Top Law Schools

Hey,

I plan on studying and taking the LSAT at a later date. I came across a law school fair on campus and a few places giving prep courses are offering free sample exams (taking them under test conditions as well).

This test is happening on campus in a few weeks. Based on your experiences, would you recommend I take this test as a diagnostic to see how it is? Or would it be stupid to do so?

I've heard pros and cons about using an LSAT sample test as a diagnostic without studying first.

For those who say it would be beneficial, what study recommendations would you give for the few weeks before taking the diagnostic?

Any feedback is much appreciated! Thanks!!

.

I don't recommend taking a cold full length diagnostic. There is really no point in doing so. Best case- you do very well and then maybe slack on studying. Worst case- you do very poorly and set your improvement goals too low.

This post sums it up perfectly: http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/fr ... tests.html

But even more importantly: most of the prep companies only allow you to take one free proctored test with them. I took advantage of this near then end of my studying. I signed up for 3 different prep companies' free proctored exams and used them to get comfortable with testing conditions the month leading up to my real test. This definitely helped me figure out my morning routine, timing strategies, dealing with distractions, etc. It was so helpful, there's no way I would recommend using them up before you've studied!

caminante wrote:I don't recommend taking a cold full length diagnostic. There is really no point in doing so. Best case- you do very well and then maybe slack on studying. Worst case- you do very poorly and set your improvement goals too low.

This post sums it up perfectly: http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/fr ... tests.html

But even more importantly: most of the prep companies only allow you to take one free proctored test with them. I took advantage of this near then end of my studying. I signed up for 3 different prep companies' free proctored exams and used them to get comfortable with testing conditions the month leading up to my real test. This definitely helped me figure out my morning routine, timing strategies, dealing with distractions, etc. It was so helpful, there's no way I would recommend using them up before you've studied!

While I agree with what you're generally saying, how can you track your progress if you don't know where you started? I say take it. Maybe not from a company, but take a PT before you start studying. Just make sure you don't settle. Go into this thing with a goal of 180.

egirarde wrote:

caminante wrote:I don't recommend taking a cold full length diagnostic. There is really no point in doing so. Best case- you do very well and then maybe slack on studying. Worst case- you do very poorly and set your improvement goals too low.

This post sums it up perfectly: http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/fr ... tests.html

But even more importantly: most of the prep companies only allow you to take one free proctored test with them. I took advantage of this near then end of my studying. I signed up for 3 different prep companies' free proctored exams and used them to get comfortable with testing conditions the month leading up to my real test. This definitely helped me figure out my morning routine, timing strategies, dealing with distractions, etc. It was so helpful, there's no way I would recommend using them up before you've studied!

While I agree with what you're generally saying, how can you track your progress if you don't know where you started? I say take it. Maybe not from a company, but take a PT before you start studying. Just make sure you don't settle. Go into this thing with a goal of 180.

Idk I took a diagnostic 100% cold (didn't even know what a logic game was) and one after like 10 hours of studying... I considered my second one to be more realistic. Unless you want to track a huge improvement at the very start of studying...

ThreeRivers wrote:

egirarde wrote:

caminante wrote:I don't recommend taking a cold full length diagnostic. There is really no point in doing so. Best case- you do very well and then maybe slack on studying. Worst case- you do very poorly and set your improvement goals too low.

This post sums it up perfectly: http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/fr ... tests.html

But even more importantly: most of the prep companies only allow you to take one free proctored test with them. I took advantage of this near then end of my studying. I signed up for 3 different prep companies' free proctored exams and used them to get comfortable with testing conditions the month leading up to my real test. This definitely helped me figure out my morning routine, timing strategies, dealing with distractions, etc. It was so helpful, there's no way I would recommend using them up before you've studied!

While I agree with what you're generally saying, how can you track your progress if you don't know where you started? I say take it. Maybe not from a company, but take a PT before you start studying. Just make sure you don't settle. Go into this thing with a goal of 180.

Idk I took a diagnostic 100% cold (didn't even know what a logic game was) and one after like 10 hours of studying... I considered my second one to be more realistic. Unless you want to track a huge improvement at the very start of studying...

Good point. My first one without ever seeing the material was in the 140s... Hit 170 on a practice test a few weeks ago. Either way, the point is take one early on. After that, don't waste practice tests until you get the basics. Good luck!

caminante wrote: But even more importantly: most of the prep companies only allow you to take one free proctored test with them. I took advantage of this near then end of my studying. I signed up for 3 different prep companies' free proctored exams and used them to get comfortable with testing conditions the month leading up to my real test. This definitely helped me figure out my morning routine, timing strategies, dealing with distractions, etc. It was so helpful, there's no way I would recommend using them up before you've studied!

This is great advice, I wish I'd done something similar. Be careful with those though, as you really have no way of knowing whether you've already done their proctored PT, without calling ahead.

I actually think that taking a cold PT as a diagnostic is a great idea, and I'm glad that I did. I understand the argument that you'll discourage yourself or get lazy, but ultimately you're in total control of your mindset regardless of what score you get on the diagnostic. It WOULD be a total waste to take your first full-length PT under testing conditions like those that the prep companies are offering, though. Like caminante said, hold off on that until you'll really benefit.

On another note, be sure to get details about special deals that are often only offered at law school fairs. At my UG's law fair, TM was offering 50% off a live course to students who could correctly answer a specific LR question at their booth, so keep an eye out.