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No. I would recommend you take the Oct. test at earliest. Get all three bibles and do at least 20 PTs (from #40 and onward). There is too much at stake that depends on your LSAT score to not study for it for at least a couple of months.

random68 wrote:Assuming I spend 12 hours/day studying

wat

12 hours a day of LSAT prep will burn you out quickly. Cognitive gains are much greater when preparation/studying is spread over a long period of time than when you rush and try to cram too much into a short period.

EDIT: 12 hours a day is insane.

I feel you'd need more time but it is different for everyone. Do you notice a gradual increase in your scores that you are happy with? What are you scoring and what's your realistic goal? I personally am shooting for that 176 and up but I am not taking it till December.

and yes the Bibles are amazing I saw a 10 point jump after using them check them out...

random68 wrote:In the last 2 days, I've done 3 practice tests and paged through the princeton review book (though I definitely felt like many of their strategies set you up for failure/didn't give you enough time to complete it). Did nothing prior to this.

Currently signed up for the June test.
Basically doing nothing but running and lsat prep up until the test day.
Assuming I spend 12 hours/day studying, am I giving myself enough time to adequately prepare? Or am I better off waiting until the next test date?
Have a banking internship over the summer starting mid June so I can't imagine I'll have all that much free time to study (if any at all).

Seems to me that your best bet is the December test, since those internships can be pretty exhausting. That means keep studying now (4 hours a day max) and all through the summer and fall. You should be good by Dec.

a

random68 wrote:

dpk711 wrote:No. I would recommend you take the Oct. test at earliest. Get all three bibles and do at least 20 PTs (from #40 and onward). There is too much at stake that depends on your LSAT score to not study for it for at least a couple of months.

Thanks for the quick responses.

Assuming my practice tests are in the desired range, at the time of the exam, would you still not recommend taking it?

I've pretty much spent my entire life cramming for tests and spent a combined total of 5 hours preparing for the SATs so this is completely new to me. Forgive me if I sound completely ignorant.

The few tests I've taken haven't been too far off from my desired goal. (initial was 160, raised it to 165 after going through the sections of the princeton review). Overall goal of 168 on the actual lsat. Should this factor in at all, or is this a definite no, no matter what the circumstances?

OP, I studied for the June 2010 LSAT for about 3 weeks. I took 5 total PTs, and scored in my desired range (170+) on the last 2 after going through a PR LG book. I ended up getting a 165 and being surprised. I retook after doing 4 months of study, just 1-2 PTs a week and sectional work, and got a 176. Just put in the time, dood.

random68 wrote:

dpk711 wrote:No. I would recommend you take the Oct. test at earliest. Get all three bibles and do at least 20 PTs (from #40 and onward). There is too much at stake that depends on your LSAT score to not study for it for at least a couple of months.

Thanks for the quick responses.

Assuming my practice tests are in the desired range, at the time of the exam, would you still not recommend taking it?

I've pretty much spent my entire life cramming for tests and spent a combined total of 5 hours preparing for the SATs so this is completely new to me. Forgive me if I sound completely ignorant.

The few tests I've taken haven't been too far off from my desired goal. (initial was 160, raised it to 165 after going through the sections of the princeton review). Overall goal of 168 on the actual lsat. Should this factor in at all, or is this a definite no, no matter what the circumstances?

No - more studying will at the very least make you more consistent - more likely you have have room to improve further. My initial diagnostic was 160- I eventually raised it to 167 (first time I took the test) then 174 (second time) my story is far from unique. Even if you are sure you want to go to a school with a mid 160s median and your GPA is solid for that school we are talking about a couple of extra months of studying in exchange for the possibility of tens of thousands of dollars off tuition or a higher ranked school. No LSAT score is "good enough" unless you are confident its the best you can do - considering the stakes and how learnable the test really is. 2 1/2 weeks cannot possibly be enough for you to be confident that you couldn't raise your score further (unless you are consistently in the high 170s). If you put in the time and take the LSAT in October you have a shot at changing your LSAT and your future dramatically.

random68 wrote:Assuming my practice tests are in the desired range, at the time of the exam, would you still not recommend taking it?

I've pretty much spent my entire life cramming for tests and spent a combined total of 5 hours preparing for the SATs so this is completely new to me. Forgive me if I sound completely ignorant.

The few tests I've taken haven't been too far off from my desired goal. (initial was 160, raised it to 166 after going through the sections of the princeton review). Overall goal of 168 on the actual lsat. Should this factor in at all, or is this a definite no, no matter what the circumstances?

If your practice test is in the desired range, I'd recommend that you take the June test. Banking internships (referring to IBD & quant-heavy positions) will make it really difficult to squeeze in test prep time so you'd probably be at a similar level of preparation (if not worse) for the Oct test.

Your next solid shot at the LSAT would be in December, which is a bit late for apps.


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Edit: totally did not read the part where OP said "Did nothing prior to this." Sorry everyone. OP, you should be taking it in October.

You can easily get a 172+ if you are already in the 160s. Don't be impulsive. People with 172 get in off the Harvard waitlist. People with 168s can end up at a t-30 school, end up in the bottom-half, and have bad employment options, especially with the second economic downturn coming up after California, New York, Illinois, and the rest of the entitlement states start crashing into the ground.

glewz wrote:

random68 wrote:Assuming my practice tests are in the desired range, at the time of the exam, would you still not recommend taking it?

I've pretty much spent my entire life cramming for tests and spent a combined total of 5 hours preparing for the SATs so this is completely new to me. Forgive me if I sound completely ignorant.

The few tests I've taken haven't been too far off from my desired goal. (initial was 160, raised it to 166 after going through the sections of the princeton review). Overall goal of 168 on the actual lsat. Should this factor in at all, or is this a definite no, no matter what the circumstances?

If your practice test is in the desired range, I'd recommend that you take the June test. Banking internships (referring to IBD & quant-heavy positions) will make it really difficult to squeeze in test prep time so you'd probably be at a similar level of preparation (if not worse) for the Oct test.

Your next solid shot at the LSAT would be in December, which is a bit late for apps.

Disagree - I was studying with a 9-6 (had to stay until 8 a couple nights a week) - it can be done easily but it is tiring - totally worth it though. Do timed sections and untimed practice every night and a practice test every weekend. By October you definitely should have raised your score significantly if you go about it effectively

jtemp320 wrote:

glewz wrote:If your practice test is in the desired range, I'd recommend that you take the June test. Banking internships (referring to IBD & quant-heavy positions) will make it really difficult to squeeze in test prep time so you'd probably be at a similar level of preparation (if not worse) for the Oct test.

Your next solid shot at the LSAT would be in December, which is a bit late for apps.

Disagree - I was studying with a 9-6 (had to stay until 8 a couple nights a week) - it can be done easily but it is tiring - totally worth it though. Do timed sections and untimed practice every night and a practice test every weekend. By October you definitely should have raised your score significantly if you go about it effectively

Not saying that it's impossible to study while working in banking (which often have worse hours than 9-6), but I don't see why OP shouldn't take the June test if his/her scores reach a target goal.


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Edit: totally did not read the part where OP said "Did nothing prior to this."


Sorry crumpet (and everyone else)

jtemp320 wrote:
Disagree - I was studying with a 9-6 (had to stay until 8 a couple nights a week) - it can be done easily but it is tiring - totally worth it though. Do timed sections and untimed practice every night and a practice test every weekend. By October you definitely should have raised your score significantly if you go about it effectively

Unfortunately, the hours will be far from 9-6. To be honest, I'd be absolutely thrilled if I got out at 8. Was told by hr to expect 80+ hours/week.

I have no problem putting in the extra time.
Truth be told, the only reason why I was looking at the June test date rather than the October or Dec. was because I had initially hoped to take the GREs as well, sometime before Dec. as well. My main focus is on the GREs and the LSATs and law school are more of a backup in case I don't get into a desirable program.

glewz wrote:If your practice test is in the desired range, I'd recommend that you take the June test. Banking internships (referring to IBD & quant-heavy positions) will make it really difficult to squeeze in test prep time so you'd probably be at a similar level of preparation (if not worse) for the Oct test.

Your next solid shot at the LSAT would be in December, which is a bit late for apps.

This is not entirely good advice. Even if you're 'PTing in your desired range' (which you likely won't be, unless you're starting out very close to your desired range), you'll be cramming a LOT of info into a short amt of time, which will lead to a) burnout and b) inconsistent/unrepresentative PT scores.

Even with far less hours/day in the summer, you will see higher gains by spreading things out. Think about it--12 hours a day for 15 days = 180 hours, and that's if you spend EVERY SINGLE HOUR studying hardcore. On the other hand, you could devote an average of 12 hours a week for 15 weeks (about the amt of time you have until the october test) and get the same amount of prep in.

12 hours a week is less than 2 hours a day, including weekends. That is not a super-intense commitment, especially when you consider that the 2.5 week option means you'll be studying most of the hours that you're awake. :\ It's highly likely you'll be able to put in MORE than 12 hours a week, which means that you'll be getting more rest, more prep, and more consistent results, without the burnout that comes with your initial plan. On top of that, those 12+ hours will be quality studying (because let's face it, no one can be 100% productive 12 hours a day for 15 days straight).

That's my 2c, anyway. FWIW, I'm working full time right now and studying for the june LSAT, and have been since the beginning of this calendar year, basically.

ITT: Crumpets proves Bruce Wayne (and literally every other human being around) wrong by showing she does in fact have a brain.

Curry wrote:ITT: Crumpets proves...she does in fact have a brain.

Curry wrote:ITT: Crumpets proves Bruce Wayne (and literally every other human being around) wrong by showing she does in fact have a brain.

Hey Thirteen! Didn't recognize you over there behind the crumpetsandtea alt.

crumpetsandtea wrote:

glewz wrote:If your practice test is in the desired range, I'd recommend that you take the June test. Banking internships (referring to IBD & quant-heavy positions) will make it really difficult to squeeze in test prep time so you'd probably be at a similar level of preparation (if not worse) for the Oct test.

Your next solid shot at the LSAT would be in December, which is a bit late for apps.

This is not entirely good advice. Even if you're 'PTing in your desired range' (which you likely won't be, unless you're starting out very close to your desired range), you'll be cramming a LOT of info into a short amt of time, which will lead to a) burnout and b) inconsistent/unrepresentative PT scores.

Even with far less hours/day in the summer, you will see higher gains by spreading things out. Think about it--12 hours a day for 15 days = 180 hours, and that's if you spend EVERY SINGLE HOUR studying hardcore. On the other hand, you could devote an average of 12 hours a week for 15 weeks (about the amt of time you have until the october test) and get the same amount of prep in.

12 hours a week is less than 2 hours a day, including weekends. That is not a super-intense commitment, especially when you consider that the 2.5 week option means you'll be studying most of the hours that you're awake. :\ It's highly likely you'll be able to put in MORE than 12 hours a week, which means that you'll be getting more rest, more prep, and more consistent results, without the burnout that comes with your initial plan. On top of that, those 12+ hours will be quality studying (because let's face it, no one can be 100% productive 12 hours a day for 15 days straight).

That's my 2c, anyway. FWIW, I'm working full time right now and studying for the june LSAT, and have been since the beginning of this calendar year, basically.

I actually believe in studying hardcore for a few months - making my commitment to the LSAT the equivalent to a full-time job paid off in a many ways: memory retention, constant focus on my strengths & weaknesses, no burnout. Sure, spreading out 12 hrs per week for a summer makes it even less likely for a person to burn out, but I think that working extremely hard for a small duration of time has enormous benefits.

Also, I don't think my advice would necessarily yield inconsistent/unrepresentative PT scores...duno where that came from.

It seems that we hold some different view points, both of which have strengths and weaknesses - OP does need to evaluate which is the more suitable for him/her...perhaps consider his/her application cycle and whether dedicating many hours per week is really going to happen this summer.

Ideally OP, you'd want to get as far as you can, score-wise, by studying extremely hard until the June test. If the doesn't go as expected, first take a break and then take a few tests every week (review them intensely) until October.



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Edit: totally did not read the part where OP said "Did nothing prior to this."


Sorry crumpet (and everyone else)

glewz wrote:I actually believe in studying hardcore for a few months

Then we agree. The problem is, OP doesn't have 'a few months' for June--s/he has 2.5 weeks, a little over half a month. On the other hand, OP DOES have 'a few months' for October (June, July, August, September).

glewz wrote:Also, I don't think my advice would necessarily yield inconsistent/unrepresentative PT scores...duno where that came from.

Again, I'm speaking in relation to cramming for 2.5 weeks...studying hardcore over 2-3 months would be less inconsistent, but again...OP doesn't have 2-3 months for June. Hence my suggestion that s/he wait until October.

glewz wrote:Edit: Ideally OP, you'd want to get as far as you can, score-wise, by studying extremely hard until the June test. If the doesn't go as expected, first take a break and then take a few tests every week (review them intensely) until October.

Agreed, but I don't know that 2 weeks is going to yield any significant results, unless the OP is going into this with absolutely no clue of what the LSAT is even about (sharp learning curve if you pound through the Bibles, esp RE: LG). And even then, s/he probably won't be at the ideal score stage, especially if the starting point was particularly low.


Oh, and as an aside--dude, OP, if you're not planning on law school as your #1, don't waste your time studying for the LSATs first. Spend your time studying for your GREs, which presumably is what you ACTUALLY want to do. Going into LS as a 'back up plan' is never really a good idea, as far as I can tell.

Oh Shoot - I totally did not read the part where OP said "Did nothing prior to this."


Sorry crumpet (and everyone else). OP, take it in October, unless you can already consistently hit your target score.