Took Time Off, Considering Re-Taking June Forum

[coldsummer]

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[Mikey]

Take the summer to study for the LSAT and take it in October. Lsac allows you to take 3 times in a 2 year period. You have one more shot at this within your two year period so take your time with studying over the summer and don't rush it for June. Have you been studying since you last took the LSAT? If not then you should start now and continue until the October test day.

[Abraham Lincoln Uni.]

You may take the LSAT another time to improve your scores. Because LSAC allows three attempts within two years, you want to work hard to increase your scores.

It is suggested to either invest in a preparatory course or to practice on your own depending your financial ability. The key is to practice as many questions and simulated exams as you can. It is important to also take these practice exams under timed conditions and to understand why certain answers are wrong. Be sure to keep track of your scores and you will steadily see improvement if you are preparing properly.

Depending on your availability and time, you may want to start studying now for the LSAT whether you take it in June or October because this is your last attempt to comply with the policy.

Also, you should not attend a school if your intent is simply to transfer to another school after a year or so. There are other students who wanted that spot so be sure to plan and prepare accordingly to determine what you would like to do.

Best of luck!

[Blueprint Mithun]

Took the October and December tests and scored a 158 and 159 respectively. I was pretty disappointed with myself as I was shooting for 162+, yet I still decided to take a shot during this 2015-16 app cycle. I have to admit, my study habits during my previous 'studying' period were not up to par and I learned that the hard way. On PTs, I was averaging -5~8 per LR section, -2~4 LG, and -8~10 on RC (my weakest section). My diagnostic score was a 145.

The schools I have been admitted to are mostly T2s/T3s with decent scholl $$$ and have fairly good regional reputations, but as most of you are/were, I am a T-14/T-20 hopeful. Even though I've already completed the application process, I still have a feeling that I can significantly improve my LSAT score.

I am leaning on forking over the $$$ for a seat deposit and re-taking the LSAT in June. If I do a lot better than my previous exams, I intend to hold off on matriculating, eating the seat deposit, and re-applying next cycle. Also, since I already took the LSAT twice within the past year, if I take the June test, would it disqualify me from taking the September/December (to my understanding LSAC only allows 3 per year)? Another option would be to hold off and retake in September.

Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated. A part of me is also considering matriculating this Fall and working my ass off to transfer out, but the general consensus seems to be that one should not matriculate to a school with the intention of transferring...

Thanks all.

You need to think about if you really want to go to those schools that you've been accepted to. If they are strong regional schools, and you are set on working in the same region post-law school, then they may be solid options for you, provided the scholarship money is substantial for you as well. Don't underestimate the cost of loans - make sure you do the math, including calculating interest, and figure out what exactly you're getting into.

If you're not satisfied with the option, don't go to law school this fall. It's too big a career decision to rush for a trivial reason.

I think the idea of banking on a June retake to see a significant jump in your score is risky. It's already two months away from that exam, and if you haven't gotten back on your prep game since December, you're going to find yourself without a lot of time to improve substantially. October is another option, provided you're willing to study throughout the summer, AND through the first month and a half of law school. You'll have to keep prepping all while staying on top of your grades, as those will be key to transferring.

If you want to improve, you definitely need to get better at Reading Comprehension. Doing well on RC requires a good strategy, practiced to the point where it becomes second nature. Forgive the length of this post, but I'm going to give you some RC advice that could potentially change the game for you.

Active reading is really the key to doing well on the RC section. If you read the passage passively, you're going to end up spending a lot of time returning to the text when you're trying to answer the questions. Given the 35-minute time limit, you want to limit this back-and-forth time as much as possible. There are several RC question types that you can save time on by actively looking for those concepts during your first reading of the passage. In particular, I'm referring to the "big-picture" ideas, the central concepts which exist in every passage: the main point, the author's attitude, the opinions of any major perspectives on the issue, and the structure of the argument.

If you're willing to experiment with a new approach, try this one - it's akin to what we teach Blueprint students. As you read the passage for the first time, keep an eye out for those four concepts. Each passage is full of cues, and the more you practice looking for the same ideas, the better you'll get at noticing them. When you finish reading the passage, before even looking at the questions, you should attempt to define the main point, define the author's attitude (whether it was neutral or opinionated), define all the major sides to the argument, and loosely describe the structure/flow of the argument. At this stage, it's not a bad idea to actually write this info down, though as you continue to prep, you should try to do this mentally, to save time.

This doesn't mean that you shouldn't also be reading for content. If you find that you're lost, go back a few sentences and get back on track. But don't worry if the details are confusing or arcane - what's most important is that you understand what purpose they serve in the context of the argument. Another useful tip: take a few seconds after you finish reading each paragraph to do a quick mental review of how that paragraph contributed to the argument. This will help break the passage down into more manageable chunks, and give you a better understanding of its larger structure.

If you practice breaking each passage down into these concepts, you'll find yourself getting the answers to MP, AA, opinion, and structure-related questions much faster, since you won't have to spend nearly as much time jumping back in and frantically scanning the passage. Other than these, you mainly just have detail-oriented questions to deal with, which shouldn't take long if you understand the passage's structure and know where to look to find the relevant info. An experienced RC taker sees a passage not as a chunk of information on a random subject, but as a layered argument or series of interconnected arguments. Don't rush through the passage - many students who struggle with the time limit think that leaving more time for the questions will result in a better score. This isn't necessarily the case: the best thing you can do is read + analyze the passage effectively, and be as prepared as possible for the questions. The more you practice this method, the more efficient it becomes.