When To Start Studying For The LSAT? How Much Is Too Much? Forum

[Aspirant.]

I have a question about studying for the LSAT. As an African-American male who will graduate with a 3.72-3.75 cumulative GPA, I have been told that with the right LSAT score schools like Harvard and Stanford are within reach. Thus, I have adopted a 170 or bust mentality and am willing put in the requisite time in order to make that score a possibility. I have gleaned as much information as I can from TLS and have purchased all the prep material that the consensus has recommended.

That being said, I will be taking the June 2014 LSAT and wanted to know if starting prep now is too early. LG and LR are not intuitive for me. I am not necessarily the brightest guy and oftentimes I need more time than the average person to gain a firm grasp of concepts. This fact is pushing me towards starting to study now, however would studying 3-4 hours a day for the next 11 months be overkill? (I would save PTs 39-68 for the months leading up to the test and only use Cambridge 1-38 drilling packets and all the books like Powerscore, Manhattan, and Master the LSAT for the next 8 months)

Thanks for any advice

[kiyoku]

I guess you'll just get subjective opinions here and I don't know what others will say.
I plan on taking the test on June 2014 (perhaps earlier if I feel i've hit my potential).

I've started about 2 months ago.

Of course, this doesn't mean I'm going to do well. And even if I did well, it would prove little in terms of benefiting you specfically.
But I can tell you that I'm happy I found out about how weak I am with RC early on. I can tell I'll take forever to improve with RC.

My penny here and there =)

Good luck!

[RobertGolddust]

My personal opinion is the more time you give yourself the better. The LSAT rewards a specific type of thinking that you can hone with repetition.

Don't become a recluse or anything outrageous. I suggest two or three days a week for half a year and then picking up the pace three months before test day. I personally did two months last summer, 6 weeks over winter break, and I have been studying full time all summer. However, during my sabbatical from the test I would try to incorporate some of the LSAT principles into my academic work. For instance, I would try to write papers with an eye for logical rigor rather than with a flare of theatrics and creativity. Also, I read a lot of challenging and dense material in my free time. This did help somewhat given that I jumped from the low 150's to the high 150's between winter break and my diagnostic test at the beginning of summer. But, nothing beats actual intense prep work, because now my scores are skyrocketing into the higher realm of the superman.

[alexrodriguez]

You should have started studying 2 months ago.

[LSAT Blog]

My personal opinion is the more time you give yourself the better. The LSAT rewards a specific type of thinking that you can hone with repetition.

Don't become a recluse or anything outrageous. I suggest two or three days a week for half a year and then picking up the pace three months before test day. I personally did two months last summer, 6 weeks over winter break, and I have been studying full time all summer. However, during my sabbatical from the test I would try to incorporate some of the LSAT principles into my academic work. For instance, I would try to write papers with an eye for logical rigor rather than with a flare of theatrics and creativity. Also, I read a lot of challenging and dense material in my free time. This did help somewhat given that I jumped from the low 150's to the high 150's between winter break and my diagnostic test at the beginning of summer. But, nothing beats actual intense prep work, because now my scores are skyrocketing into the higher realm of the superman.

This is excellent advice. I couldn't agree more.

By the way, congrats on your score improvement!

[RobertGolddust]

Thanks pal, I'm a big fan of your blog.

[10052014]

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