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5 Reasons to Ditch LSAT this Weekend :)
Hey fellow 7sagers : )
I am seeing a lot of posts about people knowing they are not ready for the test but still taking it or realizing by answering their LSAT questions that they do not yet have a good grasp on fundamentals but are still taking the test. So if your average score of past 3-5 correctly timed stimulated practice test is not within plus or minus 5 of your ideal score. This post is for you.
A little background: I was once where you are, not ready for the test, but I was registered. I had already paid the $180 ( or whatever the exorbitant amount they charge us) and quite frankly refused to let my hard earned money go to waste. I mean, $180 is a lot of money! I was determined to at least get "something" out of that money I had already given to LSAC. I reasoned I could get some real time practice about how LSAT really was and somehow that would help me when I was finally able to take the test having studied to my full potential, at a later date of course. But then some "mentors" descended out of nowhere and helped me see where I was going wrong and I hope I can do the same for you and return that favor. So below I have listed five reasons you should not take LSAT this coming Saturday.
Why you should ditch LSAT this weekend
#1) Learning from other people who have taken the test before they were ready: It's more effective to learn from other people who have done something similar than to do the same thing and expect different results. When I have asked people who have taken this test before they were ready none of them have yet said to me "That was such an invaluable experience!". On the contrary I mostly hear regrets. I often hear "I wished someone had told me not to take the test. I just wasted my takes. Even though I am now ready, my real lsat score ended up being slightly below what I was scoring on my practice and I wish I had more takes left." You literally just have to ask around to see the regrets in people who took the test before they were ready to know that this idea of using a real take as a practice test is nothing compared to the value of having a few takes left and scoring your ideal score and getting into your dream college. Some people need to take it twice or thrice to just score within their practice range. So please err on the side of caution and give yourself that opportunity.
#2) Don't give your application a weakness it doesn't have yet: When you get down to submitting your applications, which one of us really wants to write about why one of our LSAT score was low?
#3) $180 is actually not a lot of money: Okay It's a lot of money if you think in terms of how most of us have to pinch money so we can work as few hours as possible and study for LSAT as much as we can. But If you take a look at the financial impact a good college can have on our lives, that $180 doesn't seem to be worth it to fuss over.The current lawyer I work for went to T20 law school and can make that much in less than half an hour, and this isn't even big law. So although that $180 seems a lot right now, the opportunities that can come from getting into a top college and having an amazing application which cannot happen without an LSAT score, is worth to lose that $180 now. Lets not throw good money after bad.
#4) That practice we all want to get this Saturday can be achieved in a library with JY's recorded voice as the proctor: is it exactly the same as real time? No. But if you adhere to it and don't cheat yourself, there is not much difference between a real proctored test and JY proctored test. Could bad things happen during the real thing? Yes. But you could prepare yourself for that too by taking it in places where its hard to take the test. The point being you can stimulate real test day, apart from unseen circumstances, pretty accurately. So don't use a real take for practice; use practice test for practice, and real test for when you are really ready.
#5) Maybe I can score a 170 on the real test?!!!!:> I call this the "I am the Exception" feeling and I think this is actually a big one. Despite the evidence in front of us where our practice scores and our dream scores just do not match, somehow we get convinced we might get that 170 or who knows even that 180 if we just take this test. I think this happens because all us are actually very good students, who get mostly A's, or know we are smart because even when we didn't work hard we still managed to get that high grade. We have by now mastered the art of cramming the day before the test; surely if in college studying the night before could get me A+, I can study this week before the test and beat everybody just like I used to. While it might have worked in college, I am here to tell you sadly LSAT is different. Unlike cramming, LSAT requires us to develop good and efficient habits. It's not something we score on the test day, but something we have already scored in our practice test.
*So unless you actually attended Hogwarts and know some spells to ace this LSAT in a different way, I recommend using your practice test as a guide to know when you are ready. After all, is PT 80 going to be so different from PT 75-79 that your score will jump tremendously? Probably not. Maybe a little if you are lucky like some ( I have yet to hear a more than 5 point jump), but not by a lot.
#6) Confidence: ( I know I said five reasons but its actually six. Five just made for a better Title of the post
) I know from taking enough PT's that confidence can play a big role into the score I am going to get. The more confident I am, the faster I will end up going through questions and finish everything on time. But the funny thing about confidence is that it has to come from ability. If you are not yet able to answer questions correctly and fast, you are either going to be over confident in which you will answer things incorrectly or you are going to be under confident and stressed, and you will also end up answering things incorrectly. Confidence in LSAT is great when it comes from acquired ability, it doesn't work the other way around and it can definitely hinder you if you are not confident because you know you are not ready.
I know this is not the news most of us want to hear, especially when we are registered to take the test in a few days. But I hope this gives you at least a few points to consider. The rest is up to you of course. Good luck in whatever direction you end up going. Much much love.
I would like to add an inspiring story for people who don't want to wait till the next application cycle to take the test:
I once met a Dentist who told me that he waited three years to get into UC San Francisco, which is the #1 Dental School in United States. During those three years he faced constant doubt from himself because of how hard it was for him to score high on that test and the pressure from his family who thought he was just wasting time. But he didn't budge. And now that he has graduated from the top Dental school and makes a lot of money, no one remembers that time. His family doesn't and he certainly doesn't. He is very happy he made that decision and gave himself the best opportunity he could to succeed and he has succeeded.
I wish only success and the best for all of you. Good luck
I am seeing a lot of posts about people knowing they are not ready for the test but still taking it or realizing by answering their LSAT questions that they do not yet have a good grasp on fundamentals but are still taking the test. So if your average score of past 3-5 correctly timed stimulated practice test is not within plus or minus 5 of your ideal score. This post is for you.
A little background: I was once where you are, not ready for the test, but I was registered. I had already paid the $180 ( or whatever the exorbitant amount they charge us) and quite frankly refused to let my hard earned money go to waste. I mean, $180 is a lot of money! I was determined to at least get "something" out of that money I had already given to LSAC. I reasoned I could get some real time practice about how LSAT really was and somehow that would help me when I was finally able to take the test having studied to my full potential, at a later date of course. But then some "mentors" descended out of nowhere and helped me see where I was going wrong and I hope I can do the same for you and return that favor. So below I have listed five reasons you should not take LSAT this coming Saturday.
Why you should ditch LSAT this weekend
#1) Learning from other people who have taken the test before they were ready: It's more effective to learn from other people who have done something similar than to do the same thing and expect different results. When I have asked people who have taken this test before they were ready none of them have yet said to me "That was such an invaluable experience!". On the contrary I mostly hear regrets. I often hear "I wished someone had told me not to take the test. I just wasted my takes. Even though I am now ready, my real lsat score ended up being slightly below what I was scoring on my practice and I wish I had more takes left." You literally just have to ask around to see the regrets in people who took the test before they were ready to know that this idea of using a real take as a practice test is nothing compared to the value of having a few takes left and scoring your ideal score and getting into your dream college. Some people need to take it twice or thrice to just score within their practice range. So please err on the side of caution and give yourself that opportunity.
#2) Don't give your application a weakness it doesn't have yet: When you get down to submitting your applications, which one of us really wants to write about why one of our LSAT score was low?
#3) $180 is actually not a lot of money: Okay It's a lot of money if you think in terms of how most of us have to pinch money so we can work as few hours as possible and study for LSAT as much as we can. But If you take a look at the financial impact a good college can have on our lives, that $180 doesn't seem to be worth it to fuss over.The current lawyer I work for went to T20 law school and can make that much in less than half an hour, and this isn't even big law. So although that $180 seems a lot right now, the opportunities that can come from getting into a top college and having an amazing application which cannot happen without an LSAT score, is worth to lose that $180 now. Lets not throw good money after bad.
#4) That practice we all want to get this Saturday can be achieved in a library with JY's recorded voice as the proctor: is it exactly the same as real time? No. But if you adhere to it and don't cheat yourself, there is not much difference between a real proctored test and JY proctored test. Could bad things happen during the real thing? Yes. But you could prepare yourself for that too by taking it in places where its hard to take the test. The point being you can stimulate real test day, apart from unseen circumstances, pretty accurately. So don't use a real take for practice; use practice test for practice, and real test for when you are really ready.
#5) Maybe I can score a 170 on the real test?!!!!:> I call this the "I am the Exception" feeling and I think this is actually a big one. Despite the evidence in front of us where our practice scores and our dream scores just do not match, somehow we get convinced we might get that 170 or who knows even that 180 if we just take this test. I think this happens because all us are actually very good students, who get mostly A's, or know we are smart because even when we didn't work hard we still managed to get that high grade. We have by now mastered the art of cramming the day before the test; surely if in college studying the night before could get me A+, I can study this week before the test and beat everybody just like I used to. While it might have worked in college, I am here to tell you sadly LSAT is different. Unlike cramming, LSAT requires us to develop good and efficient habits. It's not something we score on the test day, but something we have already scored in our practice test.
*So unless you actually attended Hogwarts and know some spells to ace this LSAT in a different way, I recommend using your practice test as a guide to know when you are ready. After all, is PT 80 going to be so different from PT 75-79 that your score will jump tremendously? Probably not. Maybe a little if you are lucky like some ( I have yet to hear a more than 5 point jump), but not by a lot.
#6) Confidence: ( I know I said five reasons but its actually six. Five just made for a better Title of the post
) I know from taking enough PT's that confidence can play a big role into the score I am going to get. The more confident I am, the faster I will end up going through questions and finish everything on time. But the funny thing about confidence is that it has to come from ability. If you are not yet able to answer questions correctly and fast, you are either going to be over confident in which you will answer things incorrectly or you are going to be under confident and stressed, and you will also end up answering things incorrectly. Confidence in LSAT is great when it comes from acquired ability, it doesn't work the other way around and it can definitely hinder you if you are not confident because you know you are not ready.I know this is not the news most of us want to hear, especially when we are registered to take the test in a few days. But I hope this gives you at least a few points to consider. The rest is up to you of course. Good luck in whatever direction you end up going. Much much love.
I would like to add an inspiring story for people who don't want to wait till the next application cycle to take the test:
I once met a Dentist who told me that he waited three years to get into UC San Francisco, which is the #1 Dental School in United States. During those three years he faced constant doubt from himself because of how hard it was for him to score high on that test and the pressure from his family who thought he was just wasting time. But he didn't budge. And now that he has graduated from the top Dental school and makes a lot of money, no one remembers that time. His family doesn't and he certainly doesn't. He is very happy he made that decision and gave himself the best opportunity he could to succeed and he has succeeded.
I wish only success and the best for all of you. Good luck
Comments
For all the people that I have personally discussed their circumstances and ultimate decision to withdraw due to recognition of not being fully prepared -
No one has ever said "I regret withdrawing"
With most people I know achieving or more often exceeding their desired score band once they were prepared to take the test:)
I guess what I'm asking, is a "registration withdrawal" considered the same as a "score cancellation?"
I just withdrew my sit for this weekend. I admitted to myself that I'm not anywhere near ready and shouldn't throw myself under the bus by sitting for it sooner than I'm ready.
I'm coming for you, LSAT. Soon, Precious.
LOVE this. Absolutely LOVE this.
Quick question---
did the doctor study for the test while working full-time?
How did he manage to the family pressure? Have you heard anything about it?
Thanks again,
I suppose this is slightly tangential anyway, given that you didn't exactly say that being within +/-5 of your ideal score is a sufficient condition for being prepared (just that the negation of this is sufficient for being unprepared).
Make sure to check out the June BR Study Group!
They have been invaluable to me during my PT phase providing interactive study sessions and a family of friends that I cherish:)
https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/9475/new-june-2017-study-br-group
P.S. I am just a mentor (which means just someone who is helpful), I am still working on LSAT. @"Cant Get Right" is the "Sage" here.
As for family issues he said it was tough. But he just ignored it and kept his focus despite the constant criticism because that's all he could do.
I hope that helped : )
I think it depends on if you would be okay with scoring within that range. I hope you do get +5 of your average, but if you are okay with scoring slightly below that, I think its fine if you take it : ) I think being comfortable of that range is what really matters.
Good luck!
On the road to 180! : )
Oh and yes, preparedness is not sufficient to get the target score, but I do think its a very good indicator of where you are likely to score.
I mean this is not a guarantee but its a damn good estimate : )
Thanks for telling me what not to do
More seriously: how does one select an "ideal" score? How does one gauge how much improvement is possible from one's current state? How can one be confident that one will be more "ready" at some future date?
That said, I think setting a "score goal" that's reasonable should be primarily based on the LSAT stats (25th-50th-75%tiles) at the law school(s) you are aiming for.
For example, if your ultimate goal is to be admitted to Columbia Law, your target LSAT should be at or above a 172 which is their median.
One useful way to gauge improvement is your blind review score; that is your true potential.
Confidence that you'll do better in the future also comes from your BR score. Also, it can just come from your own faith and confidence in yourself.
My story is similar to everyone's on this post and I too made the decision to postpone after withdrawing twice (September and this December). I realized it doesn't make me dumb or less smart but I'm focused on the bigger goal- aiming for the best possible score I can get. So when compared with how it could turn out for me in the future, taking a year off is a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Thanks again Sami you are awesome!!