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Hey all. I have a few questions. I know these have all been answered in some form somewhere, but the information is a bit scattered and is not necessarily specifically applicable to my situation.

1) Is there any advantage to taking the LSAT on a certain date? I recently talked to a law student who said it’s best to take the June LSAT as more underprepared people take it then, making the curve easier. I feel like he’s a bit misinformed, but can anyone confirm this in either direction?

2) Based on what I’ve read, I plan on getting the PS Bibles for all three sections, Manhattan LSAT Prep book, and the LSAC PT books. However, I’m still debating taking a class. I’d like to score above 170, preferable above 172-174 in order to beat the 75% percentile of some schools, since my GPA is a bit low. However, it seems like for these kinds of scores classes are almost useless, and my money would be better spent on more individual prep work.

3) Taking the above into consideration, I have basically no idea how well I’m going to actually do when I take the test. However, it seems fairly study able from what I’ve read. Is it as study-able as the people on this forum make it out to be? I read a lot about how the people here are top scoring elitists, but that’s pretty much what I plan to be. If I put in the time, is it really THAT study-able?

4) Last question, I promise. When should I take my first PT to determine my cold score? The LG section seems to be fundamentally different from the others, from what I’ve read, in that you actually diagram and stuff. I don’t want to go into it completely unprepared, because that would probably be a useless waste of a PT, but I don’t want to be too prepared either. I tend to work well when I’m under pressure and fearful of doing poorly.

Sorry these are so wordy, I tend to ramble a bit. But any insight would be great! Thanks!

Elivmar wrote:1) Is there any advantage to taking the LSAT on a certain date? I recently talked to a law student who said it’s best to take the June LSAT as more underprepared people take it then, making the curve easier. I feel like he’s a bit misinformed, but can anyone confirm this in either direction?

Take it when you're prepared - don't sweat the date issue.

Elivmar wrote:2) Based on what I’ve read, I plan on getting the PS Bibles for all three sections, Manhattan LSAT Prep book, and the LSAC PT books. However, I’m still debating taking a class. I’d like to score above 170, preferable above 172-174 in order to beat the 75% percentile of some schools, since my GPA is a bit low. However, it seems like for these kinds of scores classes are almost useless, and my money would be better spent on more individual prep work.

Some classes are better than others at challenging stronger students. I'd see if you can attend a trial class and see if the teacher knows what he or she is doing in that respect. It's likely you can get away without taking a class--try studying for a month and see if you make substantial gains on your own, if not, go for a class/tutor.

I'd get a syllabus to use for your self-study so you don't repeat the mistakes of many other self-studyers. We can e-mail you one or there's a bunch you can find on TLS or on other sites.

Elivmar wrote:3) Taking the above into consideration, I have basically no idea how well I’m going to actually do when I take the test. However, it seems fairly study able from what I’ve read. Is it as study-able as the people on this forum make it out to be? I read a lot about how the people here are top scoring elitists, but that’s pretty much what I plan to be. If I put in the time, is it really THAT study-able?

Yes, you can get better at the LSAT.

Elivmar wrote:4) Last question, I promise. When should I take my first PT to determine my cold score? The LG section seems to be fundamentally different from the others, from what I’ve read, in that you actually diagram and stuff. I don’t want to go into it completely unprepared, because that would probably be a useless waste of a PT, but I don’t want to be too prepared either. I tend to work well when I’m under pressure and fearful of doing poorly.

I agree that the diagnostic is often a waste of time (we don't use a class session for it, for that reason), but if you're deciding between self-study or a class, it can be useful to know your baseline so that you can see how you're progressing after a month.

Welcome to the fray!

Thank you! This has been very helpful.

I have one more question though. With regard to PTs, are the old ones considered a bit obsolete, or are they still viable in terms of studying? I'm asking because I'd like to go through a large number of PTs, but I'm concerned about using the new ones up too quickly, or focusing too much on one ones when they're really useless.

Elivmar wrote:Thank you! This has been very helpful.

I have one more question though. With regard to PTs, are the old ones considered a bit obsolete, or are they still viable in terms of studying? I'm asking because I'd like to go through a large number of PTs, but I'm concerned about using the new ones up too quickly, or focusing too much on one ones when they're really useless.

I went through most of the PTs and I felt the old ones were quite useful. They are definitely outdated and easier, so just don't take your scores too seriously. But in terms of studying, what could be more useful than actual LSAT tests? If you have enough time to prepare, I'd say definitely use them.

Manhattan LSAT Noah wrote:

Elivmar wrote:1) Is there any advantage to taking the LSAT on a certain date? I recently talked to a law student who said it’s best to take the June LSAT as more underprepared people take it then, making the curve easier. I feel like he’s a bit misinformed, but can anyone confirm this in either direction?

Take it when you're prepared - don't sweat the date issue.

And just to make it crystal-clear - the test isn't curved, it's equated. So a low level of preparedness of people on the June LSAT (if that's even the case) =/= easier 'curve'.

bp shinners wrote:

Manhattan LSAT Noah wrote:

Elivmar wrote:1) Is there any advantage to taking the LSAT on a certain date? I recently talked to a law student who said it’s best to take the June LSAT as more underprepared people take it then, making the curve easier. I feel like he’s a bit misinformed, but can anyone confirm this in either direction?

Take it when you're prepared - don't sweat the date issue.

And just to make it crystal-clear - the test isn't curved, it's equated. So a low level of preparedness of people on the June LSAT (if that's even the case) =/= easier 'curve'.

Ahh okay. Well, with the PTs, do we have the raw score conversion sheet (based off the equated sections, for each individual one? As in, easier PTs, from say the 90's, aren't actually easier after being euated?

Elivmar wrote:As in, easier PTs, from say the 90's, aren't actually easier after being euated?

That's the idea, though the conversions have gotten stricter over time (as people started prepping more for the exam, forcing it to get 'tougher' in order to maintain score distributions). The changes between individual tests, however, aren't worth worrying about.