CCCToad on 16/5/2011 at 17:23
Greetings, everyone. As I may have hinted at previously (and as some will doubtless be glad to know), I am about to spend the next year. During this time I am planning on utilizing some of my downtime to prepare for taking the LSAT next year. I'd like to hear from some of the lawyer-folk on here what study materials or courses you guys would advise to boost my odds of blowing the test of the water. I currently have one self-study book, but its a bit of a thin volume. Additionally, are there any other materials (not strictly related to the LSAT) that you would recommend I study while out there?
Koki on 16/5/2011 at 17:59
Quote Posted by CCCToad
Greetings, everyone. As I may have hinted at previously (and as some will doubtless be glad to know), I am about to spend the next year.
Don't forget to the entire thing.
Muzman on 16/5/2011 at 18:08
I think he means what it says. He just added one to his age and gained a certain number of XP/lines on his resume.
demagogue on 16/5/2011 at 18:15
I just bought a self-study book from Barnes & Noble; don't even know what it was now. The book should have a study schedule, so you should stay on it especially towards the beginning when it goes over the methods for each section.
The one thing that probably makes the most difference (after you got the basic methods for each section down) is taking practice exams, especially going into the last month, after you've studied how to do each section; first just at your own pace, then later under test conditions. Then go back and grade yourself and spend the most time on the stuff you need the most help, like really study the methods for that section; also you'll get a really good feel for where your score is falling and what you have to do to bump your score up, and you'll see your score improving over time. So by the time you actually get to the test, you already know exactly where you'll fall. I knew pretty much what my grade was going to be walking out of it, just because I'd done it so many times. Take as many as you can; the more the better... You can download past exams and just take the last 10-20 or so. (I think it takes a full day just to do one practice exam, grade it, and study your results, so you have to push yourself a bit IIRC.)
But honestly the whole key to the LSAT (for me) was that they do the same form of questions every year, and you should do it so many times it gets to the point that you just feel, oh this is X type of question, and it always tends to do it this way. It's almost a kind of mental muscle-memory.
Also just remember that for as much as you have to study for the LSAT, it's a cakewalk compared to the bar exam. And having that kind of study discipline is probably a good habit to get into for how you should study in law school itself.
CCCToad on 16/5/2011 at 18:26
Quote:
Also just remember that for as much as you have to study for the LSAT, it's a cakewalk compared to the bar exam. And having that kind of study discipline is probably a good habit to get into for how you should study in law school itself.
I'm not so much worried about my study habits. I plan to use the "monastic" technique....walling out anything else to do BUT study or exercise.
SubJeff on 16/5/2011 at 22:10
Are you sure you want to blow the test of the water?
I've herd those water nymphs don't like it in land.
Etc, etc, and so on and so forth.
Rug Burn Junky on 16/5/2011 at 22:36
Unless you can get a) a full ride scholarship for all 3 years, or b) go to a Top 14 school, make it into the top half of your class and land a job paying $160k+, going to law school right now is probably one of the stupidest things anyone could possibly do. The cost benefit is ridiculously tilted and there's no good ROI.
Judging from your noted struggles with both reading comprehension and logical analysis, I rather doubt that either is the case. But knowing your stubborn refusal to acknowledge anything I say as being better informed than you are, I'm going to assume that you'll disregard this warning and fuck up your life by going well over six figures in debt to come out and make $20 an hour doing doc review. At least those three years of being the resident campus Federalist Society shithead should provide you with some amusement. But just make sure to come back here so I can laugh at you.
As for study plans, I just got drunk and stoned for about six weeks, did a few practice tests and scored a 99th %ile, but not everyone is as brilliant as I am, so I wouldn't recommend it.
CCCToad on 16/5/2011 at 23:04
Good job, rain man.
Actually, I'm well aware that law school offers a pretty horrible return on investment and that most students are "unlikely to ever recover the cost of their tuition", in the words of one editorial. Its something I don't take into account because I don't have to. My expenses are paid for.
Remember how you had that one teacher in high school who thought you would never amount to anything and always told you it was better to give up? I've also been told that I could never get into good shape, would never be popular with women, would never be able to earn a commission, etc etc and so far I've been able to pull off everything I've been told I couldn't do. Oddly enough, I've also failed pretty miserably when I tried to do things that people said I should go for (notably computer science).
Anyways, the main thing I'm gathering is that practice tests are the way to go so I will attempt to pickup material that includes some practice exams. I guess its "no shit Sherlock" advice, but thanks for re-iterating it. Probably the most important thing for me is to re-train the "laywer logic" part of my mind. While I did do extremely well on the practice test I took as an undergrad, I doubt I could pull the same off right now because for the past few years I've pretty much ignored my left brain in favor of developing my "right brain" functions. So, allow me to narrow my inquiry. Are there any specific books that would be great for brushing up on my linear reasoning skills?
Scots Taffer on 16/5/2011 at 23:12
I could be wrong but I think RBJ is also alluding to the fact that there's too much capacity in the legal market for it to be a hot job in this coming decade or so?
Rug Burn Junky on 16/5/2011 at 23:15
Good for you, at least you won't pay retail in order to end up practicing shitttlaw. But rest assured, I'm not trying to talk you out of it. I'm thrilled at the opportunity to watch you make the mistake.
And, if nothing else, after a few good semesters of con law and other related topics, maybe you'll have the self-awareness to figure out how wrong you've been about oh-so-many things.
