LSAT

07 Jun 2015

Test day advice from a 99th percentile scorer

Here are some pointers for the test day, and what you can expect when you get to the test center: 1. Don’t expect to get started right away. Orchestrating such a large scale test involves a lot of logistics, sign-ins, seat assigning, and distribution of paper-work. While it varies between test centers, you can expect to bubble your first answer no sooner than an hour after arriving, often closer to two. If you’re prone to anxiety, plan accordingly, no need to panic in the p

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07 Jun 2015

LSAT State of Mind

(Last updated 9/5/18) If you are reading this, there is strong likelihood that soon you will be making the LSAC sponsored, law school endorsed pilgrimage to one of the many hundreds of testing centers to take the LSAT. If that alone doesn’t sound intimidating, LSAC and USNWR certainly makes it so. Bring this, not that. Wear this, not that (did you know that a guy once tried to take the test in a Spider Man suit?). LSAC themselves would pretty much not be able to sneak anything into a test site,

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19 Apr 2015

LSAT Test Day and Navy Seal Dropout Rates

I wanted to share a story I read about Navy Seal Training, as I think it has meaning for those waiting to take the LSAT. The article was about Navy Seal training dropout rates (which are infamously high about 800 out of every 1000 dropout). The interesting part wasn’t the rate, it was the rate of those Seal candidates who drop out while they are actually doing the grueling work — almost 0%. They don’t quit while running or swimming or doing other activities, they quit while waiting to do these.

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23 Mar 2015

"The trouble is you think you have time" –Buddha

Spring is a tough time to motivate — especially when you are in college. Your friends are outside, or road-tripping, or basically doing anything but studying for the June LSAT… or trying to get their GPA up ever so slightly to raise the bar above a median. You, on the other-hand, need to find the darkest, deepest, windowless library corner and dig in. I’m thinking about you and want to help. Indeed, I want to help both of us. Let me explain. In two months and two days I will be running a 10K, t

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07 Feb 2015

"Help, I failed the LSAT!" Feb. Edition

Amazingly, I have heard those exact lines before. Many times. I’ve also heard thousands of times, “I way underperformed, I am doomed.” Indeed, we will hear  from about 50 people in the next 2 days who think just that. There are hundreds more out there who think the same right now. For so many reasons, you can’t fail the LSAT. And because I have seen the following scenario unfold so many times, I wanted to give some facts. Not an overblown peep talk or a feel good story. Just a few basic facts.

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27 Jan 2015

LSAT Changes in the Past 5 years, top 75 Law Schools.

** ****USNWR****School****2010****2011****2012****2013****2014****+/- Δ**————– ———————————————————————————————#1 [Yale](http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/yale/)1731731731731730#2 [Harvard](http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/harvard/)1731731731731730#3 [Stanford](http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/stanford/)170170170171172+2#4 [Columbia](http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/columbia/)1721721721711720#4 [Chicago](http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/chicago/)171171171170170-1#6 [N

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15 Jan 2015

A never seen before LSAT addendum

Dear Admissions Committee, In application section 13.2 I am asked if my standardized test scores have been predictive of my success in school, and particularly if my LSAT score is for law school. I scored a 165 and would like to have scored higher, as I know your median LSAT is a 167, and you are my top school. But my highestest test scores were also at 165. So that seems about accurate to me. While I think my combined LSAT plus my undergraduate GPA of a 3.91 together is more predictive of my f

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09 Jan 2015

Applicant questions answered, "will high LSAT scores be MORE or LESS valuable this cycle"

“Mike and Karen, as the number of takers continues to drop, won’t it become MORE acceptable to drop a median point in favor of maintaining GPA? Won’t this make high scores LESS valuable? For example, if Harvard or Yale’s median is going to drop to 172, doesn’t a 173 become LESS valuable, not more? If the median drops a point, suddenly, the pool of at/above median expands, right? So, in theory, I should be rooting for medians to stay the same?” This is something we spend a good deal of time loo

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01 Dec 2013

HELP! Must I take the LSAT in Dec. or can I take the Feb. LSAT and still apply this cycle?

I get this question from a lot of clients and with growing frequency in emails and private messages on Top-Law-Schools.com.  Some of the lack of clarity in a binary “yes” or “no” answer derives from the unavoidable fact that there  are two prominent variables that cannot categorically be accountedfor,  namely individual applicant bias and school bias. But let me try to explain some macro level road-map guidelines that should help. In the go-go years of huge application volumes and increases, ta

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01 Oct 2013

LSAT: I came, I saw, I conquered

If you are reading this, there is strong likelihood that in a matter of a few days you will be making the LSAC sponsored, law school endorsed, ABA required quarterly pilgrimage to one of the many hundreds of  testing centers to take the LSAT. If that alone doesn’t sound intimidating, LSAC  and USNWR certainly makes it so.  Bring this, not that. Wear this, and not that (does anyone know if the guy in the Spider Man suit was allowed to take the June test?) The NSA would pretty much not be able to

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