Excuse me for this question... Forum

[Helicio]

I tried to use search, as I'm sure the question has been asked before, but I suck with search so here I am.

I'm a rising junior: when should I take the LSAT? Most people seem to take it in June, but I have the whole summer off from now until school begins. Should I study hardcore this summer and get it out of the way in the October test?

Thanks guys,

Helicio

[glitter178]

If you actually study the whole summer, and feel you have maximized your potential by then, then yes.

[BU2013]

It only takes a month or two to study for the LSAT, people on this site are often a little overzealous in their approach. Take it in October, retake in June if you have to.

[glitter178]

It only takes a month or two to study for the LSAT, people on this site are often a little overzealous in their approach. Take it in October, retake in June if you have to.

i don't necessarily think that's true. OP didn't mention a score goal, a diagnostic, or how much he/ she has prepared already, if at all. different people will require different levels of preparation.

[tourdeforcex]

i think if you have your summer open, study hard this summer, take october. and worst case, you still have june for back up.

but really give it all you can. no need to take it twice.

[delusional]

It only takes a month or two to study for the LSAT, people on this site are often a little overzealous in their approach. Take it in October, retake in June if you have to.

If you like 165s and TTTs, that is.

[bport hopeful]

It only takes a month or two to study for the LSAT, people on this site are often a little overzealous in their approach. Take it in October, retake in June if you have to.

If you like 165s and TTTs, that is.

Describing 93% of the LSAT taking community (which would generally be considered in the upper echelon of the population) as third rate makes you a dick. Enjoy your loveless, emotionally unfulfilled life, dick.

[incompetentia]

Yeah, it really depends on your starting point and your goal.


I wasn't looking for a 25-point jump, so I spent 5-6 weeks studying (went +12 on test day from cold diag). An entire summer is probably a decent amount of time spent for an increase of closer to 20 points, as long as you study intelligently and efficiently.

Do you have a cold diag score yet?

[bport hopeful]

Yeah it definitely depends on the person. I studied on my lunch break for like fifteen minutes for like a month after my Kaplan class which I never did work outside of class for. I saw a nine point jump from my diagnostic (though I had a massive fuck up that ruined my score). IMO, two or three months of serious study is plenty of time.

Then again, I didnt score phenomenally.

[delusional]

It only takes a month or two to study for the LSAT, people on this site are often a little overzealous in their approach. Take it in October, retake in June if you have to.

If you like 165s and TTTs, that is.

Describing 93% of the LSAT taking community (which would generally be considered in the upper echelon of the population) as third rate makes you a dick. Enjoy your loveless, emotionally unfulfilled life, dick.

All the studying in the world won't help you if that's the conclusion you drew from my comment.

I have no problem with anyone actually having a 165 and planning to attend schools that are in that range. But for people beginning to study, setting their goals low is a. a recipe for disaster if they underperform their goals, and b. possibly selling themselves short, when with a little more effort in the planning stage, they could have gotten exponentially better results upon graduation.

This doesn't only apply to 179/Yale/Clerkship/Models-Bottles. It means having more, better options. OP is welcome to glean whatever he wants from the various opinions on the board. This is mine.

[cinefile 17]

My two cents: I think, ideally, you should study until you are SURE your practice score cannot be higher. This means either until you are scoring 178+ on the majority of your practice tests or until your score has risen 10+ points and you have been in the same score range for over a month.

[Helicio]

Thanks for the responses guys. I do have a diagnostic; I scored a 169 on a test I took a week ago. The thing is, I didn't time myself (I even took the Logic Games part while drinking a coffee at Barnes and Noble).

I want to try and get my score up as much as possible, and am hoping to score in the 175 range, so I guess I better start studying. I definitely need to take a real diagnostic under real conditions though, ASAP.

Again, thanks for the advice everyone!

[bport hopeful]

All the studying in the world won't help you if that's the conclusion you drew from my comment.

I have no problem with anyone actually having a 165 and planning to attend schools that are in that range. But for people beginning to study, setting their goals low is a. a recipe for disaster if they underperform their goals, and b. possibly selling themselves short, when with a little more effort in the planning stage, they could have gotten exponentially better results upon graduation.

This doesn't only apply to 179/Yale/Clerkship/Models-Bottles. It means having more, better options. OP is welcome to glean whatever he wants from the various opinions on the board. This is mine.

haha sick dude. Thats not what you said you pretentious a-hole. You grouped 165's and TTT. Youre a penis.

[bport hopeful]

Thanks for the responses guys. I do have a diagnostic; I scored a 169 on a test I took a week ago. The thing is, I didn't time myself (I even took the Logic Games part while drinking a coffee at Barnes and Noble).

I want to try and get my score up as much as possible, and am hoping to score in the 175 range, so I guess I better start studying. I definitely need to take a real diagnostic under real conditions though, ASAP.

Again, thanks for the advice everyone!

Hate to break this to you man, but an untimed score will be drastically lower. I scored a 166 on the real deal, if I hadnt timed myself I would have had a 180. The problem with the test is the time you are given.

[Curry]

haha sick dude. Thats not what you said you pretentious a-hole. You grouped 165's and TTT. Youre a penis.

Ohai fifth grade. I missed you.

[Helicio]

Thanks for the responses guys. I do have a diagnostic; I scored a 169 on a test I took a week ago. The thing is, I didn't time myself (I even took the Logic Games part while drinking a coffee at Barnes and Noble).

I want to try and get my score up as much as possible, and am hoping to score in the 175 range, so I guess I better start studying. I definitely need to take a real diagnostic under real conditions though, ASAP.

Again, thanks for the advice everyone!

Hate to break this to you man, but an untimed score will be drastically lower. I scored a 166 on the real deal, if I hadnt timed myself I would have had a 180. The problem with the test is the time you are given.

Ah, I'm aware of this.
This is my diagnostic, though, and since I'm a rising junior in UG I'm not worried. I just need to study my arse of and time myself. Grrr. Sometimes I wonder if taking it in October will be worth it. Hopefully the reduced stress (assuming I do well) when Senior year comes around will be worth it.

[bport hopeful]

I wouldnt go around this website calling an untimed test a diagnostic.

[Yeshia90]

If you're only a rising junior, there's no reason not to wait until next June. It's not like you'll be able to get your applications in before next August anyway, and doing a little practice here and there, then ramping up for a couple months next summer should be a solid strategy as long as you're not aiming for HYS. But what the hell do I know, I've been studying for this thing for all of 2 months and I'm taking it in a week and a half. Clearly my approach differs from that of much of the TLS community.

[JoeFish]

I'd say that if you aren't really doing anything this summer, then go ahead and put some hours towards studying. You say you scored a 169 on an untimed test... see what you get on a timed test - say, 165 - and then try to get that up past maybe 174 by the beginning of school. If you can do that and you feel like you're maxing, then I'd say there's absolutely no negative to taking the test in October, as long as you can find time in the first month of school to keep up the LSAT studying and keep your score up. It'll be nicer to not have to study for it in April and May, which were generally the two most stressful months of the undergrad year, if only because it was when I least felt like doing work and most felt like going outside to frolic amongst the tanning bikini girls. Or what you will.

Might as well take it early; I didn't decide I wanted to do law school until August of my senior year; I took the Oct test and ended up getting my apps in around January 15th. I wasn't really looking for T14, but I'd've had a better shot at the one I applied to, and maybe could've tried for a few and/or more money at, say, 16-20 range, if I would've applied earlier.

[incompetentia]

A timed score is much more useful than an untimed score. My untimed first test was also in the high 160s, but that only tells you if you can understand the concepts.


This is still only one part of what the LSAT really tests, unfortunately...

[Helicio]

Personally I think the whole idea of the LSAT is kind of stupid. But I know people are going to disagree with me, so time to suck it up and just study .

Again, thanks for all the answers guys. Apologies if it looks like I was trying to say my untimed score equals a diagnostic; I don't think that at all, and I tried to make it clear.

[mattviphky]

Haha I don't disagree with you, but yeah, it's LSAC's world and we just live in it.

[bport hopeful]

You say you scored a 169 on an untimed test... see what you get on a timed test - say, 165

not a chance

[Yeshia90]

You say you scored a 169 on an untimed test... see what you get on a timed test - say, 165

not a chance

Honestly, I'm not sure it's that far off. When I took my first timed diagnostic, I finished earlier then I do now that I've learned how to map questions--if you don't get a tougher question at first, you don't have the tools to work your way through, so you'll just guess and bail and move on. And on the easy questions, you'll just throw an answer up because it seems right, rather than mapping it through, and making sure that you've picked the correct answer. I'm not sure how my experience compares, but I think I've probably taken more time on most questions, not less, after studying for the test.

[unc0mm0n1]

haha sick dude. Thats not what you said you pretentious a-hole. You grouped 165's and TTT. Youre a penis.

Ohai fifth grade. I missed you.

yeah because you never made it that far right?