Is it common to take a prep class and never take the LSAT? Forum

[donzoli]

I personally know a few people who have paid the ~$1500 for a prep class and then never ended up taking the LSAT for one reason or another. I'm wondering how common this could actually be. I know someone who took the Kaplan MCAT class then took the MCAT but had the score cancelled at the end. The same person then took the Kaplan DAT prep class and took the DAT but was accepted to no dental schools. Finally, this person took the Manhattan GMAT prep over a year ago, but has never taken the GMAT

[fatduck]

it is not common

hth

[northwood]

sounds like that person has no idea what they want to do.


there are people who take the class, and realise that they cant get to an acceptable level, or life changes and going back to school is no longer a viable option. for those people, it doesnt matter if they take the test or not. ( some wont bother, because they know they arent performing well enough to get into a decent school). There were people in my class who ended up not taking the october test. some decided to pursue other interests, others realized that they werent performing where they needed to be. still others will decide they dont want to go into law( or business, or medical school), and will focus their attention on other career fields.

TLDR: its probably more common than you think.

[suspicious android]

I teach LSAT classes, and a good 5-10% of students drop out within a couple weeks, especially students older than 25 or so. I imagine a lot of them decide law school is not for them and don't take.

[donzoli]

One of my friends went through the whole Kaplan class, then signed up for the September exam. I guess he didn't feel prepared by the time of the exam, so he postponed it at least once, but maybe twice, I don't remember anymore. He never ended up taking it. Its hard to believe someone can put up that amount of money for the class, then more for the exam and then never take it. He didn't really have any good excuse either.

[holdencaulfield]

Everyone in my prep class took the LSAT, but at least 90% of them didn't go to lawschool.

[donzoli]

Everyone in my prep class took the LSAT, but at least 90% of them didn't go to lawschool.

At least 90%, damn! How many people were in your class and was there a specific reason or various personal reasons?

[holdencaulfield]

Everyone in my prep class took the LSAT, but at least 90% of them didn't go to lawschool.

At least 90%, damn! How many people were in your class and was there a specific reason or various personal reasons?

There were about 25 of us. I was the only person in my class that scored above 160. I think a lot of them re-thought law school when they struggled to hit the 150's.

It was funny, the first day everyone went around saying where the want to go to law school. A few said reasonable schools, but a lot of kids said Chicago, UT, Georgetown, Vandy, SMU, etc.

[donzoli]

I think a there are a good number of people who think that if they are paying good money like that for a class that all they need/should have to do is show up to the class and they will be told the "secrets" to scoring high.

[holdencaulfield]

I think a there are a good number of people who think that if they are paying good money like that for a class that all they need/should have to do is show up to the class and they will be told the "secrets" to scoring high.

Agreed. I am certain the class contributed much less to my score than the hours I spent studying every day. I am also certain many of the people in my class slacked hard core....especially the half-dozen frat guys.

[donzoli]

It sucks that it takes people $1500 and an LSAT class to realize they don't want to go to law school. I don't see how one realizes they don't want to do law school from an LSAT class unless they either believe that what is on the LSAT is similar to what is taught in law school, or they realize they cant focus enough to study for the LSAT, therefore they can't handle 3 years of intensive studying.

[fatduck]

It sucks that it takes people $1500 and an LSAT class to realize they don't want to go to law school. I don't see how one realizes they don't want to do law school from an LSAT class unless they either believe that what is on the LSAT is similar to what is taught in law school, or they realize they cant focus enough to study for the LSAT, therefore they can't handle 3 years of intensive studying.

better than 3 years and $200k in loans

[Stonewall]

There are better ways to burn cash then taking a class FYI

[HowdyYall]

It sucks that it takes people $1500 and an LSAT class to realize they don't want to go to law school. I don't see how one realizes they don't want to do law school from an LSAT class unless they either believe that what is on the LSAT is similar to what is taught in law school, or they realize they cant focus enough to study for the LSAT, therefore they can't handle 3 years of intensive studying.

yeah, but most of the same people are paying thousands of dollars to go to college (aka get drunk, skip class, and chase bitties)

[donzoli]

There are better ways to burn cash then taking a class FYI

Hookers and Blow

[HowdyYall]

There are better ways to burn cash then taking a class FYI

Hookers and Blow

says the guy with tiger woods avatar haha

[suspicious android]

It sucks that it takes people $1500 and an LSAT class to realize they don't want to go to law school. I don't see how one realizes they don't want to do law school from an LSAT class unless they either believe that what is on the LSAT is similar to what is taught in law school, or they realize they cant focus enough to study for the LSAT, therefore they can't handle 3 years of intensive studying.

Things students in LSAT classes commonly don't know:

The median LSAT score at any law school they're interested in attending.
What happens to law school students with a below median ls GPA outside top schools.
What "median" means.
That law school exams are curved and not everyone can do well.
How much smarter/diligent their competition in law school is than undergrad.
What a bimodal salary distribution is.

The answers to these questions sometimes come up in class or discussions with other students, and can be discouraging.

[bp colin]

I usually have students who end up not taking the LSAT. A lot of these people have no desire to go to law school but they're being pushed into the whole thing by their parents, who also pay for the LSAT class. Sooner or later these people realize that spending the best years of their 20s and a couple hundred grand on something they don't want to be doing is a pretty bad idea. Some of them figure this out before taking the LSAT. Some of them figure this out before enrolling in law school. And some don't.

[tomwatts]

The "postponement because I'm not ready for this test date becoming an indefinite postponement because I'm unbearably intimidated by the LSAT, thus I end up never taking it" phenomenon is more common than I ever would've thought before getting into teaching. It's just a test, but once people get nervous about it, sometimes they're ruined for life, at least with respect to their ability to take this test.

[donzoli]

I wonder if it worse for test like the GMAT where you can literally take it any time you want. At least the LSAT is only given a few times a year and the date is set to where you have a target date to try and be "ready" by. With the GMAT people just don't set a date because they know they can take it at whenever their "ready." They keep telling themselves I will just sign up when I'm finally ready. I think its rare to be fully "ready" for a standardized test, eventually you just have to bite the bullet.

[fatduck]

I wonder if it worse for test like the GMAT where you can literally take it any time you want. At least the LSAT is only given a few times a year and the date is set to where you have a target date to try and be "ready" by. With the GMAT people just don't set a date because they know they can take it at whenever their "ready." They keep telling themselves I will just sign up when I'm finally ready. I think its rare to be fully "ready" for a standardized test, eventually you just have to bite the bullet.

probably. i took the gmat and ended up not applying to business schools. didn't prep or anything, though.

[tomwatts]

I wonder if it worse for test like the GMAT where you can literally take it any time you want.

In my experience, yes.

[donzoli]

I teach LSAT classes, and a good 5-10% of students drop out within a couple weeks, especially students older than 25 or so. I imagine a lot of them decide law school is not for them and don't take.

There is no refund once one starts the classes is there?

[suspicious android]

There is no refund once one starts the classes is there?

lol

[paulinaporizkova]

There is no refund once one starts the classes is there?

lol

LSAT classes or law school classes?