Five years since last LSAT Forum

[ltlacosse]

My LSAT expired this year I scored a 157 after about three months self study. I definitely could have put more into it. Is two months enough time to get to a 165?

I currently was given a severance from my job and will be devoting 6-8 hours a day to this six days a weeks.

Should I start from scratch? I just bought powerscore logic games, Manhattan LR, The LSAT trainer, and plan to buy 7sage ultimate.Its been a while and have read good things about all of these. If I am missing any please let me know.

Thanks!

[LSATWiz.com]

My LSAT expired this year I scored a 157 after about three months self study. I definitely could have put more into it. Is two months enough time to get to a 165?

I currently was given a severance from my job and will be devoting 6-8 hours a day to this six days a weeks.

Should I start from scratch? I just bought powerscore logic games, Manhattan LR, The LSAT trainer, and plan to buy 7sage ultimate.Its been a while and have read good things about all of these. If I am missing any please let me know.

Thanks!

The first thing I'll note is the LSAT is a skill based test so you never really "lose" it the same way you never lose the ability to ride a bike or swim. The more concerning thing is why you are taking the test and rushing this process.

Were you let go and are now trying to segue into law? You don't want to let yourself be bullied into going to law school. Are you sure you want to be a lawyer or is this just something you always thought about and see being let go as the stimulus to do it now? If so, you're essentially rushing yourself to apply later in the cycle.

I generally don't recommend putting a fixed timeframe on when you have to take the test. You want to take it when your practice tests are around what you want on the real thing. The 6-8 hour a day study plan never really works well. It's much easier to do one thing when you do another thing so what tends to happen is many people wind up studying less when they are unemployed. I've observed time and time again that the students who work the hardest at their job or in school also work the hardest on the LSAT. The people who do LSAT and nothing else almost always do very little LSAT prep.

Another thing to note is it's a skill based test so at some there is a point of diminishing returns. You're not really better served training for a marathon by training for 8 hours a day than 2. The key is consistency over time. Even the people who have taught the test for a decade consistently get better at it even though they're only doing it for 2 hours a day, because again, we're speaking about consistency over time.

You're probably much better served doing a moderate 2-3 hours a day while applying for jobs for 2-3 hours a day. The market is good now. You'll find a job. After you do, you can continue studying 2-3 hours a day and sign up for the test once you're hitting around a 170.

[ltlacosse]

My LSAT expired this year I scored a 157 after about three months self study. I definitely could have put more into it. Is two months enough time to get to a 165?

I currently was given a severance from my job and will be devoting 6-8 hours a day to this six days a weeks.

Should I start from scratch? I just bought powerscore logic games, Manhattan LR, The LSAT trainer, and plan to buy 7sage ultimate.Its been a while and have read good things about all of these. If I am missing any please let me know.

Thanks!

The first thing I'll note is the LSAT is a skill based test so you never really "lose" it the same way you never lose the ability to ride a bike or swim. The more concerning thing is why you are taking the test and rushing this process.

Were you let go and are now trying to segue into law? You don't want to let yourself be bullied into going to law school. Are you sure you want to be a lawyer or is this just something you always thought about and see being let go as the stimulus to do it now? If so, you're essentially rushing yourself to apply later in the cycle.

I generally don't recommend putting a fixed timeframe on when you have to take the test. You want to take it when your practice tests are around what you want on the real thing. The 6-8 hour a day study plan never really works well. It's much easier to do one thing when you do another thing so what tends to happen is many people wind up studying less when they are unemployed. I've observed time and time again that the students who work the hardest at their job or in school also work the hardest on the LSAT. The people who do LSAT and nothing else almost always do very little LSAT prep.

Another thing to note is it's a skill based test so at some there is a point of diminishing returns. You're not really better served training for a marathon by training for 8 hours a day than 2. The key is consistency over time. Even the people who have taught the test for a decade consistently get better at it even though they're only doing it for 2 hours a day, because again, we're speaking about consistency over time.

You're probably much better served doing a moderate 2-3 hours a day while applying for jobs for 2-3 hours a day. The market is good now. You'll find a job. After you do, you can continue studying 2-3 hours a day and sign up for the test once you're hitting around a 170.

Thank you for the well thought out response. Going to law school has been my main objective since I was 16. I had a ton of student loans from a private undergrad and kept pushing off going to law school because of that. The other reason is that I have been making about 150k the past couple years in sales, which has made it hard to leave, even though I hate it.I was given nearly a year of pay up front in severance, because my company was acquired. The industry I sell in is not going to be here in five years.

With all of that said I will never have another chance like this to make a career change.

I will take your advice and push the test back a couple months if I'm not into the mid 160's.

[LSATWiz.com]

My LSAT expired this year I scored a 157 after about three months self study. I definitely could have put more into it. Is two months enough time to get to a 165?

I currently was given a severance from my job and will be devoting 6-8 hours a day to this six days a weeks.

Should I start from scratch? I just bought powerscore logic games, Manhattan LR, The LSAT trainer, and plan to buy 7sage ultimate.Its been a while and have read good things about all of these. If I am missing any please let me know.

Thanks!

The first thing I'll note is the LSAT is a skill based test so you never really "lose" it the same way you never lose the ability to ride a bike or swim. The more concerning thing is why you are taking the test and rushing this process.

Were you let go and are now trying to segue into law? You don't want to let yourself be bullied into going to law school. Are you sure you want to be a lawyer or is this just something you always thought about and see being let go as the stimulus to do it now? If so, you're essentially rushing yourself to apply later in the cycle.

I generally don't recommend putting a fixed timeframe on when you have to take the test. You want to take it when your practice tests are around what you want on the real thing. The 6-8 hour a day study plan never really works well. It's much easier to do one thing when you do another thing so what tends to happen is many people wind up studying less when they are unemployed. I've observed time and time again that the students who work the hardest at their job or in school also work the hardest on the LSAT. The people who do LSAT and nothing else almost always do very little LSAT prep.

Another thing to note is it's a skill based test so at some there is a point of diminishing returns. You're not really better served training for a marathon by training for 8 hours a day than 2. The key is consistency over time. Even the people who have taught the test for a decade consistently get better at it even though they're only doing it for 2 hours a day, because again, we're speaking about consistency over time.

You're probably much better served doing a moderate 2-3 hours a day while applying for jobs for 2-3 hours a day. The market is good now. You'll find a job. After you do, you can continue studying 2-3 hours a day and sign up for the test once you're hitting around a 170.

Thank you for the well thought out response. Going to law school has been my main objective since I was 16. I had a ton of student loans from a private undergrad and kept pushing off going to law school because of that. The other reason is that I have been making about 150k the past couple years in sales, which has made it hard to leave, even though I hate it.I was given nearly a year of pay up front in severance, because my company was acquired. The industry I sell in is not going to be here in five years.

With all of that said I will never have another chance like this to make a career change.

I will take your advice and push the test back a couple months if I'm not into the mid 160's.

Well, having a talent for sales is one of the greatest gifts one can have, and I'd imagine those skills would translate into another profession. You wouldn't be earning $150k in sales unless you were gifted at it. You really don't want to rush the LSAT because it's the main factor in law school admissions. If you do it right and go to a top school, you'll position yourself to be able to use your talent for sales to reach your maximum earning potential. If you rush into going to law school with a sub-par LSAT score, there's a chance you'll never match your current salary again.