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do I need to prepare for it too? A week should be enough since it is not graded, right?
what happens if I do really bad on that section, for example, not finishing my essay or totally guiding it to a wrong direction?

You do not "prepare" for this section. Just write something coherent with good grammar and spelling and you are fine. It is a meaningless section that will receive a passing glance at most. Spending an entire day studying for the writing section would be a waste of time. Spending a week on it would be borderline insanity.

The prompts are set up so that if you follow them even loosely there should not be a "wrong" answer.


Write something coherent, and you won't have to worry about anything.

it's the worst section the exam. everyone just wants to go home. by this point your back and neck will be throbbing from hunching over your desk for 3 hours. even my proctors last time wanted to leave before the section was over and they probably would have let us go but one person took the full 35 minutes. I wrote for 20 minutes only because there would be nothing else to do if I didn't write.

Don't drool on the sheet and you should be fine.

Just pick one of the courses of action and point out why it will help meet the goals, and why the other won't.

When I was applying, if I recall correctly the WS isn't even sent to the schools unless they request it.

flcath wrote:When I was applying, if I recall correctly the WS isn't even sent to the schools unless they request it.

I heard it's on top of your application packet to every school you apply to. Where did you hear differently?

LockBox wrote:

flcath wrote:When I was applying, if I recall correctly the WS isn't even sent to the schools unless they request it.

I heard it's on top of your application packet to every school you apply to. Where did you hear differently?

When you apply, you can click on a .pdf of your application. It starts w/ a one-page coversheet produced by LSAC (LSAC's one real contribution to the application), which has your "vitals," your LSAT, your LSAC GPA, and your index formula for that particular school (the ax + by + c thing)... very old-school printout looking. Then it has the school's application, which is just a .pdf document with form spaces that you've filled out. Then it has your attached documents (resume and addenda).

The writing sample isn't included, which is what makes me strongly, strongly suspect that it isn't sent unless they ask for it.

The writing sample for every reported LSAT score you have on file is included in the LSAC CAS report every school you apply to receives.

The admission committees at most schools do not place much weight on it so it's not something to stress about or to spend a week working on. Just do a decent job following the prompt and write legibly.

The schools care much much more about your LSAT score.

I just went on and looked at what they send.

With the application, they only send the aforementioned materials, along w/ a coverpage that isn't the coversheet I was talking about; this one is useless, and just has like your name and LSAC #.

Later on, the school requests your CAS packet, which contains the writing sample (or samples; idk, I only took it once). This also has the coversheet to which I was referring.

Sorry about that. I still find it highly unlikely that they ever look at it at all (I was told upfront by the head adcomm at my UG that he doesn't read PS's the whole way through, and the WS seems even less important), and a week is ridiculous.

pick a side- stay on topic and try to answer the question and you will be fine. just dont draw a picture and you have nothing to worry about.

Dont even waste an hour prepping for it. You have a front and back of lined paper to write a short essay after you just took a 3 hour exam when you are mentally exhausted. As long as you stay on topic and dont do anything childish you will be allright.

Write something and when you are done make up your mind to cancel orkeep the score while its still fresh in your head.