How to: LSAT Edition
At first glance, writing the LSAT can be overwhelming, especially if it’s your first attempt and you do not know where to start. This article will talk about resources that can help make your process a lot more bearable.
The first resource that could be helpful is to sign up for a LSAT prep course or hire a tutor. I personally did not take this route, but have heard from my fellow colleagues that this was helpful for them. Some of those courses also provide you with supplementary materials that you can use to study. I heard lots of positive feedback about Harvard Ready, which provides students with all of the past official LSAT tests for extra practice. In addition, a positive thing to note is that these courses can provide a good first step in getting comfortable with the test. On the other hand, a drawback to these prep courses is that they can be quite pricey.
I had a mentor give me some advice that went a long way. For one, my mentor provided me with printed copies of past tests that I kept reusing and practicing on. There are also LSAT practice books you can buy that include old official tests. I suggest photocopying the pages, so you can practice one single test more than once; this would also allow you to track your progress over time.
Another helpful tip that my mentor gave me was to use an app called 7sage. This was a game changer, as the app allows you to input your answers to past official tests and then it tracks your progress to see which sections you are improving on versus which ones need improvement. In addition, 7sage has lessons in video format to directly take you through key concepts. Another useful aspect of the app is that it has a proctor feature. Specifically, the app has a timekeeper, so it alerts you when to stop writing a section and it includes distraction sounds to mimic test taking conditions. This was extremely helpful for me, as it is not a good idea to only study in quiet conditions, because on test day you could be around many different distractions. However, this may not apply to students who are taking the LSAT remotely this year.
The following are extra tips that further helped me study for the LSAT:
- Spend the most time studying the logical reasoning section.
- This section takes up 50% of the total test, so you should be fairly comfortable with those types of questions.
2. When possible, sketch out diagrams for the logic games portion.
- Most answers to past logic games questions can be found on YouTube with a full explanation on how to solve them.
- Those videos made the concepts very clear, and most logic games questions all follow similar patterns so it can be easy to master them with time.
3. Complete the practice tests in as real of a test taking environment as you can.
- Try not to complete one section and then take a long study break, instead carve out the time and take the entire test in one sitting.
- Make sure you complete the practice tests under timed conditions.
4. Make a study schedule to help you stay organized.
- In addition, you should implement time to go through the practice tests you completed, so you can analyze your wrong answers just as much as the right ones. This will show you what skills require more of your attention.
5. Give yourself time to master all of these new skills!
- You cannot cram for a standardized test like this and except to do exceptionally well.
- It is meant to be difficult, so plan ahead and give yourself a few months to learn these new skills.
I hope that this article was helpful, and it eased the initial step of a possible future legal career! Just remember that it is common to write most standardized tests more than once, so if at first you don’t succeed…try, try, again!
