First Steps Forum

[Blueprint LSAT]

The most common question I see asked pretty much anywhere the LSAT is discussed is some variation on "How do I get started?"

The problem with answering that question is that it varies a lot from person to person. Your first step should actually be a pretty in-depth personal analysis of your goals and needs.

If you've come to a forum like this one, you are probably aiming pretty high, but not everyone who thinks they need a 175 actually does. Obviously there are benefits to anyone from that high a score, but you have to weigh those benefits against the very real costs.

My advice to anyone starting out would be to put in some serious research up front about what career you want in the law and what it will take to achieve that career. You will hear a lot of "you need to get T14 to make it worthwhile at all" but that isn't true. There are some jobs/salary levels that applies to, but there are plenty of fulfilling careers out there with paths that go through prestigious local schools with slightly lower LSAT requirements. Even if you find out you were right about what you needed, that research will benefit you. People make a lot of assumptions about legal careers and it is good to know what you are actually getting in to.

Once you have confirmed your goals and know where you are starting out, you will have an idea of the work it will take to get there. Going from 165 to 175 is different from 145-160 or 155-170. All things are possible, even 120-180, but they all require a different amount of work.

How much depends on a number of factors.

1. The curve: Once you reach the higher scores you are butting up against the upper end of the bell curve. About 50X as many people will score less than 170 as will score 170 and above. The test is well designed and it is really hard to reach perfection. You may find it takes quite a while to break through that plateau.

2. Aptitude/Instinct: The LSAT is about learning a lawyer's approach to analyzing information. People who are naturals at it were often raised to argue and poke holes in arguments. If your diagnostic isn't that great it isn't because you aren't smart. If your diagnostic is medium to high but you are having a really hard time improving, it doesn't mean you aren't smart enough. Either way, the basic familiarization with the test that can be done in a month or so of casual studying can help you pick up a few points. After that, both groups will hit a plateau.

3. Starting point vs. Goals: How much improvement you need is obviously a pretty big factor.

Once you have done the basic math, "Where am I starting, what score do I need, how big a gap is there?" you can figure out basically what you need to do. If you only need a few points, you may be able to do a bit of basic practice and move on with your life. If you are shooting for anything mid 160's and below and you need 10ish points to get there, you will probably be fine doing a basic prep course and practicing a bit (2-3 months of relatively dedicated work). If you need more than 8-12 points or your are trying to crack 175 and not starting very close, you may have quite a bit more work to do.

The reason is that making huge leaps or assaulting the far end of the bell curve requires replacing your aptitude/instincts rather than just augmenting them. You need to reverse engineer the test and really understand the logic they are testing for on a basic level. Then you need to practice with it so much that the basic stuff becomes muscle memory and you free your higher level thought for the tricks/tough stuff. Eventually, if you do enough practice while actually understanding and critically examining that practice you will start to see patterns in the test and that will gain you an even bigger edge.

The problem is that unlike absorbing knowledge, learning a skill has some real hard limits on how much you can condense the process. You need time to internalize everything. You need to take breaks. You need to make mistakes, learn from them and keep practicing. Cramming won't do it.

If you fall in this category and it is worth it for you in your circumstances to commit to that much work, start with a course/prep materials that breaks the test down into question types and teaches you the basics of conditional logic and argument analysis. Go slow when you need to and make sure you get all the concepts. Learn the proper form for getting through a question efficiently. When you make it through that, take and review a lot of practice sections. Study smart. If things stop working or you hit a plateau, re-assess what you are doing and try different things. Be ready for a lot of frustration. Take breaks. You can't do well when you are burned out. Assess other factors in your life that may be holding you back (anxiety, exhaustion, stress, etc...).

The process is often 6 months or more of what amounts to a part-time job, which is why you should only do it if you absolutely have to.