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Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:02 pm
by tomjennings
I am currently in my first year of college, and I am already thinking about law school, as I have been for many years. I want to score high enough on the LSAT, whenever I should take it, to be competitive for admission into the best law schools in the country. My concern is that if I start practicing and studying now for the LSAT, with my unpolished mind, I might feel overwhelmed or overburdened. But I still think that it would be useful to get acclimated to the LSAT while most prospective Ivy League law students still do not even know what the LSAT is. Should I start buying hundreds of dollars worth of prep materials or wait a few years?
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:04 pm
by bk1
Wait.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:09 pm
by jamesireland
I think most people will advise that you wait until 6 months - 1 year before the test to start prepping. This is almost certainly enough time, but I don't think it can hurt to start earlier - provided you don't prep early, then quit until the test.
I'd say the best possible prep would be to spend 6 months doing fairly normal prep early on in your college career, and then try to find a job tutoring the test/teaching classes (this assumes that you will get good enough at the test and have the time to work). That would be a great way to keep the material fresh, and I find that teaching things helps with understanding immensely.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:10 pm
by 09042014
jamesireland wrote:I think most people will advise that you wait until 6 months - 1 year before the test to start prepping. This is almost certainly enough time, but I don't think it can hurt to start earlier - provided you don't prep early, then quit until the test.
I'd say the best possible prep would be to spend 6 months doing fairly normal prep early on in your college career, and then try to find a job tutoring the test/teaching classes (this assumes that you will get good enough at the test and have the time to work). That would be a great way to keep the material fresh, and I find that teaching things helps with understanding immensely.
1 year? Maybe if you have down syndrome.
Anything more than 3 months is overkill.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:13 pm
by snailio
bk187 wrote:Wait.
^ This, you can start reading the economist if you want to sharpen your RC skillz, other than that relax and concentrate on your undergrad GPA.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:17 pm
by Bildungsroman
LSAT prep should not exceed a few months. Wait.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:22 pm
by KeepitKind
Desert Fox wrote:jamesireland wrote:I think most people will advise that you wait until 6 months - 1 year before the test to start prepping. This is almost certainly enough time, but I don't think it can hurt to start earlier - provided you don't prep early, then quit until the test.
I'd say the best possible prep would be to spend 6 months doing fairly normal prep early on in your college career, and then try to find a job tutoring the test/teaching classes (this assumes that you will get good enough at the test and have the time to work). That would be a great way to keep the material fresh, and I find that teaching things helps with understanding immensely.
1 year? Maybe if you have down syndrome.
Anything more than 3 months is overkill.
maybe if u gave it a little more preptime, DF, you wouldn't have to attend Northwestern.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:22 pm
by 09042014
KeepitKind wrote:Desert Fox wrote:jamesireland wrote:I think most people will advise that you wait until 6 months - 1 year before the test to start prepping. This is almost certainly enough time, but I don't think it can hurt to start earlier - provided you don't prep early, then quit until the test.
I'd say the best possible prep would be to spend 6 months doing fairly normal prep early on in your college career, and then try to find a job tutoring the test/teaching classes (this assumes that you will get good enough at the test and have the time to work). That would be a great way to keep the material fresh, and I find that teaching things helps with understanding immensely.
1 year? Maybe if you have down syndrome.
Anything more than 3 months is overkill.
maybe if u gave it a little more preptime, DF, you wouldn't have to attend Northwestern.
Nah, if I wasn't a lazy dipshit in undergrad. I had a Yale worthy LSAT, but a Cooley worth GPA.
And it's spelled NorthwesTTTern.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:28 pm
by KeepitKind
Desert Fox wrote:KeepitKind wrote:Desert Fox wrote:jamesireland wrote:I think most people will advise that you wait until 6 months - 1 year before the test to start prepping. This is almost certainly enough time, but I don't think it can hurt to start earlier - provided you don't prep early, then quit until the test.
I'd say the best possible prep would be to spend 6 months doing fairly normal prep early on in your college career, and then try to find a job tutoring the test/teaching classes (this assumes that you will get good enough at the test and have the time to work). That would be a great way to keep the material fresh, and I find that teaching things helps with understanding immensely.
1 year? Maybe if you have down syndrome.
Anything more than 3 months is overkill.
maybe if u gave it a little more preptime, DF, you wouldn't have to attend Northwestern.
Nah, if I wasn't a lazy dipshit in undergrad. I had a Yale worthy LSAT, but a Cooley worth GPA.
And it's spelled NorthwesTTTern.
Well I'd say that's good adivce for the OP right there. In Undergrad i, as well, had no sense of the value of a developing a good work ethic and challenging yourself. Instead, I was mostly interested in how many nights out of the week I could find drinking buddies.
OP- enjoy college to it's fullest, but remember it may be the last chance you have to develop yourself on your own time. (b/c there will be a dangerous amount of your own time)
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:31 pm
by 09042014
And lets be honest. Unless you are doing science, math, or engineering you can fool around most of the time and still put in enough effort to get A's. And even if you are in science, math, or engineering, you can fool around A LOT of the time and still get A's.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:35 pm
by KeepitKind
it's true. basically, we all wish we were you, tomjennings.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:36 pm
by auntjulia
Keep your gpa up and take some logic courses. I read a good portion of an Intro to Logic textbook before I started my prep and I think it helped.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:43 pm
by kahechsof
I personally think it makes no sense to structure your life as planning to go to law school, when you have no idea if you will be able to get into a school worth going to (considering your ultimate plans).
If you only would go to a T14, then if you get below a 16- whatever, you should decide now what you will do instead. If this will impact what you would rather major in, shouldn't you know now? If your next best is to go to med school, shouldn't you know if you should be taking pre-med?
I took the LSAT 5 years before I went to law school.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:48 pm
by lovejopd
Only Think about your GPA until Senior
or
build up your academic relationship with your professors that could write the LOR in the future
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:28 pm
by American_in_China
If you enjoy puzzles, do the Logic games for fun. I still do them a month after my last test.
Read, a lot. Economist, good NYT articles, etc etc.
Get a good GPA- don't be me, the guy who could go Yale if he had a 3.7 (179). Although I still stand a good shot at many great schools, I'd be looking at full rides from NYU downward if I had a good GPA.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:46 pm
by bigtexmex
No. Enjoy being a freshman. Keep your grades up, but don't worry about law school just yet.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:40 pm
by qbt1990
Bildungsroman wrote:LSAT prep should not exceed a few months. Wait.
I disagree. Lots of people retake after a year of prepping and score 10-15 points higher.
However, I agree that freshman year is probably too early.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:43 pm
by tennisking88
No
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:51 pm
by buckilaw
Freshman year is too early to think about substantive LSAT prep. But, you can do other things that will help you prepare. Read the economist a few times a week, take a few philosophy classes, make sure your GPA is as high as possible, etc. The amount of prep time a person needs varies, it wouldn't' be a terrible idea to take a practice LSAT towards the tail end of your Sophomore year to get a feel for how much prep you will need because w/e the result you will have ample time to structure a study plan.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:06 pm
by Kring345
If it were me, I'd plan to take the October LSAT during the beginning of my junior year. I'd work a sweet ass job during the summer that gave me lots of time to study, and then I'd bust it out in October. That will give you wiggle room to retake if you blow it. Also, it'll give you an idea where the hell youre going to end up, because until you know your LSAT, you havent the faintest idea. It'd be nice going into senior year knowing that you already got a 170+ on the LSAT and already have a 3.8 GPA and all you need to do it maintain and start finding LORs.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:14 pm
by JamMasterJ
Desert Fox wrote:jamesireland wrote:I think most people will advise that you wait until 6 months - 1 year before the test to start prepping. This is almost certainly enough time, but I don't think it can hurt to start earlier - provided you don't prep early, then quit until the test.
I'd say the best possible prep would be to spend 6 months doing fairly normal prep early on in your college career, and then try to find a job tutoring the test/teaching classes (this assumes that you will get good enough at the test and have the time to work). That would be a great way to keep the material fresh, and I find that teaching things helps with understanding immensely.
1 year? Maybe if you have down syndrome.
Anything more than 3 months is overkill.
not true, but more than 6 definitely is
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 2:15 am
by 09042014
JamMasterJ wrote:Desert Fox wrote:jamesireland wrote:I think most people will advise that you wait until 6 months - 1 year before the test to start prepping. This is almost certainly enough time, but I don't think it can hurt to start earlier - provided you don't prep early, then quit until the test.
I'd say the best possible prep would be to spend 6 months doing fairly normal prep early on in your college career, and then try to find a job tutoring the test/teaching classes (this assumes that you will get good enough at the test and have the time to work). That would be a great way to keep the material fresh, and I find that teaching things helps with understanding immensely.
1 year?
Maybe if you have down syndrome.
Anything more than 3 months is overkill.
not true, but more than 6 definitely is
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 2:29 am
by MrPapagiorgio
snailio wrote:bk187 wrote:Wait.
^ This, you can start reading the economist if you want to sharpen your RC skillz, other than that relax and concentrate on your undergrad GPA and bang as many broads as you can.
FTFY
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 2:37 am
by Tom Joad
Switch to a science or engineering major so you can go to any T30 school that offers you a full ride, get median grades, get hired to do IP law, and laugh at us poli sci poors that can find a job above median at T14s.
Ah, to do undergrad all over again. I could seal so many deals I left unsealed.
Re: Should a Freshman Undergrad Be Preparing for This Already
Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 11:51 am
by ThreeRivers
I didn't even know what the LSAT was when I was a freshman lol
edit: Actually I take that back, I knew 2 seniors who took it....
They ended up in Liberty and Cleveland State though... lol