Do LS care how much you study for LSAT? Forum

[Dixi]

I’ve heard that some law schools ask how much time applicants spend studying for the LSAT. What schools do this and how do they evaluate their responses? Let’s say applicant A and B have the same LSAT score, GPA, softs etc. and that a particular law school only has a spot for one of them. Applicant A says he studied for 2 weeks whereas applicant B says he studied for 6 months. Will law schools choose applicant A based on the assumption that A is smarter or will addcomms assume B is more committed and dedicated and choose him?

The above scenario is, of course, purely hypothetical. That does not, however, make the question less interesting. Even if law schools don’t ask how much time you spent studying for the LSAT they might assume that a person who only took one or two classes the semester leading up to the LSAT had more time to prepare compared to a person who took a full course load and hence “expect” him to get a higher score. Having said that, if person B in the example got 1 point more on his LSAT than person A it wouldn’t matter how much longer he studied for, correct?

I realize that I am over-analyzing this, but I’m actually quite interested in knowing to what extent addcomms care about the amount of time you spend studying for the LSAT.

[ziggie]

I’ve heard that some law schools ask how much time applicants spend studying for the LSAT. What schools do this and how do they evaluate their responses? Let’s say applicant A and B have the same LSAT score, GPA, softs etc. and that a particular law school only has a spot for one of them. Applicant A says he studied for 2 weeks whereas applicant B says he studied for 6 months. Will law schools choose applicant A based on the assumption that A is smarter or will addcomms assume B is more committed and dedicated and choose him?

The above scenario is, of course, purely hypothetical. That does not, however, make the question less interesting. Even if law schools don’t ask how much time you spent studying for the LSAT they might assume that a person who only took one or two classes the semester leading up to the LSAT had more time to prepare compared to a person who took a full course load and hence “expect” him to get a higher score. Having said that, if person B in the example got 1 point more on his LSAT than person A it wouldn’t matter how much longer he studied for, correct?

I realize that I am over-analyzing this, but I’m actually quite interested in knowing to what extent addcomms care about the amount of time you spend studying for the LSAT.

I think Yale asks if you took a prep course, but I honestly don't know how that affects how they look at your score. I can see them obviously thinking that the guy who studied the least and got a high score is more naturally bright than the guy who had to study for a year, but at the same time taking a prep course could be seen as a positive in the sense that you cared enough about getting a high score that you planed ahead and worked hard to get it. Who knows.

[bport hopeful]

No they dont.