Help out a delusional newbie Forum

[delusional]

Well, I've been browsing the immensely helpful forums on TLS for a few weeks now. They've been great to me because I'm not in school, or surrounded by people with similar lawyerly aspirations, so thank you all for that.

I'm 30 and I've been working for 5 years or so, and a few factors combined to give me a wake up call, so now I'm dreaming of law school/law career. I vacillate between being delusional about my chances and despairing about them. So bear with me please.

I've signed up for the October LSAT, and I've been prepping accordingly. I have a lot of trouble finding the time for full preptests, so I've been doing sections. I started out getting 2/3 wrong per LR and RC section, but LG (AR)was a total mystery to me. Now, I've completed a few consecutive perfect sections in LR and RC, and I guess I've improved in LG but I can usually only finish 16-20 of them in the allotted time.

Here are some questions:
Can I assume that I'm relatively safe on RC and LR, and focus mainly on LG? Or from y'alls experience will that come back to bite me in a tender place? (I find that I don't use much technique on the LR. I picked up on identifying the assumption from the LR Bible and that was the big breakthrough. A few smaller points, such as nuances of language when there are two equal options, also helped. But I don't identify question types or have a systematic way of doing them. I just do them.)

Is there any hope for me on LG? Every time I think I have techniques nailed, I get hit with what seems to be a new kind of game. Lately the "games" games have been a bitch, you know the ones where you have to change a word three times, and you can change it one of three ways, etc. Are you supposed to diagram them somehow? What book has a good technique on that? Also, the grouping games. I read the LG bible on it, but I still take 12-14 minutes a game. Can I hope that practice alone will help?

The economy being what it is, and myself being married with kids in Jersey, my hope is that I can get into Columbia or Penn, or else get money from Rutgers. I can't swing it any other way. Does it sound like I have any hope? (3.85 pre-lsdas adjustment, from a crappy school).

And if I'm overly delusional or overly despairing, forgive me, and just help a dude out.

[James2010]

Taking sections is a good way to practice but to really experience the test you need to do at least some full tests realisitically timed. You've got 3 monthes - plenty of time to prep properly.

If you go on Amazon.com and search lsat prep you can buy real tests released by the LSAC that you can use to prep. There are companies like Cambridge prep who will also sell you PDFs - buy the most recent tests - they are more likely to be similiar to what you will experience on test day.

As far as games go - they are of fairly uniform types (and there are various types of hybrids which combined multiple types). I would recommend Powerscores' Logic Games bible - its the best thing you can do on your own.

Logic Games are hard for some people (me included) but you can get better and if you are lucky enough to be good at the other sections you can still get a good score without ever becoming stellar at games.


Good luck!

[delusional]

Taking sections is a good way to practice but to really experience the test you need to do at least some full tests realisitically timed. You've got 3 monthes - plenty of time to prep properly.

If you go on Amazon.com and search lsat prep you can buy real tests released by the LSAC that you can use to prep. There are companies like Cambridge prep who will also sell you PDFs - buy the most recent tests - they are more likely to be similiar to what you will experience on test day.

As far as games go - they are of fairly uniform types (and there are various types of hybrids which combined multiple types). I would recommend Powerscores' Logic Games bible - its the best thing you can do on your own.

Logic Games are hard for some people (me included) but you can get better and if you are lucky enough to be good at the other sections you can still get a good score without ever becoming stellar at games.


Good luck!

Thank you. I have the LG Bible, and I learned early on that the LSAC games are the most reliable way to practice. I'm worried because I have already read the LG Bible on grouping games, and I still need to improve.

Also, I am limited geographically, because of my family/financial situation. My options just by default are really great schools Like UPenn and Columbia and then school that are well into the second tier range. I can't afford to play games like "50% of people with my score get in" because I only have a 2-3 schools (and NYU HATES my school for some reason); the odds are not enough. I figure I need to have a realistic shot at high 170s to make it reasonable. Otherwise, my options will be to get lucky at Penn or Columbia, or go to Rutgers.

[libertarian]

.

[nillumin]

Well, I've been browsing the immensely helpful forums on TLS for a few weeks now. They've been great to me because I'm not in school, or surrounded by people with similar lawyerly aspirations, so thank you all for that.

I'm 30 and I've been working for 5 years or so, and a few factors combined to give me a wake up call, so now I'm dreaming of law school/law career. I vacillate between being delusional about my chances and despairing about them. So bear with me please.

I've signed up for the October LSAT, and I've been prepping accordingly. I have a lot of trouble finding the time for full preptests, so I've been doing sections. I started out getting 2/3 wrong per LR and RC section, but LG (AR)was a total mystery to me. Now, I've completed a few consecutive perfect sections in LR and RC, and I guess I've improved in LG but I can usually only finish 16-20 of them in the allotted time.

Here are some questions:
Can I assume that I'm relatively safe on RC and LR, and focus mainly on LG? Or from y'alls experience will that come back to bite me in a tender place? (I find that I don't use much technique on the LR. I picked up on identifying the assumption from the LR Bible and that was the big breakthrough. A few smaller points, such as nuances of language when there are two equal options, also helped. But I don't identify question types or have a systematic way of doing them. I just do them.)

Is there any hope for me on LG? Every time I think I have techniques nailed, I get hit with what seems to be a new kind of game. Lately the "games" games have been a bitch, you know the ones where you have to change a word three times, and you can change it one of three ways, etc. Are you supposed to diagram them somehow? What book has a good technique on that? Also, the grouping games. I read the LG bible on it, but I still take 12-14 minutes a game. Can I hope that practice alone will help?

The economy being what it is, and myself being married with kids in Jersey, my hope is that I can get into Columbia or Penn, or else get money from Rutgers. I can't swing it any other way. Does it sound like I have any hope? (3.85 pre-lsdas adjustment, from a crappy school).

And if I'm overly delusional or overly despairing, forgive me, and just help a dude out.

Not sure where exactly you are in jersey; I live in philly though, so I'm in a similar area. If you got into Penn that would be great, but could be a daunting task. Your GPA is solid though, so with an awesome LSAT you could maybe find you way in there....

Rutgers-Camden/Temple are also good schools you should consider as they are reputable for this area and are top 100 and despite what some people say, there are many successful lawyers that come from those 2 schools, so don't count them out.

As for LSAT preparation, I took June and was disappointed with my score; like you, working full-time/part-time I didn't seem to have time for full-practice tests and did a lot of "section" tests. Definitley AVOID this as much as possible. It's not like the real test at all, I would say you can do these section tests for the logic games as you get better at them, but definitely find time at least by August I'd say to start taking one full practice test a week. Purchase the newer ones too (after 38). *The logic games bible will definitely help you with the games (it helped me get pretty good). I'm envious of your natural LR ability, I can't wrap my accounting-natured mind around them as of yet. Good luck.

[delusional]

Not sure where exactly you are in jersey; I live in philly though, so I'm in a similar area. If you got into Penn that would be great, but could be a daunting task. Your GPA is solid though, so with an awesome LSAT you could maybe find you way in there....

Rutgers-Camden/Temple are also good schools you should consider as they are reputable for this area and are top 100 and despite what some people say, there are many successful lawyers that come from those 2 schools, so don't count them out.

As for LSAT preparation, I took June and was disappointed with my score; like you, working full-time/part-time I didn't seem to have time for full-practice tests and did a lot of "section" tests. Definitley AVOID this as much as possible. It's not like the real test at all, I would say you can do these section tests for the logic games as you get better at them, but definitely find time at least by August I'd say to start taking one full practice test a week. Purchase the newer ones too (after 38). *The logic games bible will definitely help you with the games (it helped me get pretty good). I'm envious of your natural LR ability, I can't wrap my accounting-natured mind around them as of yet. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice and support. Rutgers is my plan B. I'm worried because I don't really have any "reasonable" schools. Penn and Columbia are reaches, and Rutgers is a safety. Maybe Fordham would be reasonable, but even that may be a reach if I can't straighten out LG. For the long term, I hope you're right about Rutgers/Temple. I simply can't afford to not work for three years, and then not get a job off of it.

[sumus romani]

One thing that you need to keep in mind is financial aid; and not merely focus on admissions. You might, say, qualify for a huge scholarship at Fordham, yet be rejected at NYU, Col., and Penn. For example, if you get a 166, this might very well be the case. So, try to think less in terms of admission to schools, and more in terms of cost at schools and the overall debt burden that you would have upon graduating from schools. Basically, you have to look at what sorts of job you will likely get from a school, and then square it with overall debt burden. If the numbers don't match up, then just don't attend.

Also, depending on your situation, you might want to hide your geographical limitation from schools, or you might want to focus on it. It depends on your numbers relative to the school's.