Taking the LSAT as a high school senior Forum

[The Pen Is Mightier]

Purely hypothetical, unless someone actually knows of this having occured, but would this be such a bad idea? If someone took, say, the February test, they would have results back before they had to decide where they were going to college. Then, if they had a 170+, they could safely go enjoy Arizona State for 4 years and sleep easy knowing that half of their ticket was already punched.

If our subject was unhappy with their score, they could simply take a year between college and applying to LS and their old score would disappear.

So anyone else think it would be awesome to start an LSAT prep company targeting high school seniors?

[tallboone]

you don't hit your mental peak (especially in logic and math) until your 20s, so this would be ill-advised. Unless, of course, you plan on killing all of your brain cells in college.

[The Pen Is Mightier]

Ok, but there's the built in out of the score going away after 5 years. So even if someone's not mentally mature enough at age 18, they have little to lose.

Also, I recall no math on that test.

So if arguably, some prodigy could perform well at a young age, and since every parent either believes or can be convinced that their child is such a prodigy, this is a golden untapped market. Amirite?

[skip james]

... and the quality of posts continue to drop.

[AngryAvocado]

I'm planning on having my kids get both the SAT and the LSAT out of the way before their 5th birthday. That way I'll know where they stand and whether any further investment in their education is worthwhile, or if we need to go ahead and start networking with the local McDonald's management.

[hellojd]

I'm pretty sure law schools favor scores within the last 3 years...

[hellojd]

I'm planning on having my kids get both the SAT and the LSAT out of the way before their 5th birthday. That way I'll know where they stand and whether any further investment in their education is worthwhile, or if we need to go ahead and start networking with the local McDonald's management.

haha, this literally made me laugh out loud a bit.

[TTTennis]

I'm planning on having my kids get both the SAT and the LSAT out of the way before their 5th birthday. That way I'll know where they stand and whether any further investment in their education is worthwhile, or if we need to go ahead and start networking with the local McDonald's management.

haha, this literally made me laugh out loud a bit.

Same here

[The Pen Is Mightier]

I'm planning on having my kids get both the SAT and the LSAT out of the way before their 5th birthday. That way I'll know where they stand and whether any further investment in their education is worthwhile, or if we need to go ahead and start networking with the local McDonald's management.

Another point... You are arguably in your prime for standardized test taking at the end of high school. You have SATs, SAT IIs, APs, various state acheivement tests... and then nothing for 4 years in college. Hell, college might even diminish your skills by encouraging broad and critical thinking versus the desired "which bubble is best" approach that is more desireable for any standardized test.

Could pairing the SAT and LSAT (within a year of each other) be an intelligent course?

[Ragged]

I suggest you call a law school and ask them how they view LSATs from high school seniors.

If you can hack it, I say go for it. Thats legendary over-achieving. Good luck.

[CMDantes]

Why would you do this?

[EdmundBurke23]

One of the things that would worry me about taking the test half a decade before its score'll be put to use is that the test itself will change throughout that time-span. LSAC has been investing money into researching other avenues of intellgence in order for the LSAT to offer better predictive value (not just for 1L success, but for being a lawyer in general). Also, the test itself is evolving as students are receiving ever-more outside help through test-preparation companies, forums, etc.

The LSAT has been a rather controversial standard, and seeing how the country is saturated with attorneys, there's at least some reason to believe that law school admissions may undergo some drastic changes throughout the next few years. This is just a concern, and should be taken into consideration...

[Cestjustemoi]

Did this with the SAT lol took it in eight grade. I wish I would have took the LSAT much earlier in college career would have given me a larger buffer for planning

[im_blue]

LSAT scores are good for 5 years, so there's no practical reason that a high school senior couldn't take it, other than looking iffy to adcoms. OTOH I think you overestimate the motivation and drive of high school seniors, and the effects of senioritis.

[whuts4lunch]

I feel like I am in the minority here, but I like the idea a lot. It demonstrates a commitment to a specific goal and will help you keep your eye on the prize going forward (GPA) and, if you have a score you are happy with, you can feel more at ease going to a lesser UG where you can get As very easily, and we all know that law schools prefer the easy A to the hard earned B.

I also agree that, since towards the end of high school you are in standardized test taking mode, you should be able to do fairly well. And if I'm wrong, then so be it, you wait it out a bit, the score expires (or you just leave it there because schools pretty much care only about the highest outside of HYSCC), and then you take it again later on.

[Pricer]

Have you ever taken the LSAT?

It would have raped me my senior year in high school. SAT, ACT, AP tests, etc. are nothing compared to the critical thinking required for the LSAT. I definitely developed those skills throughout my higher education, perhaps the most in my junior and senior years of college. It would have been a huge waste of time and money to take the LSAT in high school.

[bakemono]

Ok, but there's the built in out of the score going away after 5 years. So even if someone's not mentally mature enough at age 18, they have little to lose.

Also, I recall no math on that test.

So if arguably, some prodigy could perform well at a young age, and since every parent either believes or can be convinced that their child is such a prodigy, this is a golden untapped market. Amirite?

agreed, just taking the test in itself would familiarize you to the test in the 'real' situation, and might make you more serious in your preparation. 5 years later, who cares, right?

[DarkPhantom]

As silly as the OP's post is, there was someone who sat next to me the first time I took the LSAT, Oct of 09, who drove from Dallas to Houston just to take the LSAT....I find out that he's in highschool and thought that colleges would look at him as someone who was an over achieving individual....

:facepalm:

[Pricer]

How would he even go about reporting that he took the LSAT to colleges?

[The Pen Is Mightier]

As silly as the OP's post is, there was someone who sat next to me the first time I took the LSAT, Oct of 09, who drove from Dallas to Houston just to take the LSAT....I find out that he's in highschool and thought that colleges would look at him as someone who was an over achieving individual....

:facepalm:

I was being dead serious.

But y'all missed the logic fail in my argument: It is always better to go to Arizona State no matter what LSAT score you may or may not have.

And to address other concerns, I can't imagine an adcomm would care all that much when you took the test as long as they can use it to bump up their median.

[cubswin]

The modern LSAT RC would destroy a high school senior. Most high schoolers fear the ACT's reading section, and the LSAT makes it look like a walk in the park.

[pattymac]

My buddy hit like a high 160 when he was 14, no joke. His psychiatrist made him take it out of curisoity, the kid is absolutely brilliant and has a mind for stuff like this. He's actually writing it with me in June. I had totally forgot about this until my mom reminded me of it the other day while I was studying.

[blhblahblah]

Your writing is horrid, OP.

[underwood185]

Hypothetically, a senior at a rigorous preparatory school, 800 critical reading, 5 English lit ap. Wants too go to law school after college. Any benefit to taking lsat?

[francesfarmer]

Your writing is horrid, OP.

+1

I noticed the Arizona State thing and I didn't correct you because this thread is useless