of hours of training, the time requirement for the LSAT has been absolutely crushing me. If I have just a couple extra minutes my scores improve dramatically but as soon as you add that timer in the corner of the screen my mind falls apart. The test isn’t actually testing my ability to solve these problem sets, as I get nearly perfect scores when the time requirement is extended. J.Y. Tells us that the only way to get faster at LG is to drill the inferences over and over again. What are we really testing? How skilled a student is at solving these problems, or how much free time they had to run drills?
This test is a ruthless gatekeeper that keeps the working class out of law school. JY does an amazing job of teaching logic games, but even he admits that students should study for up to a year if they expect to get a good score on the LSAT. For a blue collar, working class, non-traditional student, this is simply impossible. I’m barely surviving financially as I juggle a full-time course load and a 40 hour work week. I simply cannot afford to quit my job, or take a year off to just study for this test. It makes me feel like a failure in ways that I have never felt in my life. Keep in mind that I am an extremely hard worker who has many academic awards, but I simply don’t have the time to drill these problem sets for hours and hours every week. There are only so many hours in the day, and when I come home drenched in sweat it takes everything I have to force myself to hit the books to stay on top of my courses.
The LSAT absolutely acts as a gatekeeper for the working class. I really appreciate your thoughts, and finding someone who is going through similar struggles is like a cool sip of water in the burning hell that is the LSAT.
I totally share the frustrations and revelations, and in addition to other obstacles I would add it also seems like my brain is getting older and doesn’t work as well and meantime it seems like the average test takers are getting younger and these kinders are driving the curve. Fortunately though I am not doing this to get richer. I am doing it because every person like me that kicks down the door to the working poor is a victory alone and increases the odds my family will experience and even more just world than I was privileged to know. Because I have seen what a good lawyer can do for others in our dying world I will find a way.