LSAT advice from an unhappy camper
Nov 01 '00
So how does a great student who spends about $2,000 on test prep courses manage to eek out an LSAT score she's not thrilled with? Read on, dear Epinioners, read on!
The LSAT, or Law School Admissions Test, is a standardized test all students seeking admission to an American law school must take. It's a positively brutal test, but it is manageable. It is given 4 times a year, and although many law schools will not consider two separate scores (or one particular score if a re-take was a lot higher), many will average the two (which may not be statistically worth it, anyway).
Like most students applying to law school this Fall, I chose to take this year's October 7 exam. This is by far the most popular test date. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't choose to do it in October. There are two reasons. First, I got way too psyched out by everyone and their brother who planned to take the test at the same time. Maybe it's just the atmosphere at Georgetown University, but it seemed like 99.9% of the student body (all overachievers, nonetheless) planned to take it on October 7. Second, it really doesn't give you much leeway if you aren't happy with your score. If I had to do it over, I would have taken either the February or June test my Junior year. That way, there would have been a lot less on-campus pressure, and a lot more time to study for a re-take.
So I survived the test. Statistically, my scores were higher than average. But they probably aren't high enough to put me in the running for a top law school. Does this disappoint me? Heck yeah! I've always had trouble with standardized tests, and this is just another example. Although I've got a very high G.P.A. and some nice work experience, these factors just won't cancel out my less-than-superior score.
I can, however, learn from my mistakes. I'd like to give some advice to those of you who plan to take the exam. Here goes!
1) Take the exam where you feel comfortable taking it LSAC, the people who produce the LSAT, allow you to register for the exam months in advance and to choose from test centers nationwide. If you're at a school away from your traditional "home," consider travelling home to take the exam. I did this to limit the stress factor, and it was well worth it. I didn't have to worry about waking myself up on time, driving to the test center, or even making myself breakfast. And because I was sleeping in my old bed, I was assured of a good night's sleep. So, in addition, be sure to register early! so you get your top choice test center.
2) Take a snack and some water to the exam! You will get a brief (10-15 minute) break in between the third and fourth sections. Take advantage of this by going to the bathroom and re-fueling. I took a granola bar and a bottle of water. This snacktime gave my body some more energy and took my mind off the exam, even if only for 15 minutes.
3) Take headphones! If you're a person who gets intimidated by nervous chatter, you want to do everything you can to block it out at the test center. I accomplished this by taking headphones. Trust me, there will be many a) snots, b) nervous folks, and c) just plain dumb people at the exam, and they will all be talking about the LSAT. You need to have confidence in yourself and not be swayed by these people at the last minute. Take a CD of envigorating tunes and listen to it during those awkward minutes before the exam begins.
4) Take a test prep course! I took a course, and it helped me tremendously. Yeah, I was unhappy with my score, but I still scored relatively high. Had I not taken the course, I would have done a whole heck of a lot worse. The test prep from Kaplan gave me confidence going into the exam, and familiarity with the questions that were to be asked. I cannot imagine taking an exam as important as the LSAT without such support.
5) Don't cancel your score unless it was truly the most devastating experience of your life. If you think there's a chance you got at least a few in each section correct, DON'T CANCEL! The LSAT offers a cancellation option, whereby after completing the test, users can simply "cancel" their score. Most law schools look highly unfavorably upon this. Don't do it unless you had a major gridding accident or couldn't focus on the questions. Even if you think you did poorly, there's always a chance for redemption by retaking it - and if you did do poorly, at least when you retake it your score average will likely be higher.
5) Take as many practice tests as possible! Unless you take a test prep course, the LSAC has a monopoly over previously issued LSATs. For a small fee, you can order copies of those old exams. I would highly suggest doing this, especially if you aren't taking a prep course. Only by familiarizing yourself with problems and doing practice tests under timed conditions will you be completely prepared for Test Day. By taking a lot of practice tests, I learned better time management and was able to estimate my final score - plus track my improvement. Go to www.lsac.org to order these tests, and try to get the most recent ones possible.
6) Do your best on every section. The LSAT consists of 5 35-minute sections, and one unscored 30-minute writing sample. However, only 4 of the 35-minute sections are scored. That means that one whole section is disregarded in the scoring process. Generally, this experimental section is one of the first three, and it can be any section type. The traditional LSAT consists of one reading comprehension section, one logic games section, and two analytical reasoning (arguments) sections. Add another section of one of the above, and you have a full test. My experimental section was a logic games section, but of course I didn't know this until I got to the end of the exam and realized I had 2 logic games sections. Know this, don't assume you know which section will be experimental, and do your best on each section. It can never hurt!
7) Skip around! No, don't skip around the room. You'll probably get kicked out. Skip around within each section. The questions in each section are not arranged in any particular order, meaning you could have a group of 5 really difficult questions at the beginning, and 10 really easy questions at the end. Don't get bogged down by difficult questions. Scout around the sections, and do the easiest questions first.
8) There's no penalty for guessing! Unlike the SAT, there is no penalty for guessing on the LSAT. So when you follow my "skip around" advice, and end up leaving the hardest questions for last, keep in mind that you should at least guess on an answer. If you can eliminate just one answer possibility, you've got a 20% chance of guessing correctly! Even if your time is about up, there's absolutely no excuse for leaving anything blank.
So what was your problem?
My problem is that I get stressed out. When I take standardized tests, I lose all control and second-guess myself. That resulted in my failure to complete every section. It's something that happens to me on test day. It never happened to me during my diagnostics. The actual LSAT was the only time I ran out of time on a section, and I did it in all 5 sections! I did make a lot of guesses, and judging by my score, I got at least a couple of them right. But overall, I didn't have complete control over my answers, and it hurt me. Keep in mind that I was shooting for a top percentile, which essentially mandated I only miss 3 or 4 in every section.
My poor performance was not due to ill-preparedness nor unfamiliarity with the questions. Rather, I just ran out of time and had to guess way too much. Had I not taken the Kaplan course, I would have had even less confidence and probably would have guessed even more. So although I spent 2,000 dollars and am less than satisfied with my test results, I'm still glad I took Kaplan.
Overall, you need to remember that although this is an important test, it's not the most important thing you'll ever do. I was bummed with my score, but realized that I have a good academic record. Although I may not get into my top choice school because I didn't perform my best on the LSAT, I will still get into a darn good school.
So please take my advice, and do your best. Good luck to you!
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Epinions.com ID:
Krissieliz
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Location: Washington, DC
Reviews written: 104
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About Me:
I'm a lawyer who loves to laugh, nap and watch bad TV.
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