The Three Worst LSAT Mistakes

1. Three months is not enough time to train

The first mistake is underestimating the difficulty of the LSAT. So, let me be very clear. The LSAT is a beast. I don't know you. I've never met you. Maybe you're a beast too. But, I'm telling you right now that you need more than 3 months to adequately train.

Going into this, have that as your mindset. As you start to hit your stride, you may well find that 3 months is actually enough for you. Good. It turns out that for a small minority of people, that actually is enough time. But don't presume that you're not part of the vast majority. Psychologically, it's better to overestimate how much time you need and be pleasantly surprised than vice-versa.

The next question is how much time should you plan to train? I recommend a year. If that feels like it's too much of an investment, I think you're undervaluing just how important the LSAT is in your law school admissions. In fact, it's more important than even your GPA on which you spend four years to improve. Viewed through that lens, a year, only a year, should feel like a bargain.

The LSAT is a test of skills. Your skills in parsing difficult grammar. Your skills in conditional logic. Your skills in causation logic. Your skills in argument evaluation. These skills, like all skills, require time to take root and grow. You have to actively cultivate these skills. You have to train. A necessary ingredient is time. There is simply no substitute. You need time.

2. You're wasting irreplaceable LSAT PrepTests

This second mistake causes irreparable harm.

You have to realize that there are a finite number of Official LSAT PrepTests (PTs). To date, there are around 90. That's it. If you exhaust all of those PTs, you're pretty much done. You have nothing left to train with.

This is because the one thing you have to do over and over and over and over and over again is to take timed, proctored, full-length PTs and then Blind Review. Performance on a new, recent PT, under conditions of stress and strict timing. That's why it's so important not to spoil recent PTs.

Of course, you do have to learn the fundamentals somehow so you have to sacrifice some PTs for that. But, not the recent ones!

Here's how we do it.

We only pull LSAT questions from pre-PT 35 to use for our Core Curriculum and problem sets. Every PT starting from 36 and above are kept pristine for you to take under timed conditions.

A related mistake is taking too many PTs in quick succession. It's kind of like weight training. You don't hit the weights every day. You need to give your muscles time to recover. Similarly, you don't take a PT every day. You need to give yourself time for the skills you're learning to take root.

What "burn rate" for PTs is right for you? That depends on a whole host of factors, so I'll just set the min/max "burn rate" at 1 PT every two weeks to 2 PTs every week respectively. You decide where on that spectrum you should be.

3. You're setting an unrealistic schedule

Don't be naive.

Seriously, take a good look at your ability to handle responsibilities and commitments. Back in college, at the beginning of every semester, I'd load up on classes thinking this is it. This is the semester that I will be awesome and responsible and blah blah blah and 3 weeks in I've watched ALL the episodes of The Wire in 5 days and shit I've only gone to like two classes.

Sound familiar? Look, if that's you, that's fine. Just don't expect the LSAT to change you. That takes a long time. It's far faster to recognize, embrace, and cleverly plan around your limitations. That's sometimes called wisdom.

Don't be like me: "I GOT THIS. I WILL STUDY 30 HOURS A DAY. SLEEP IS FOR LOSERS." No, idiot, there's only 24 hours in a day and you need to be not conscious for 7 of those hours. You also need a realistic study schedule. If you're in school, it's very, very hard to study for the LSAT. Plan on something light, like 4 hours a week. Same if you're working full time. Study first thing in the morning, not last thing after all your other things of the day. Draw out your study schedule to a year or two.

If you are studying full time, still don't study more than 30 hours a week. You simply need to give these ideas time to take root and grow. You also need time to relax. Go on a date. (You're studying for the LSAT, you're obviously single or will be very soon.) Go for a jog. Go on a date with your computer. Go see a movie. Stare at the moon. Get away from the LSAT. Burnout is a real phenomenon and you don't want to be anywhere near it.

Ideally, a wise student who avoids all three mistakes sets out a year-long study schedule, begins with learning the fundamentals covered in our Core Curriculum (e.g., logic, grammar, causation, argumentation, the scientific method). Then, she practices them on problem sets from pre-PT 35. Then, after some months of doing that, she starts to take timed, full length PTs and Blind Reviews.

Slow and steady. That's the way to go.