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So, this year I will be in Teach for America, taking graduate courses, and studying for the LSAT. Im planning on taking the June 2015 LSAT so I have a year to prepare. Please note I took the LSAT already and got a horrible score of 156 due to my stress and anxiety. This time, I'm going to make sure it does not happen! Anyways, do you have any advice on how to go about studying during the year? I was going to hire a tutor too.


Thank you

TFA will kick any stress/anxiety out of your system - or add to it!

I just finished my third year of inner city teaching after completing TFA.

I am done teaching (officially) in 15 days -- funemployment, if you will. It's quite stressful studying and not knowing if you will have a paying job in a few weeks. Going to keep the train going anyway.

The upside of completing the LSAT after TFA -- you'll have a sense of purpose. As an undergraduate, I looked at the LG and laughed. I had no reason to even try. Life is quite different now. Best of luck.

It sounds like you are entering your first year of TFA. Good luck!

You will likely be over-stressed and over-worked through November. While I didn't study for the LSAT during my time in TFA (I took it in undergrad), I can speak to the general ebb and flow of busyness and emotions while teaching/grad school/TFA.

It is good that you are thinking about this now as you will never have huge chunks of time to devote while teaching. I would develop a general ramp up schedule. To allow yourself to really learn your new profession, don't try to overstudy these first few months. You'll be in institute, then local PD, then school. Over the summer and through the fall, I'd aim for 5-10 hours/week. This will greatly depend on your own time management, your personal socio-emotional needs, and your placement.

After November, I would ramp up your study efforts. You'll start taking more PTs, having more blocks of studying (2 - 4 hours both to allow for practice testing and to build endurance). Use your winter break effectively as well. I would personally shoot for 10 - 15 hours Nov - March. During February you will likely reach an emotional low. Take a week off of studying and do you.

I would take Spring Break off (unless you have two weeks, then just take a week off). You have a year, so it is okay to not be constantly studying.

March - June, maintain the 10 -15 with some 20 hour weeks as needed. PT often and learn from it.

Cannot speak to the efficacy of hiring a tutor.

As for specific material. There are great guides on here for what to do.

As to your initial score. That's not bad. Lots have improved significantly from there or worse.

As to how to maintain sanity while juggling all three: Many TFA regional grad programs are a joke (mine was). Hopefully it doesn't add too much of a burden time or stress-wise. The bigger issue is that you will be presented with many exciting professional and networking opportunities. I took advantage of a lot of these, and they have been great for me personally. If you really want to commit to studying, you will have to forego that. If you really want to commit to studying, you may have to forego some extra responsibilities/volunteer opportunities at your school. You need to set out a schedule to commit to now. Not that you have to be inflexible. Feel free to adjust when you're hitting a wall, stressed out, etc. But, if you don't make general time commitments ahead of time, you will find yourself drowning in all the people, things, opportunities, and most importantly, children vying for your precious time and sanity.

Good luck! Enjoy teaching.

ETA: Please don't let the LSAT rob your kids of the teacher they deserve. You committed to TFA. Do a good job. That is not necessarily incompatible with quality LSAT study, but if you find it is, honor your kids and your TFA commitment. You can always delay your application another year.