Too early to start LSAT prep? Forum

[anthonyy]

Hi TLS,

So i'm new here, I apologize in advance if this is in the wrong section.

I'm currently a senior in high school, and all I've wanted to do my whole life is become a lawyer.

I have a few LSAT prep books I bought and I complete the exercises in them/study quite frequently (a few hours a day) because I genuinely enjoy studying logic based things and solving logic based questions, it feels good to make improvement.

Is it too early to start prepping for the LSAT? I just want to be as prepared as possible.

Any input/advice you may have to offer is greatly appreciated, thank you.

[ilikebaseball]

FWIW, its never too early to start LSAT prep. But in your case, just make sure you get a 3.75 GPA or higher. That's almost as important. Doesn't matter how easy, what your major is, anything. Just get A's. If you can do that AND prep, by all means go for it

[Clearly]

Too early to learn logic, no. Too early to start wasting real lsat questions, yes. Go get a 4.0 if you want to go to law school.

[anthonyy]

FWIW, its never too early to start LSAT prep. But in your case, just make sure you get a 3.75 GPA or higher. That's almost as important. Doesn't matter how easy, what your major is, anything. Just get A's. If you can do that AND prep, by all means go for it

Thanks for the input! I plan to work as hard as possible in school because GPA means almost as much as LSAT score right?

Too early to learn logic, no. Too early to start wasting real lsat questions, yes. Go get a 4.0 if you want to go to law school.

Thanks! I get what you're saying; no sense in wasting good LSAT practice problems when I should be investing my time on fundamental studies.

[Valamar]

Also make sure you devote some time to enjoying your undergrad experience，stop and smell the roses and whatnot. Never too early to start thinking about law school but really one year of intensive preparation at most should be all you need

[ballcaps]

Too early to start wasting real lsat questions, yes.

gotta disagree with this.

currently there are, let's say, 72*100=7,200 lsat questions available. there will be more by the time OP takes the test.

i don't see how anybody could overstudy so many questions. this especially applies to the lsat, which contains a lot of rich, complex problems.

OP, i think it's a great idea to start studying. like any skill, this stuff is best learned over time. focus on the older material first, which is less relevant to the modern test anyway.

[stray]

ehhh, im gonna say too early. I mean you're not even in college yet. Personally, I would hold off for at least for 2 years (and by this I mean doing actual drilling/test questions. You can do things like reading dense material to make sure your RC is on point for later, but I wouldnt do much more than that. When you get to college, make getting as close to a 4.0 as possible a priority, have a little fun (I mean its senior year of hs/college ffs), get a job, etc.

[ManoftheHour]

If you are 100% set on law school, choose an easy major, get a 4.0, and party for four years. I would not start prepping until your junior year.

Of course, keep in mind that if you decide you don't want to go to law school, you'll be screwed with a useless major.

I wish I knew both of those things when I was in college.

[Ron Don Volante]

Way too early. Shouldn't be on your radar at all. Don't be locked into one career path right now and explore every option available to you -- you can do law school after all else fails. Worry about getting impeccable grades and some good work experience, and worry about having some fun and enjoying undergrad.

[RZ5646]

It is absolutely too early to start studying. Don't do it.

First, it doesn't take that long to reach what should be considered your peak score. If it takes you multiple years of studying to reach a good score, you're probably deficient in some way and you'll be destroyed by your peers when your inflated score gets you into a top-ranked school.

On the other hand, if it doesn't take you multiple years to reach a good score, then you have plenty of time and should wait. Devoting time to LSAT prep before you even enter college is stupid because odds are you'll end up changing your mind and pursuing some other career, and no one in that other field is going to care that you got 173 on the LSAT when you were 18 years old.

For now focus on enjoying life and getting a high college GPA (which may be harder than you think... tons of smart people do awful their first semester because they've never learned how to study).

Also, don't pick useless majors just to raise your GPA. I have a 4.1x GPA but no job prospects whatsoever, and that's scary. If I could do things over again I'd probably choose a different college, different majors... basically a lot of things different. Law school is always an option, as long as your GPA isn't terrible, so don't make it your only option.

[Clearly]

Too early to start wasting real lsat questions, yes.

gotta disagree with this.

currently there are, let's say, 72*100=7,200 lsat questions available. there will be more by the time OP takes the test.

i don't see how anybody could overstudy so many questions. this especially applies to the lsat, which contains a lot of rich, complex problems.

OP, i think it's a great idea to start studying. like any skill, this stuff is best learned over time. focus on the older material first, which is less relevant to the modern test anyway.

I've tutored at least a dozen kids who've run out of tests to take, and I myself ran out of tests on my retake. The problem isn't as simple as as your math implies. People don't study by taking tests chronologically. They say "Wow games are weird" and take 12 different games from 12 different tests, then take 20 parallel reasoning questions from 20 different tests from those, and suddenly they've seen too much from too many different tests to have many valuable score-representative tests left. The kid is studying for "a few hours a day" literally 5 years from when he'll apply to law school. He will undeniably run out of material, and at the current pace he'd run out before he gets a drivers license. He'll get new material, which is a valid point. But frankly there is little to gain here, pick it up as a junior maybe, but there's too many risks for no gain. He won't be any better on the LSAT because he toyed around with it when he was 15.

OP, keep your mind open. You haven't even started college yet, you have no idea what other opportunities you might pass up in your college experience because of what you thought being a lawyer would be like. I'm not saying don't pursue it, just don't pursue it yet. From the standpoint of what you can do now to maximize your chances at a good law school, the only thing in your control right now is getting a good GPA, and not racking up a ton of debt for UG. If you want to go really well thought out in advance, attend a college that gives "A+" instead of "A" as the maximum grade, because this will benefit you tremendously in getting a great GPA. Seriously though, live your life man, the best years of your life are coming up, do something interesting, meet people, explore a variety of career interests etc. Deciding you want to be a lawyer now doesn't make you any better or more likely to be a lawyer after college, but it does shut doors to other opportunities.

[Smallville]

Hi TLS,

So i'm new here, I apologize in advance if this is in the wrong section.

I'm currently a senior in high school, and all I've wanted to do my whole life is become a lawyer.

I have a few LSAT prep books I bought and I complete the exercises in them/study quite frequently (a few hours a day) because I genuinely enjoy studying logic based things and solving logic based questions, it feels good to make improvement.

Is it too early to start prepping for the LSAT? I just want to be as prepared as possible.

Any input/advice you may have to offer is greatly appreciated, thank you.

Can we all focus on the real issue at hand... the LSAT Prep and Discussion Forum is NOT the place to ask about starting prep for the LSAT

OP, keep your mind open. You haven't even started college yet, you have no idea what other opportunities you might pass up in your college experience because of what you thought being a lawyer would be like. I'm not saying don't pursue it, just don't pursue it yet. From the standpoint of what you can do now to maximize your chances at a good law school, the only thing in your control right now is getting a good GPA, and not racking up a ton of debt for UG. If you want to go really well thought out in advance, attend a college that gives "A+" instead of "A" as the maximum grade, because this will benefit you tremendously in getting a great GPA. Seriously though, live your life man, the best years of your life are coming up, do something interesting, meet people, explore a variety of career interests etc. Deciding you want to be a lawyer now doesn't make you any better or more likely to be a lawyer after college, but it does shut doors to other opportunities.

That... all that lol

also if you really wanna start something just to start I don't think it would really hurt you if you wanted to get some books to read (trainer, Manhattan LR, bibles if you want) just to go over, get a feel for what its like, and can reread them throughout your insane amount of time b4 its actually time to really start prepping if its what you still wanna do... but don't hinder your college experience for this, enjoy ur UG (and get a 4.0)

[anthonyy]

Thanks for all the input everyone, I appreciate it because obviously you all know better than I.

I probably came off a bit psycho saying I study multiple hours a day already, realistically it's just when I don't have anything to do (often) an hour here an hour there every day or so in these books I have.

I'm not like "prepping" for the test in any way, just kind of trying to learn the fundamentals of things partially because I find them challenging/interesting & very satisfying, and partially because it's more useful than watching Netflix or scrolling down Twitter

All of you gave me great insight thanks.

P.S have my license (im 18)

P.P.S sorry wrong section im quite unacquainted with how things work here.

[Smallville]

P.P.S sorry wrong section im quite unacquainted with how things work here.

-_- its prep & discussion forum... obvi the right place to ask about the LSAT lol

[anthonyy]

& if anyone were wondering why at such a young age I'm so set on being a lawyer;

I love music, I'm a performer and I'm pretty involved in my local music scene and I want to work in the music industry in IP law. So no I don't want to study law for biglaw or something else for money

[anthonyy]

P.P.S sorry wrong section im quite unacquainted with how things work here.

-_- its prep & discussion forum... obvi the right place to ask about the LSAT lol

A few posts above someone noted wrong forum

Edit: and that would be you and I totally missed the sarcasm. My bad lol

[iamgeorgebush]

Agreed with Clearly; too early to work on actual LSAT problems. If you want to develop skills that will help you on the LSAT, though, it's never too early to read things that will develop your reading comprehension (start with stuff like the NYT [esp. op-eds], Economist, Scientific American, etc., and see if you can read them with an eye for the arguments the authors are making). I recall when I was in high school I also taught myself about various logical fallacies (just for fun), which probably helped. But that could wait till you take a logic class in college.

[Ron Don Volante]

& if anyone were wondering why at such a young age I'm so set on being a lawyer;

I love music, I'm a performer and I'm pretty involved in my local music scene and I want to work in the music industry in IP law. So no I don't want to study law for biglaw or something else for money

Glad you mentioned this. Don't want to scuttle your dreams kid but these jobs don't really exist, and insofar as they exist, they exist in biglaw. To even have a chance at making this a reality, you're going to need impeccable grades from a top school, and even then the chances are slim.

If you want to work around music for your career, this is not the route. Only go to law school if you want to be a regular boring lawyer.

[anthonyy]

Agreed with Clearly; too early to work on actual LSAT problems. If you want to develop skills that will help you on the LSAT, though, it's never too early to read things that will develop your reading comprehension (start with stuff like the NYT [esp. op-eds], Economist, Scientific American, etc., and see if you can read them with an eye for the arguments the authors are making). I recall when I was in high school I also taught myself about various logical fallacies (just for fun), which probably helped. But that could wait till you take a logic class in college.

Agreed with Clearly; too early to work on actual LSAT problems. If you want to develop skills that will help you on the LSAT, though, it's never too early to read things that will develop your reading comprehension (start with stuff like the NYT [esp. op-eds], Economist, Scientific American, etc., and see if you can read them with an eye for the arguments the authors are making). I recall when I was in high school I also taught myself about various logical fallacies (just for fun), which probably helped. But that could wait till you take a logic class in college.

Thanks for the response, this is kinda the approach im taking to things right now. Just aquainting myself with basic logic and reading everything I can working on comprehension (which will help in any endeavor)

& if anyone were wondering why at such a young age I'm so set on being a lawyer;

I love music, I'm a performer and I'm pretty involved in my local music scene and I want to work in the music industry in IP law. So no I don't want to study law for biglaw or something else for money

Glad you mentioned this. Don't want to scuttle your dreams kid but these jobs don't really exist, and insofar as they exist, they exist in biglaw. To even have a chance at making this a reality, you're going to need impeccable grades from a top school, and even then the chances are slim.

If you want to work around music for your career, this is not the route. Only go to law school if you want to be a regular boring lawyer.[/quote]

Thanks! No offense taken, I understand. I can't imagine myself doing anything but law (even if it's not music related), as in nothing else has or will interest me. I understand most people say being a lawyer sucks, the debt sucks etc. And I still want to pursue law. (However I understand it is in no way happening if I don't get into a good school, it'd just be senseless)

[RZ5646]

& if anyone were wondering why at such a young age I'm so set on being a lawyer;

I love music, I'm a performer and I'm pretty involved in my local music scene and I want to work in the music industry in IP law. So no I don't want to study law for biglaw or something else for money

Most people have some dream job in mind at age 18 (I actually had a plan very similar to yours, just not music). Most of those people still change their mind once they get to college and realize all the other possibilities open to them.

I'll second the A+ college thing though. The way LSAC GPAs work is ridiculously unfair, so make sure you get on the right side of that. After my sophomore year I already basically had a 3.9+ "locked in" because I got so many A+s, but if I had gone to the other school I was considering (basically equivalent in every other way) I'd still be stressing about keeping high grades.

[Ron Don Volante]

Thanks! No offense taken, I understand. I can't imagine myself doing anything but law (even if it's not music related), as in nothing else has or will interest me. I understand most people say being a lawyer sucks, the debt sucks etc. And I still want to pursue law. (However I understand it is in no way happening if I don't get into a good school, it'd just be senseless)

Well, you're 18, so that's understandable. Like we all said, just don't be locked into this mindset once you get on campus, and explore every possibility.