Can I Take the LSAT in June? Forum

[20170322]

Hey, all!

So, my school schedule is super tight, and I was thinking that the June LSAT date may be perfect. However, I'm a bit concerned about preparation.

The first 3 weeks of May, I will be in Europe on a fellowship. I'm assuming there will be no time to study for the LSAT on that trip, meaning I'm basically losing 3 of the last 6 weeks before the test. If I start studying in January at a low intensity, and then ramp up as June gets closer, but then take 3 weeks off in May, will I be shooting myself in the foot?

For reference, I started studying last year, with my PT averages being 162-165, and my highest being 174 (timed). I stopped studying because I decided I wanted to wait a year before I took the test.

Thanks for the help!

[20170322]

Scratch that. After looking back at my scores, my average was 167-168, with a high of 175. Would prepping from January on be overkill?

[LazyPaladin]

I've been prepping on and off since February of 2014 (Kaplan course from Feb - June, opted to get a new course from August through Dec based on the Higher Score Guarantee. Did poorly on my Dec 14 take, took three months off, started light prepping again in Feb 15, increasing amount of prep towards May and into Oct 15).

That being said, it's really the quality of the work you can get done. That entire first year I didn't do anything to write home about, I just went to class and did some homework - never supplementing or trying to understand the test. I just wanted to go through a class like the rest of my life and reap the rewards. Once I realized I couldn't approach the test in such a way, I utilized the rest of the internet and began to change how I studied and saw marked improvements (I went from barely understanding LG to being able to go perfect in under 30 minutes on most tests). Most guides will recommend at a minimum 3 months of good studying (2 months to learn the fundamentals - 1 month to PT) and some stretch it out to 6 (3/4 months fundamentals - 3/2 months PT). There are those who study for an extended period of time (like myself), and it really helped with working full time and to reinforce certain concepts, whereas some people might burn out.

tl;dr - it depends and it's whatever works best for you.

Hey, all!
If I start studying in January at a low intensity, and then ramp up as June gets closer, but then take 3 weeks off in May, will I be shooting myself in the foot?

For reference, I started studying last year, with my PT averages being 162-165, and my highest being 174 (timed). I stopped studying because I decided I wanted to wait a year before I took the test.

Are you taking the first three weeks off or the last three? If it's the first three, I think you'd be fine. If it's the last three, you should still have a solid week to do early PTs (Monday - Wednesday) and ease into the test.

[20170322]

It'll be the first 3 weeks of May.

[LazyPaladin]

You should be fine then. After taking ~3 weeks off I just did my first PT (6-section) today and, while there was a little rust, it was nothing to be concerned with. I think that if you do 2 - 3 PTs upon return you'll get right back in the swing of things. Even if you won't have enough time to sit and take a full test over your trip, try to sneak in some Cambridge packet questions/re-read Bibles/Manhattan or Trainer just to keep the concepts in your brain fresh.

[20170322]

Awesome, thanks for the advice.

Can I get a second opinion, just to be sure?