I just registered for the December 2009 L.S.A.T. I wanted to form a group of people who are studying for the test so we can help and encourage each other. Include basic information:

Diagnostic (cold): 150 (Kaplan timed late at night), first time I saw an L.S.A.T in my life
Goal: 162
Start date: August 20th

Background: Chemical Engineer at UC Berkeley. I am trying to go to the University of Tennessee..for my girlfriend (let's focus on the LSAT instead of personal reasons for going to law school). I have back-up schools in California and Seattle (weaker Law schools). I work for DOW chemical and I am trying to go into patent/intellectual property law (my Dad does this). I worked in China for a year for a Taiwanese chemical company--I am fluent in Mandarin. I have research experience in Chemical Engineering and related fields (all through undergraduate). Could get letters of recommendation from 4 professors, but I don't know which one to ask--they are all engineering professors. Go for the professor with the biggest name? Go for the guy who I think knows me the best? Go for the guy who's class I got an A in?

GPA: 3.21 (official Law school) first two years 2.9-3.0 last two years 3.7+

Method of study: Kaplan course online (with 9 hours of tutoring) (6 weeks), Powerscore bible (ordered on Amazon), will take testmasters online after Kaplan. Also, will do some private tutoring to reach my goal if I can't do it on my own. Every night for about 2-3 hours on the weekdays. Weekends 5-6 hours. Take 2 LSATs per week minimum.

So..please! include basic information and advice! Good luck everyone! I am doing the June 2007 LSAT right now...

Diagnostic (cold): 147 No watch or time strategy. Never seen an LSAT.
Goal: 167 or above
Start date: August 19th

Background: Will be graduating in May 2010 with a UG in Finance, Minor in History from the University of Arkansas. Target is University of Illinois by fall of 2010 so I will not have to sit out a year and alter my girlfriends Med School plans. I also have 2 reaches in T14 and some safeties below T25. I still need to actually register for Dec. And I think I should be getting a LSAC fee waiver.

GPA: 3.0 at current school, 3.65 at previous school. Hoping for combined 3.2 or more after completion.

Method of study: I have the Powerscore LG and LR bibles, tests 7-40, and tests 7-40 explained, and Princeton Review LSAT book I probably will not read. I am currently reading the LR bible and hope to finish by Sept 1 when I will start taking 3 to 4 tests a week and read the LG. I am trying to study 4 hours per day 7 days a week but I may need to increase that since I am a slow reader. I reduced my UG class load to 6 hours and have no job so I really have no excuses.

Hey, and maybe someone besides me who actually knows what they are doing can design a tentative PT schedule so we can better compare results and get help. The beginning tests/date should not matter too much because we can probably try too catch up or make other necessary adjustments to fall in line with the schedule. Just a thought.

Diagnostic (cold): 158 Didn't even know what an LSAT was comprised of.
Goal: 168 or above
Start date: August 24th

I am also registered for the Dec. LSAT and looking into patent law.

Background:
BS in Electrical Engineering Technology with a minor in Math from small state school in GA. Worked at Georgia Tech Research Institute for two years through undergrad. Really really want to go to Emory for law school due to its location and prestige in the south. Unfortunately I am poor and will need substantial funding, hence the 168 goal. If My score doesn't increase like I want it to, then I will be headed to Georgia State to party it up in Atlanta while I gain minimal debt .

GPA: 3.8

Method of study: Have a few of the "10 Actual" books. Gonna try and take 3 a week for the next few months and then 4 to 5 a week leading up to the test. Also have logic games bible that I will go through as I relax on weeknights. My ace-in-the-hole is the LSAT App that I downloaded to my iPod which will let me study anywhere. The other thing I have going for me is that this is my last semester of my undergrad and I am not working. I am also only taking 12 hours (plus 6 for research and senior project) so I will have time and a stress free enviroment. If my grades slip it really won't matter.

woooo Walton College of beeezneeeez sooooie.

acc/finn major here too

Cool to see another Walton grad on the boards. PM'd.

im doing the september thread too, theres a lot of good advice and things u can pick up in there

my diag was a 165 untimed, dono what that means timed. got a 166 in february, aiming to miss 5 questions or less in december whatever score that gets me.

o and in terms of studying- just really heavy review, i did most of the lsat material already, so that means i gotta get even more out of the few tests i havent done. im only doing section practice until beginning of october because i want to make sure my skills are strong before i do full prep-tests again.

Diagnostic (cold): 142
Goal: 165 & up
Start date: mid June

Haven't registered yet - anyone know the deadline?

Background:
Entering 3rd year of UG at UC Irvine in California as a Political Science major, emphasis on Public Law. I worked at a few law firms that specialize in franchise law and personal injury law, respectively; I'm currently volunteering at a non-profit that deals with HIV/AIDS in the Asian population. I don't know what kind of I want to practice, but volunteering has sparked my interest in public interest law. I would like to go to USC for its prestige, network, and location (close to home and LA). Ideally, I'd like to get scholarships but I don't think I'm considered a URM (1st generation Asian female) so hopefully a high GPA, mediocre LSAT, and rocking softs will get me in.

GPA: 3.72

Method of study: private tutor, Powerscore bibles (LG, RC, LR), all the PT's, negative/positive conditional learning (ha).

count me in, I'll be retaking a 170 from June, hoping for mid-170s and some scholarship $$.

Deadline is early November, haven't registered yet, gonna track my PTs, make sure I'm testing within range to make it worth it.

good luck everyone!

how many hours per day are you guys studying? what if you average 4 hours per day? Too much? To little? I guess it all really depends. Are practice LSATs the best way to increase your score? Or should you start with strategies and workshops...then move on to questions?

good luck with your studying. Unfortunately Ramadan is not a welcoming event for those of us stationed in Iraq.

I'm re-taking so maybe it's a bit different, but I've been putting in probably an average of 6 hours a day, but only 5 days a week. To answer your latter questions, practice LSATs are the best way to increase your score, but in my opinion, you should master the skills first so if you're going to do the bibles, then I would do those first and really get as much out of the practice and drills in those as you can before moving on to questions.

anyone notice this while studying: diction on the LSAT matters! I see a lot of logic reasoning questions that deal with novelist versus a painter or renting a car versus owning a car. If you over look the two nouns, you may end up picking an answer that looks right, but is wrong because thought a painter was a writer...I KNOW this is obvious, but I am missing less on LR now that I pay close attention to nouns. Anyone notice this? A good example, is a sculptor and a painting. Both of them are art, but don't group them together in the answers choices, because they are different!

Diagnostics: 146 > 149:)
Goal: 165
Start date: August 1

Background: Starting 3rd year of UG at a UC, psych major. I want to attend a law school in California.

GPA: 3.6

Method of study: Started Testmasters this August, already seen good improvement. Had plans to take September LSAT and apply this cycle but decided to wait until December or February with more time to do a lot of self-studying and practice tests after I finish my course.

Ah! A southern belle stole your heart

UT is a good school. I know two lawyers from Memphis personally, both UT grads, who are in very lucrative places in life. Good luck!

Diagnostics (cold): 144--had no idea what to expect
Goal:160 or better
Start Date: August 15

Background: A registered nurse with a MSN degree, 3.1 undergrad gpa and 3.7 graduate gpa. Wanting to attend UGA...will take kaplan online for additional prep starting 9/14. I know I can do better I just have to find my groove.

Diagnostic: 165 (untimed)
Goal: 167 and up
Start Date: August 27th

Background: I've been out of undergrad for a while, and am currently a PhD candidate at a top-5 school in my discipline. Due to family situation (wife and first kid on the way), I'm somewhat debt-averse and so I would to get a little $ at a top-30 (WUSTL, Emory, William&Mary, BC). Location is not really a factor.

LSAC GPA: 3.95

Method of Study: I've been studying off and on for the past few months, and I've been through the Powerscore LG Bible. LG still kicks my ass now and then, and up until I've been focusing solely on that section of the test. I have most of the released LSAT's, and I'm going to continue working through them until test day at the rate of three a week. Am now working through LR Bible.

Thanks for starting this thread!

"tests 7-40 explained" - where did you find this? I could see this being extremely helpful....

Hello!

I'm retaking from a June LSAT score of 154. Hoping to go up to 160-164.
Stopped studying after the June test, but going to start up again this week.

Background: BS in Finance from University of Minnesota; minors in Asian American Studies and Int'l Business. Currently working as an Underwriter at Travelers.

GPA: 3.65

Study Plan: Reread Powerscore LG, RC, and LR Bibles. Go through 1 PT a week throughout September and increase steadily the number of tests/week thereafter. Time my sections to try to finish around 30 mins. Cut out/copy all questions I got wrong and dissect them so I understand why I did them wrong.

Pray really hard?

Diagnostic: 161
Goal: 175+
Date: Dec.

Background: I go to Ohio State studying business finance. I have a 3.7 and am hoping to get into a T14. I'm a bit unusual, in that, I may not practice law after I get my degree. In fact, I plan on working in either consulting or banking after undergrad and then applying to joint programs. My goal is to work in Venture Capital or Hedge Funds and a law degree could really benefit myself as well as the firm. Penn's 3 year joint degree program seems to be the most practical for what I want, especially with Wharton as the other school.

Materials: I have the LG, LR, and RC Bibles. I also have the 3 Official PrepTests as well as Princeton Review.

Plan: I'm going to be studying every morning, routinely. Pithypike's layout seems pretty logical. Plenty of practice and then the last month I'll be working on endurance/speed. Accuracy is my main goal. If I can't score a 175+ consistently untimed, there's no point in starting the stopwatch.

I am the aforementioned EE student with a 3.8 looking for about 80k from emory if I can get a good enough LSAT..

As far as strategies goes here are a few of mine, response and thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

LR: I am a math minor who is focusing on discrete math so I just write out the statements mathematically and can go from there as far as evaluating the statement logically.

CR: I have found that for me if I translate each paragraph to a single descriptive sentence I can get nearly everything right on each passage. This takes more time, but I read pretty fast so I think it will work out pretty well.

LG: as every lsat book ever has said to do, just draw it out.

Also, given that I went to a very small state school, will that harm my chances of money at Emory?

I double checked and it looks like I accually have 1-56 explained (1-40, and 41-56) they are by Kaplan. The first page of each test explaination reads something like:

KAPLAN LSAT PREP
LSAT
RELEASED TEST I
EXPLAINED
A Guide to the June, 1991 LSAT
KAPLAN
The answer to the test question.

They might be part of the Kaplan class materials. An acquaintance gave them to me so your guess is as good as mine.

doh!!! Good for you, that should be a great help. One of the most furstarting things I've found is when you don't understand a problem at all no matter how you look at it and you have nothing to point you in the right direction.

Anyways,

Diagnostic (cold): 147 No watch or time strategy. Never seen an LSAT.
Goal: 160 or above
Start date: Started in June, was going to sit for Sept and pushed back

Background: Four years work experience in a major bank.
GPA: Graduated with 3.5 with a double major in Finance, MIS.


Method of study: I have the Powerscore LG and LR bibles, will use tests 7-40 to drill question types making sure I understand. Then will start full length tests starting with 41. Will use Stanley's method for test taking up until the exam.

Diagnostic (cold): 134 (took a princeton review course and got to 147 but really wasnt committed due to personal reasons)
Goal: 167 +
Start date: August 27th

Background: Graduated from Baruch College with a BBA in Finance and Investments with a Communication Studies minor. Was on the Deans list for my sophmore year. Have decent work experience/internship in the field of finance.

LSDAS GPA: 3.24

Method of study: Got all three bibles. Work through each bibles diligently and finish by the end of October. During November I will schedule 3 PT a week with full review.

Side note: I started on the LRB and got to ch.6 and its GREAT (i jumped 6 points on my last PT because of the LRB). for those who need study materials please please order the bibles.

This has helped me more than any other method I've read so far. Everything "clicked" once you realized that these questions are obtusely worded, but ultimately simple.

Diagnostic: cold and timed - 157
Goal - as high as possible, no?
Current Avg. - 168 (timed)
Start Date - Beginning of August
Applying - Early Fall '10 for the Fall '11 year
LSAT - Dec '09, Feb '10, and June '10 if need be.

Background:
Laughable 2.3 GPA from Columbia College Chicago. Class of '07. Advertising Major. I know, I know. I interned early and was offered my dream job as a result. 3 years Retail Sales as an UG. 1 Year Television Production for 2 of the highest rated shows. Currently volunteering with the production of a play. [[Insert unending list of Volunteer Work/Awards here]] I'm currently applying to a number of firms around town to add another 2 years between now and starting law school. Aiming at regional second tier schools. Family Law is ideal, but open.

Current wish list in order: Northwestern (a reach, but why not?), Chicago-Kent, Loyola Chicago, DePaul, NIU/John Marshall (JM is overpriced for a T4 but networking may/may not make up for it *shrugs*).

Study Plan:
5 hours. 7-12pm Weekdays. LGB - 1 hour. LRB - 1 hour. 1 hour each for RC, LR, LG questions *timed*. Rather than each section being 35 min each, I'm cutting it down to 30 min each therefore getting me used to the time allotted with just a little extra time for a check. Once I have absorbed all the methods in the LGB/LRB, than I'll use that time to work on the sections that need more help.

HI Everyone,

I came across this LR question when I was studying:

At some point in any discussion of societal justice, the only possible doctrinal defense seems to be "That is the way we do things here." Different communities that each recognize the dignity and equality of all citizens will, for example, nevertheless settle on somewhat different provisions for the elderly. So we can see that general principles of justice are never sufficient to determine the details of social policies fixed within a particular state.

Which one of the following statements, if true, most strengthens the argument concerning the general principles of justice?

a) Although two socialist states each adhered to the same electoral principles, one had a different type of machine for counting ballots in public elections than the other did.

b) Two democratic industrial states, both subscribing to capitalistic economic principles, differed markedly in the respective proportions of land they devoted to forestry.

c) Although each adhered to its own principles, a democracy and a monarchy each had the same distribution of wealth in its population.

d) Two states founded on and adhering to similar principles of justice had different requirements that had to be met in order to be eligible for government-subsidized day care.

e) Two societies based on different principles of justice, each adhering to its own principles, had the same unemployment benefits.