Advice

The first and most important thing to consider is if you even want to be a lawyer. The LSAT is a pain to some extent for everyone, but if you’re really hating this shit, maybe pick a different path. There is a reason that the LSAT is an indicator of success as a 1L. The skills you’re practicing here— reading comprehension, identifying main points and conclusions, decoding convoluted material, logic, attacking shitty arguments—are skills you’ll use to death in law school AND as an attorney. If you already hate it, good news, you can still get out. Some people will learn to love it.

Scholarships go to the students with the highest LSAT/GPA of that school’s incoming class

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Students on scholarship typically make up the top of their class

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Firms come on campus to interview the top of the class. These students end up with the best positions.

So, you can raise the possibility of being top of your class and getting the best job offers by going on a scholarship. Go to a school where you’re the star, not where you barely got in and are 160k in debt next to peers who are literally getting paid to be there.

Application Piece Hierarchy

  • Your highest official LSAT score is the most important part of your application.

    You need to SLOW DOWN. Stop rushing to apply this cycle, stop rushing to finish the section in time. Slow down during practice so you can build your skills, and your speed will improve naturally as you get better. Slow down in general so you have all the time you need to practice.

    Keep practicing, don’t take the official test until you’re consistently happy with your PT scores. Plan to take the official test multiple times. A few extra points could be worth full tuition, so slow tf down and get your scores up.

  • The GPA you get after paying for the Credential Assembly Service is the second most crucial factor of your application. This GPA includes any classes from any college institution which you received credit hours for prior to obtaining your first bachelor’s degree. Your CAS GPA may differ from the GPA on your college transcript.

    Focus on your GPA now if you still can. There is no benefit to being K-JD (law school right after college).

  • You need to stop pushing for one specific cycle and simply take this one step at a time. Get an LSAT score you’re truly proud of. Then, get your application essays, letters of recommendation, personal statement, and other materials ready. Once you’re all but ready to press submit, wait until September comes around, then apply!

    The good thing about law school applications is that another cycle is always right around the corner. Finish when you finish, September isn’t that far away. More on why rushing is such a bad idea elsewhere on this site, if you still aren’t convinced.

  • This includes things like letters or recommendation, your personal statement, other essays, and your resume.

    These components humanize you to the admissions team. They form the voice and story behind your numbers. A great personal statement is not a reason to skimp on your LSAT, though. Strong work experience won’t supplant being under the median. For these reasons, written components are relatively low priority to LSAT/GPA.

    You should absolutely do your best on these factors. Just don’t expect them to make (but they could break it, if you really mess it up) your application.

  • Work experience, volunteer experience, internships, etc. Basically, your human qualities and experiences. The reality of this process is that your numbers matter MUCH more than anything like this. Highlight the cool things you’ve done, think hard about the skills you’ve learned, and communicate that. Employability is especially desirable in applicants.

    Really though, a 179/4.2 applicant with no experience and a subpar personality is getting much better offers than a 163/3.0 (much less a 150s or lower scorer with any GPA) who cured cancer. Just how it is.

    (This is because snatching up high scorers raises the school’s medians, which affects their rankings, higher rankings = “justification” for higher tuition and less need to offer scholarships to entice applicants)

3 Pillars of LSAT Study

  • Slow down when answering questions, and you will get more of them right. These questions are 100% answerable. If you don’t understand why 4 of the answers are clearly wrong, and the one you’ve marked is 100% right, you aren’t getting something. Don’t submit until you’ve come as close to solving it as you can, you could be 30 seconds away from that click. Does the answer you’re picking answer the question? Would you stake your life on it? If you still get it wrong, obsess over that one question. Reread, google, whatever until you understand (1) what about this demonstrably wrong answer make you stake your life on it and (2) why you didn’t choose the right answer that was staring you in the face.

    More broadly, slow down in the whole application process. Stop willingly playing the process on hard mode and just apply when you’re ready. This will be when all your components are complete, which will follow your final LSAT score, which comes only once you’re happy with your practice scores. Stop rushing.

  • Again, 4 answers are wrong and 1 is right. Only one of the answer choices truly answers the question, and all you have to do is find it.

    There are no shortcuts, like reading the question first, a “trick” for any one question type, or (god forbid) highlighting/skimming. Everything you need to answer that question was provided. Realize the answer is right in front of you, 100% right, and find it. There is no wrong answer that “would have been correct if the right answer wasn’t there.” Just no, that answer is wrong. Find out why.

  • If you didn’t understand the sentence you just read, you have no business reading the next sentence. Re-read it, put it in your own words, make sure you really understand what it’s saying. Once you do, move on and do the same for the next sentence. Be sure you understand what the question is asking you to do. Don’t forget you’re supposed to be looking for a weakener and end up choosing a strengthener. Don’t choose an answer simply because it is a true statement, has some words from the paragraph thrown in, or describes a legit flaw. Does it answer the specific question being asked? THAT is the focus. If you missed a question, you probably misread something. The obvious main point here is to see through the bullshit and just pick the right one. It really is that simple.

    Don’t do something like… forget you’re supposed to be looking for a weakener and end up picking something because it’s a great strengthener. Remember what the question asked.

  • When you would be happy to have your PT scores as your official. If you’re scoring in the 150s on PT but are hoping for a 160s score, you have no business registering yet. Wait until you are where you want to be.

    Go ahead and plan to take the official test multiple times. If you go in thinking “I have to get my best score ever on THIS here test,” you’re gonna be stressed and underperform. Treat it like just another PT, and remember that you’ll be taking it again.

  • 1 hr a day. Drill individual questions and REALLY learn from your mistakes. Quality > Quantity. I suggest LSAT Demon’s free plan. You can sign up for that after purchasing LawHub (this is because prep companies have to pay for LSAT materials, they aren’t public). I’m not affiliated with LSATDemon, just love their approach and they offer so many questions for free. Their app will automatically adjust to provide you will questions at an ideal difficulty for you.

    Do a PT to see where you’re at. Then review your mistakes in depth. Don’t just look, say “oh I see” and move on. This is your law school prep. You were given a document. Why did you pick a wrong answer when the document was right there? Why didn’t you pick the correct answer that is literally on the page for you? Obsess over your mistakes, that is where the improvement happens.

  • “I’m just bad at must-be-true questions. How can I get better?”

    The answer for how to get better at any question type is to slow down and understand. There isn’t a trick to it, certainly not a question-type-specific one.

    There is a range of difficulty within each question type. Selection bias happens when you take a test that maybe has more of one type than the others, or harder questions from one type than the others. You miss more of them because there are more to miss, or because the ones from that type happened to be more difficult.

    Just ignore question type, it does not matter. Regardless what type it is, you need to understand the passage and the question. That is all there is to it, stop complicating things.

  • Who knows, maybe. You shouldn’t have a goal like this. There’s no harm in having a general score goal, it becomes an issue when you insert a time restriction. STOP worrying about the time. Yes, you will improve. If you give it time, that is.

  • New York is a state in America.

    Ok, so if you are in New York, you must be in America.

    “Being in New York” is a sufficient condition to “being in America.” The condition of “being in NY", when satisfied (aka when true), ALWAYS brings about the condition of “being in America.” You cannot be in NY without being in America. It is a sufficient condition.

    However, you CAN be in America without being in New York. Being in NY is a sufficient condition to being in America, but being in America is only a necessary condition to being in New York.

    If being in America was a sufficient condition to being in NY, that would mean that anytime you’re in America, you’re in NY. This obviously isn’t true. It is simply a necessary condition to being in NY… in other words, to be in NY it is necessary to be in America, but being in America doesn’t automatically mean you’re in NY. This is a necessary condition.

    A sufficient condition will ALWAYS make a certain result happen. A necessary condition must happen for that result, but doesn’t always make it happen.

  • Online, unless you have a really good reason to go in-person. It just makes more sense to reduce the differences between your practice test environment and your official test environment. If you can take your PTs in your room in the afternoons, then also take your official test in your room in the afternoon, you’re setting yourself up for success.

  • Yeah, probably. If you’re really not ready, you won’t be gaining anything by taking it just so you don’t lose the money. Instead of paying for no score, you’re paying for a bad score on your record. Only your top score will matter, but if you know you’re gonna take it again**, why bother?

    ** you should be planning to take it multiple times. horrible plan = taking it when you aren’t ready AND putting pressure on that test to be “the one”

  • First, go ahead and buy LawHub if you haven’t yet. It is $120/yr and you need it to register for the official test anyways. It gives you access to tons of PTs. Since this is LSACs platform, the PTs look exactly like the official test, so it’s a good way to get comfortable. Your first ever full, timed practice test is your “diagnostic score.” It’s only up from there. Start practicing every day for about an hour. I suggest mostly drilling (LSATDemon has so many free drilling questions) (drilling means one question at a time), and a practice test (PT) now and then. FOCUS ON YOUR MISTAKES.

  • This is 1/2 of your “hard factors,” your numbers. Your worth to law schools = your GPA + your LSAT.

  • Spend some time in a law firm or something. I got my internship by just emailing local firms, and good thing I did because I would have had no clue what lawyering is actually like. What areas of law are you interested in? Big Law (big salary, no work/life balance) or small firm (much lower salary, can usually still have a life)? If you chose big law, you definitely need to get your LSAT up so you can attend a school where you are in the top of the class. Big firms aren’t coming to interview the bottom 50%, they might even only be interested in the top 5-10% or so. You can be in that top % by going to school where your numbers are above their 75th percentile, which also makes you much more likely to go for free. Much to consider, so slow down and think.

  • Be consistent (1 hr a day) and give yourself as much time as you need. You don’t want to go into an official test thinking, “I have to get my highest score this time because I have to apply ASAP,” then underperform because of the pressure. Just chill, enjoy this anticipatory period before 1L (hell) begins, and be relaxed while working towards an outstanding LSAT. A much smarter, more lawyerly approach than pointlessly rushing as if next September isn’t always right around the bend. Waiting a cycle to improve your LSAT could be the difference between lifelong debt and a full ride at a school you’d be proud to attend. 1 hour a day, indefinitely, until you’re consistently proud of your practice test scores. Don’t overwork yourself either, doing 2 questions in a day but feeling that “click” of understanding for both is much better than doing 2 sections with like 60% accuracy and hardly reviewing.

  • If when you get your score back, you feel that you could do better (you probably could), keep studying and take it again later. Seriously, this isn’t something to rush. Play the long game and reap the rewards. If you’re happy with your score (aka if it is at or above the median at your target schools), then move on. Either way, you should already be planning to take it multiple times from the start.

  • You’ll need to purchase the Credential Assembly Service (CAS), which basically sends a compilation of your materials wherever you apply. Pay close attention to the application instructions specific to each school, but generally, you’ll need a resume, personal statement, required & optional essays, letters of recommendation (academic letters are typically preferred), and each school’s application form. Don’t give one single thought to what time of the year it is, I beg.

  • You are now all set and ready to go, so when applications open on the 1st, you can submit yours early. Schools give out better offers ( & more of them) at the start of the cycle when they’re still fishing for strong applicants. You’re a strong applicant, since you took the time to get an impressive LSAT, so take advantage and apply early. I need to clarify that I do NOT mean “apply binding-early-decision.” Doing that = saying “I’m coming no matter how much you charge me, so have at it!” What I’m saying is, the month at which your materials are finally ready to go doesn’t matter, just wait for Sept., then apply. You’ll have full rides in hand while someone else is asking Reddit if the December exam is too late for this cycle.

  • I separated this from step 6 to give some more specific advice. You want to apply broadly, like to 20 schools if you can. At least around 10. Some should be “safety schools,” where you’re above the medians, others should be “target schools,” where you’re at or maybe a bit below their medians, and a few “reach schools,” which are what they sound like, and are arguably necessary because you really never know. Even if you know where you want to go, you might not get in, and if you do, having applied so broadly will have provided you other offers with which you can negotiate scholarships at your desired school. I suggest inserting your stats into the commendable LSAT Demon’s free service, the Scholarship Estimator, and applying to schools that are likely to give you full rides. Use that here: LSATdemon.com/scholarships

  • Over the next 6ish months, offers will slowly roll in. You should wait as close to the deposit deadline as you can, take the best offer at a school you’d be happy at (make sure to consider that most lawyers practice in the state where they went to law school). If none of your offers match this criteria, then try again next year. Or, honestly, reconsider law school. Being a lawyer isn’t for everyone, and graduate school is a huge commitment. There’s no shame in deciding law school isn’t for you before going, but there might be some regret if you don’t truly consider it and discover that this isn’t your path after investing tens of thousands of dollars and hours.

  • If you get a full ride offer from a school that fits your career and life goals (like where you wanna live) AND are sure you want to be a lawyer, then accept an offer and good luck!

    If you decide for whatever reason that your offers aren’t good enough, just don’t go. Try again another cycle or pursue a different path. I realize you’ll be out a few thousand dollars from applying, but that is a lot less than the tuition they charge at these schools.

From considering law school to 1L in 9 steps

  • At a 149, you’re only performing better than 35% of test takers.

    149 is above the median at only 11 out of 198 law schools, all of them ranked in the bottom 150.

    With a 4.0, a 149 gives the possibility of full tuition at about 3 schools. With a 3.5 and 149, that drops to 0 schools.

    If you’re in this range, you need to give yourself indefinite time to work on the LSAT. 149 → 159 is an entirely doable, but potentially life changing jump.

  • In this range, at least half of test takers are scoring better than you. 153 is above the median at 43 schools, all in the bottom 127.

    It is so completely possible to improve on the LSAT that theres really no reason your final official score should be in the bottom half.

    If you give yourself time and focus on comprehension, your score will improve.

    With a 153 and 3.5, you’re looking at potential full tuition at possibly one school. With a 4.0, twelve schools.

  • You’re doing better than two to three fourths of all test takers. Yay! But you can do better than that. Keep studying and let your final score reflect your full capability.

    A 159 is above the median at 105 schools. With a 159/3.5, you can expect potential full rides at 14 schools. With a 159/4.0, at 57 schools.

  • A 162 is better than 80% of test takers. With just 10 more points, you could be in the 97th percentile. How do you get 10 more points? Read better and spend more time reviewing mistakes.

    A 162 is above the median at about 140 schools. A 162/3.5 applicant can expect potential full rides at 35 schools, a 162/4.0, at 87 schools.

  • You’re scoring better than 80-90% of test takers. You’re doing great. A 167 is below the median at only about 26 schools. (You can still improve obviously, so keep working at it and get an even better score)

    A 167/3.5 can expect potential full rides at 84 schools. For a 167/4.0, at 123 schools. You’re going to law school for free (if you wisely pick a good offer).

  • You’re scoring better than 93-97% of test takers. A 172 is below the median at only 6 schools.

    With a 3.5/172, potential full rides at about 125 schools. A 4.0/172, at 144 schools.

  • You sure can retake if you score in this range but still think you could do better (aka your PT scores indicate it)

    But you’re doing better than most people. Even with a 3.0, tons of full tuitions and even possible stipends pop up with a 175.

What does my score mean?

Using information from Law School Data and LSATDemon’s Scholarship Estimator, you can decide what score is “good.” You should aim to be at or above the median at your target schools. If your GPA is low, your LSAT needs to be even higher than otherwise.

The median LSAT at most schools is in 160s or 150s. Medians in the 150s are for the most part only attributed to schools in the bottom half of the rankings.

Just get into the 160s and you’re doing better than almost 3/4 of everyone else. You can get there, with time and diligent review.

General disclaimer: It can be fun to play around with your potential numbers, but don’t spend too much time on this stuff. Go drill. Focus on your LSAT, do the best you can.

Disclaimer about rankings: Rankings change all the time for all kinds of reasons. There’s no real difference between a school ranked 50th and a school ranked 60th, or 14th and 17th, etc. But, is a school ranked 20th generally better than a school ranked 120th? Yes. Don’t take the rankings too seriously, but they can be helpful to reference.