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Hey Guys,

I just wanted some opinions about how I should go about studying for the LSAT, because I have a lot of time on my hands as of tonight. I just finished my last quarter in school and will be moving home within a few days. I previously studied for the LSAT and scored a 167 on three separate practice tests, but wasn't satisfied so I cancelled my test date. Since then I've done some research on this site and found out how to study better, and to be honest the way I was studying was really dumb. Basically I am deciding whether to shoot for the June 2010 or October 2010. My goal is a 180 if possible, but to be reasonable I would be happy with a 175+ (not a flame, I don't think 8 points or so is unreasonable).

1. If I go June 2010 it would mainly be so I can finally get this thing over with, and to a lesser extent so I would have time to continue to study and retake if necessary by October. I am kind of worried about this though because I haven't even looked at the LSAT once in about 7 months, and by the time I would get home and be able to start studying I would only have like 2 months and a week. Plus I'm really burnt out because of school.

2. I have several more responsible reasons for wanting to take the test in October, but I seriously just want to finish this shit. First I could chill out and unwind for a couple of months because I have been extremely burnt out with school and life recently. Also, I could write a bad ass personal statement and get that out of the way, and also send all my stuff to two of my recommenders, which would give me three incredible LOR's. On top of that I could continue to read the Economist and all that stuff and to slowly refresh myself on the LSAT, maybe a few hours of light review a week until mid June. Then I could just spend from mid June until October working on the LSAT and hopefully do really well on it and get it over with for good.

The major negative thing, and I already know those of you that are working extremely hard to get into a good law school will want to slap me for this, is that I don't want to live at home with my parents again for long. I just want to lock in a good LSAT score and then spend some time working and just enjoying life a bit for once. I spent the past 4 years studying my ass off and working really hard, and I really want to have time to myself before going to law school. This is turning into a rant, but I would appreciate any and everyone's thoughts. Good luck to you all!

You can do all of that other stuff in #2 before you take the LSAT. The test does not have to be your first stepping stone on the way to law school. Feel free to write your PS and request letters of recommendation now; you'll be happy you did when you can apply the minute you get your October score back and others will still need to wait weeks to get everything together.

However, you should only take the LSAT when you think you're fully ready to take it. If you're seriously shooting for 180, don't take the test until your PT average is 175. It's too hard to make that final jump to 180 on test day otherwise. You have about 75 days until the June LSAT; in that time you could theoretically get to the score range that you're seeking. Study for the next few weeks until the registration deadline approaches, then make your final decision. June is obviously ideal, but October won't kill you by any means if you need to fall back to it.

Cool, thanks for the thoughts. I tend to vacillate between ideas all too much, but I guess now I'm planning to go for October. I am seriously burnt out and fed up with anything having to do with schools/tests, so I guess taking a couple of months to relax is a good idea. I definitely will get all the PS and LOR shit out of the way ASAP so I can just relax later on like you said. Plus having 90+ days of intensive studying after a two month period of light review sounds best anyways. You are right, I need to be serious about this test (as much as I can't stand it!!!!!).

2 months was long enough for me to do what you're trying to do at a pace of 2-3 hours per day, 7 days a week, but I was in a very different emotional state than you are. The time is not the issue, but the energy you have to devote may be.