Intelligence vs. Work Ethic Forum

[clay7676]

In your estimation, how much of mastering the LSAT is based on intelligence and how much is it based on work ethic/discipline/studying/etc.? I've always saw myself as moderately intelligent growing up in an academically competitive environment, but part of me wonders if I'm not mastering this as well as I could because of a pure lack of intellectual connection with the material, or if my study habits, techniques, and methods are just flawed. Granted, I've been going at this for only about 1.5 weeks, but I've been going at it pretty damn hard.
I would love to hear the opinions of you all!

[crestor]

OP what was your diag?

[clay7676]

155

[Redfactor]

.

[magickware]

Success on LSAT is about three things, I feel.

1) Your UG degree. If you've done something that is reading intensive (and here I mean 1k+ pages a week + classes + papers intensive), then RC will probably not be a -5 or worse. If you've done something that is logic/reasoning intensive, then LR and games will be significantly easier to get into. It's basically about how much exposure you've had for those things.

2) Your hobby. If you've spent a lot of time doing puzzles like sudoku, then you're used to thinking things through. This helps in all aspects of the LSAT.

3) Work ethic. Anyone who puts in a significant amount of time (at least 30+hr a week) and (very important) actually study in an efficient manner that's been vetted by hundreds/thousands of others, then there's no reason why you can't do well on the LSAT. There's a reason why this is considered a learnable test. I think a lot of people who do poorly simply study inefficiently and/or don't devote enough time. If you suck and want to get better, then you devote more time to it. That's sort of how everything in life works, doesn't it?

Does intelligence play heavily into it? Sure, but 1.5 weeks is not enough close enough to determine whether you're too stupid for the LSAT.

Not to be an asshole though, but it took me close to 6+ months of studying before I decided that I am not as smart as I thought I was. Get your self-confidence up. It'll help you in life.

[clay7676]

20% intelligence
80% Prep

Do not be discouraged if things are taking longer than you'd like. There are many aspects of the test that need to be learned. The good news is that they are learnable.

There are many good guides on here and many people who are more than happy to help with questions.

In my opinion, the shortest you should expect to prep for is about 3 months with a schedule of 4+ hours a day 5 days a week. And this is quality, distraction-free studying.

Think of studying as your job because the monetary return for the hours put into it will come. I can't think of one person on this board who regrets the amount of time studying for the LSAT, but there are plenty that regret not putting in more time.

Thank you.
On that note, I want to ask this:
I have most of my study material:
67 PT's with corresponding answers, LG Bible, LR bible, Master the LSAT, Kaplan Mastery, Nova's Master the LSAT, The Big Fat Genius Guide to Game's, and a couple others.
But I have them all as PDF files on my computer. Would you say that this will suffice, or do I need to have it in actual print material?
Just as far as organizationally, I want to make sure i'm tackling it correctly and not setting myself up for failure as I go down the road of intense study.
I again appreciate the encouragement and advice greatly.

[goaheadualright]

Law school is a tough place to succeed based on your work ethic. I know it sucks but you're only graded on one exam performance, not the 2398 hours you passionately put into it.

[goaheadualright]

also you should print the practice questions so you can underline stuff/draw?

[Clearly]

20% intelligence
80% Prep

Do not be discouraged if things are taking longer than you'd like. There are many aspects of the test that need to be learned. The good news is that they are learnable.

There are many good guides on here and many people who are more than happy to help with questions.

In my opinion, the shortest you should expect to prep for is about 3 months with a schedule of 4+ hours a day 5 days a week. And this is quality, distraction-free studying.

Think of studying as your job because the monetary return for the hours put into it will come. I can't think of one person on this board who regrets the amount of time studying for the LSAT, but there are plenty that regret not putting in more time.

Thank you.
On that note, I want to ask this:
I have most of my study material:
67 PT's with corresponding answers, LG Bible, LR bible, Master the LSAT, Kaplan Mastery, Nova's Master the LSAT, The Big Fat Genius Guide to Game's, and a couple others.
But I have them all as PDF files on my computer. Would you say that this will suffice, or do I need to have it in actual print material?
Just as far as organizationally, I want to make sure i'm tackling it correctly and not setting myself up for failure as I go down the road of intense study.
I again appreciate the encouragement and advice greatly.

Yeah, just a heads up, stealing prep materials isn't exactly the best way to get the ball rolling on a legal career.

[ManoftheHour]

20% intelligence
80% Prep

Do not be discouraged if things are taking longer than you'd like. There are many aspects of the test that need to be learned. The good news is that they are learnable.

There are many good guides on here and many people who are more than happy to help with questions.

In my opinion, the shortest you should expect to prep for is about 3 months with a schedule of 4+ hours a day 5 days a week. And this is quality, distraction-free studying.

Think of studying as your job because the monetary return for the hours put into it will come. I can't think of one person on this board who regrets the amount of time studying for the LSAT, but there are plenty that regret not putting in more time.

Thank you.
On that note, I want to ask this:
I have most of my study material:
67 PT's with corresponding answers, LG Bible, LR bible, Master the LSAT, Kaplan Mastery, Nova's Master the LSAT, The Big Fat Genius Guide to Game's, and a couple others.
But I have them all as PDF files on my computer. Would you say that this will suffice, or do I need to have it in actual print material?
Just as far as organizationally, I want to make sure i'm tackling it correctly and not setting myself up for failure as I go down the road of intense study.
I again appreciate the encouragement and advice greatly.

Two words: Laser printer.

http://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-2270DW ... ther+laser

Dupex double sided pages bro.

That way, you can print them out as many times as you want. At will.

You should really get the Cambridge "questions by type" packets to drill.

[clay7676]

Stolen? My ex-girlfriend had this on her external hard drive. And good call on the printer!

[ManoftheHour]

Stolen? My ex-girlfriend had this on her external hard drive. And good call on the printer!

Seriously. Don't get an ink printer. Those things are TTT. Toners only cost 20 bucks and they'll print like 2600 pages. They print fast as fuck too. With this printer, you'll be able to use and print prep material over and over again at will. And do study with paper instead of PDFs. That way, you can mark things (like the conclusion, the premises, key words in the stimulus). You can also cross out wrong answers. It'll be hard to do that on a PDF file on the computer.

[Redfactor]

.

[clay7676]

Stolen? My ex-girlfriend had this on her external hard drive. And good call on the printer!

Seriously. Don't get an ink printer. Those things are TTT. Toners only cost 20 bucks and they'll print like 2600 pages. They print fast as fuck too. With this printer, you'll be able to use and print prep material over and over again at will. And do study with paper instead of PDFs. That way, you can mark things (like the conclusion, the premises, key words in the stimulus). You can also cross out wrong answers. It'll be hard to do that on a PDF file on the computer.

Great point. And you are saying that the toner is essentially what an ink cartridge is for a ink-printer? And that it lasts for 2600 pages meaning the only other resource you would need to be able to print is paper?
WOW.

[ManoftheHour]

Stolen? My ex-girlfriend had this on her external hard drive. And good call on the printer!

Seriously. Don't get an ink printer. Those things are TTT. Toners only cost 20 bucks and they'll print like 2600 pages. They print fast as fuck too. With this printer, you'll be able to use and print prep material over and over again at will. And do study with paper instead of PDFs. That way, you can mark things (like the conclusion, the premises, key words in the stimulus). You can also cross out wrong answers. It'll be hard to do that on a PDF file on the computer.

Great point. And you are saying that the toner is essentially what an ink cartridge is for a ink-printer? And that it lasts for 2600 pages meaning the only other resource you would need to be able to print is paper?
WOW.

Yup:

http://www.amazon.com/Compatible-Brothe ... ther+toner

$13.47. 2600 pages. You won't regret it. Laser printers print fast as fuck so all your time can be spent studying. Plus, as I mentioned, you can print front and back effortlessly.

Fuck ink and ink prinTTTers.

[Archangel]

Stolen? My ex-girlfriend had this on her external hard drive. And good call on the printer!

Seriously. Don't get an ink printer. Those things are TTT. Toners only cost 20 bucks and they'll print like 2600 pages. They print fast as fuck too. With this printer, you'll be able to use and print prep material over and over again at will. And do study with paper instead of PDFs. That way, you can mark things (like the conclusion, the premises, key words in the stimulus). You can also cross out wrong answers. It'll be hard to do that on a PDF file on the computer.

Great point. And you are saying that the toner is essentially what an ink cartridge is for a ink-printer? And that it lasts for 2600 pages meaning the only other resource you would need to be able to print is paper?
WOW.

--LinkRemoved--

scroll down for the cartridge info

edit: scooped

[ManoftheHour]

Stolen? My ex-girlfriend had this on her external hard drive. And good call on the printer!

Seriously. Don't get an ink printer. Those things are TTT. Toners only cost 20 bucks and they'll print like 2600 pages. They print fast as fuck too. With this printer, you'll be able to use and print prep material over and over again at will. And do study with paper instead of PDFs. That way, you can mark things (like the conclusion, the premises, key words in the stimulus). You can also cross out wrong answers. It'll be hard to do that on a PDF file on the computer.

Great point. And you are saying that the toner is essentially what an ink cartridge is for a ink-printer? And that it lasts for 2600 pages meaning the only other resource you would need to be able to print is paper?
WOW.

--LinkRemoved--

scroll down for the cartridge info

edit: scooped

Damn, that's a good deal. Cheaper than on Amazon. The Duplex is sick.

[Archangel]

Agreed

[Kimikho]

ALSO with laser printers when you start to run out of toner, you can take the cartridge out, shake it up, and it'll last for another like fifty pages or so. Then you can just keep doing it till it's all out.

ALSO ALSO my printer (HP something) is like the size of a toaster. I keep it in a Trader Joe's bag and it's pretty much portable. Lady at the library got mad at me once though.

ALSO ALSO ALSO it steams when it prints stuff which looks pretty cool.

[Kimikho]

I would honestly make love to my little laser printer if I could.

[clay7676]

I just bought the one for 89 dollars today from that website posted early with 500 pages. Hopefully it comes with a toner, I can't wait to get it!

[ManoftheHour]

I would honestly make love to my little laser printer if I could.

[Kimikho]

I would honestly make love to my little laser printer if I could.

My love for that little guy knows no bounds.

[09042014]

80 intelligence
20 prep

The questions are in fucking english, just read them, the right answer is clear.