I Made My Decision

As I eventually decided and responded to Umich, due in part to the disadvantages of applying at the end of the cycle, I have indeed decided to wait for Fall 2007 to apply for admission to the Law School. This means taking the June 2006 administration of the test, which I am extremely optimistic about.

Though I had pushed back my LSAT test date to February, I must admit that I didn't do any studying until a week out. The demands on my time in other areas of my life just weren't allowing for it, and so yes while applying late in the game isn't too advantageous, applying with a weaker score than you are capable of is even less advantageous. So while I improved my "non-studying" baseline score by 6 pts in 2 days by taking a few tests to reorient myself, I really want to improve another 10 points to get the score I want to apply with. I'm confident I'll reach that extra 10 pts before the June administration, and I'll feel better about allowing myself these next few months as time that I didn't give myself before in order to write personal statements, complete applications, and get a move on gathering those already promised stellar letters of recommendation.

Advice from a 175'er on December LSAT:

Note: This person wasn't me! Nor was the 177'er below!

If you're reading this blog, you should know that I use this space on the web as a sort of supplemental study aid. I collect snippets of advice and tips that I find personally interesting or useful so I can come back to them if I feel like it during this whole LSAT study process. (Pretty much the entire original purpose of a blog eh, Namby?) So, if you actually read the original post below, it would've been apparent that there were 2 different advice givers there, and neither one of them was me. I haven't even taken the LSAT for godsake! (and when I do I'll probably be lucky to score a 120 :P but if you insist upon saying I got a 175, I'll take it ;)

I'm only posting this explanation to the top of this old post because I found it pretty funny that someone didn't read properly, so misconstrued it to think that I was talking about myself. (I was really confused for a minute there when Namby quoted me with something that didn't sound remotely like my own writing, and also said that I scored a 175--until I figured out that what happened was him just misreading my post.) The funnier part of this was the fact that hordes of his blog readers promptly jumped on the bandwagon to crucify the 175'er and 177'er (i.e. me). Geez, crucify the advice givers if you like! It doesn't matter to me--I may have blogged it for future consideration, but I'm not the one who said it. Anyway, way to follow a mistaken man off a cliff, guys.

"I scored a 175, which may be less than your >175 goal but the December LSAT was a bad draw for my skill set and my practices were 1 to 2 points higher. I think >175 is a bit aggressive for your starting scores but a target of 170 may be reasonable. I give the following advice to serious test takers who are scoring high already and want to go the extra mile.

(1) Master time management. Obtaining a sophisticated timer than controls time and question number is essential. By working with a timer during all practice tests I got a tremendous feel for time control that earned me at least 1 or 2 LSAT points.

(2) Develop a sophisticated strategy. A Princeton Review course is not for the very top test takers as the advice is too simple and the methods not conducive to scores deep into the 99th percentile. Your strategy should be custom to your strengths and weaknesses and should evolve as you analyze your practice test mistakes. If you are not a very top test taker follow the Princeton Review method and shoot for a 97th percentile score.

(3) Purchase the PowerScore books (there are two PowerScore bibles). Study these as these are a great place for your personal strategy to begin.

(4) Purchase as many real LSAT tests as possible. Take a practice test every day, preferably at the same time as your real test. Simulate testing conditions.

(5) Cut every single problem you miss on your daily test out of the LSAT book and save it. Review these missed problems often. Analyze the missed problems for trends. Refer back to the PowerScore books on problem types you have issue with. You must find where your mistakes are and correct them.

(6) Get in the mind of the test writers. Look for traps and don't follow the flock. Look for trap types you fall for in your cut out missed problem collection.

(7) Develop a system of notes and symbols to use on the test. You should have your own language for each of the section types that aids in your problem solving.

( Keep taking more and more tests with extreme focus on finding and correcting your errors. The mistakes in your thinking are there and with hard work you will find and correct them.

Following these steps will develop a speed and precision needed for a deep 99th percentile score. I spent one month with particular focus on the arguments and games sections. By test day I missed only one problem on these three sections. I missed 3 on reading comprehension which is a section I didn't focus on much and found it difficult to cut problems from. I missed a total of four on a terribly curved December LSAT and scored 175. In practice I had been between 176 and 177. If you are not a genius the road to a high score will come through long hours of serious test taking with the focus being on finding an eliminating thinking errors and avoiding traps. I hope this advice helps.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/tls396.html
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More advice in response to dtrossen above, this time from a 177'er:

"I agree. The Dec. 2005 test had a terrible curve. Three scores above 170 weren't even possible... I missed three and scored a 177. dtrossen gave really good advice for the LSAT. There are only a couple of things I would add.

1) Don't concern yourself with the scaled score of previous tests. I mean, they're a good benchmark, but I've found that those scaled scores don't mean much at all (and may lure you into a false of security). Pay more attention to your raw score. To score >175, you should aim to get a raw score of 94+ (and even then no guarantees).

2) I tested myself with 34 minutes and with someback ground noise (just in case the test center is noisy and if the moderator makes a mistake).

3) To nail >175 you should plan on acing the games. They are the easiest to study for and (in my opinion) the most predictable section. Reading can be a crap shoot and when you're aiming for a perfect test, even a few weird arguements could tank you.

4) Don't freak yourself out... Keep things in perspective (ie 161 is like the 84th percentile). Set small goals for yourself (ie scoring consistently above 80 raw) and then gradually step them up (scoring consistently above 85 raw). And don't get discouraged...

5) Lastly, be consistent. Ultimately, after studying your butt off, there is only so much you can do... Your LSAT score could depend on some luck too (LSAT even acknowledges that your band, score +/- 3, is only 68% accurate)... Just do your best.

Georgetown, as they focus more on LSAT scores and admit such a large class, should be no problem for you if you score 170+

With regard to minority status, I can't imagine that Asian-Americans are an URM (underrepresented minority). I don't think being Indian-American will hurt you, but I don't think it'll be any help at any T-10 schools."