The secret of my success – Ace the LSAT
Some people may feel like they need to take an LSAT course to keep up. I didn’t, and I scored in the 95th percentile. With a little self-discipline you can save a lot of money. I studied exactly one month before the exam.
My entire study program consisted of taking the old LSAT exams. I then graded them and carefully studied the answers that I got wrong. I took a bunch of tests and my grades just kept going up and up. You need to time yourself, set a timer, and leave when it rings, even if you’re not done. Keep it realistic, you don’t want to create a situation where you feel uncomfortable taking the test without a fan in your face, or your ipod playing or lying on your bed.
I bought my LSAT tests directly from LSAC, they also have a free test on their site as well as sample questions and answers. The Law School Admissions Board also sells through Barnes and Noble, you may be able to get a better deal through them with coupons and other stuff.
The LSAT consists of five sections:
* Reading comprehension
* Analytical Reasoning (Logic Games)
* Logic reasoning
* experimental
* Test
Reading comprehension is just what it sounds like. Slow down, read carefully, and you’ll get through this section quickly. Haste makes waste, and lost concepts.
Analytical Reasoning – I loved logic games, this was my favorite section. The only real trick to logic games is knowing that they are formulas. Do a bunch of them, read carefully when you make a mistake to see why you made it. I can almost guarantee that if you do enough of these, you’ll see very similar games on the LSAT and get the answers quickly and more importantly correctly. The trick is knowing how to solve the puzzle, knowing the formula.
Logical Reasoning: This section requires you to separate an argument. If you have ever taken a Philosophy course, it will be very helpful in mastering this section. If you haven’t, you’ll still be fine if you study. Very often, they are looking for you to find the assumption (and therefore the error) in the argument. The statements are often ridiculous and the correct answer is likely to be blatantly false.
Experimental – Each exam has an experimental section. People often waste valuable time on test day trying to figure out which section is experimental. It’s a big gamble to assume that any section is that section, just pass the entire exam, including the supposedly experimental section!
Essay – This part tends to scare people, probably because it’s subjective. Please note that this section is not part of your score. However, it is awarded to law school admissions at schools to which you submit your LSAT score report. They hand out scratch paper, use it. Make a basic outline and start writing, PROPERLY. Argue persuasively and don’t end up with arrows and other things that make your page difficult to read.
Remember, study, study, study and you will be fine. Another advantage of taking repeated exams is that your speed increases over time. Don’t worry if you can’t finish a section in the allotted time at the start, there’s a definite learning curve (but stop when the timer goes off). If you prepare well and have actual graded tests, you can accurately judge how well you will do on the actual exam. Don’t stop studying, make it your job, not something you do in your spare time. You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.
