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Hi! I'm a rising junior (international student with F-1 visa) at a top LAC, double majoring in Government and History. I plan to go to law school immediately after my undergraduate. So I'll probably submit my application in Fall 2019 and enroll in Fall 2020. I have some general questions on the preparation timeline and how to balance LSAT preparation with normal courses/summer internship/honor thesis research. If anyone could offer any insight on these questions, I would be extremely grateful!

For me, I think the ideal time to take LSAT is June/July 2019 and I'll probably start preparing from Jan 2019. Is that a little bit late? I plan to devote my winter break after Christmas and whole spring break (2 full weeks), in addition to the time from mid-May to the exam time.

I'm just wondering that is that possible to devote a lot of time (8-10 hours) to preparing LSAT every week throughout the semester when you have full course-load (4-5 courses). I've heard that LSAT is more important than GPA in the law school application, so is it a better choice to devote more time to LSAT and lose my GPA a little bit?

Say I don't do well in June/July 2019 and I'll retake in September/October 2019, is it a better choice for me to study full time for LSAT throughout the summer or I can do an internship (part time/full time) at the same time? In addition, I also plan to write a honor thesis, so I'll probably need to do some research/reading in the summer as well.[/list]

(My current GPA is 3.92 and my aim for LSAT is around 173. I've tried some sections from PT and I think my starting point is kind of above average.)
Thanks for your help in advance!

harryzhang wrote:

For me, I think the ideal time to take LSAT is June/July 2019 and I'll probably start preparing from Jan 2019. Is that a little bit late? I plan to devote my winter break after Christmas and whole spring break (2 full weeks), in addition to the time from mid-May to the exam time.

Depends how quickly you pick things up. Some people can prep in 6 months or less, others take over a year. Perhaps take a practice test next Jan to see where you stand? If you score well at the start, then you don't have to worry about timing as much. If you score poorly, you may want to revise your plans.

I'm just wondering that is that possible to devote a lot of time (8-10 hours) to preparing LSAT every week throughout the semester when you have full course-load (4-5 courses). I've heard that LSAT is more important than GPA in the law school application, so is it a better choice to devote more time to LSAT and lose my GPA a little bit?

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. You can never fix your GPA, you can retake the LSAT if you need to. LSAT studying should not impact your course studies at all. To the extent that they do, you need to stop studying for the LSAT.

Say I don't do well in June/July 2019 and I'll retake in September/October 2019, is it a better choice for me to study full time for LSAT throughout the summer or I can do an internship (part time/full time) at the same time? In addition, I also plan to write a honor thesis, so I'll probably need to do some research/reading in the summer as well.[/list]

Many people study for the LSAT while holding down a full-time job. You could spend 60 hours a week on internship and honor thesis and still have 20 hours a week to study LSAT.

It's all about your initial score. If you score 160+ on your initial practice LSAT, you can probably get up around 170 in 6 months with part-time studying. If you score 145 on your initial test, maybe think about dropping the honor thesis for additional LSAT study time.