On February 7, 2009, thousands of brave and hopeful college students will wake up early, gulp down a cup of coffee, send up a prayer to whatever deity they worship, and prepare to place their entire future in the hands of a 4 hour test. Some will survive, others will fall, and in the end only the strongest will prevail.
On February 7 I will be joining these gluttons for punishment, these masochists of the mind at MSU’s Bessy Hall to taking the most feared of all college admissions tests…the LSAT.
Ok, maybe I am being a tiny bit melodramatic, but to a college student contemplating a future career in law, this is one of the biggest obstacles I will have to tackle on my journey to attaining a Juris Doctor degree. And, thanks to my New Years resolutions (see Resolved), I am setting my sights high (come on Harvard!). That being said, it is understandable that I have LSAT on the brain.
Up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t even know what was on the LSAT! I had heard something about logic games and I knew that there was a lot of critical reading involved, but I really had no idea what I had gotten myself into. I have learned a lot more since then...
The LSAT itself is broken up into 6 sections. There are two sections of logical reasoning - small statements about which the reader must make logical assumptions and inference, one section of logic games - little games that test your ability to apply rules and regulations in a given situation, one section of critical reading - longer reading passages that test your ability to…well…read critically, one section of “experimental” questions - the part of the test that is not scored where the LSAT board gets to test out new questions on the poor unsuspecting test taker, and a writing section that tests your writing ability. The writing and the experimental sections are not graded, but colleges are sent a copy of your writing sample, and you are not told which section of the test is experimental. That is 4 hours of analysis, reading, writing, and shear agony…I can’t wait to have this behind me!
In the interim, while I wait for this fateful day, I am studying for the exam. I wonder though... How exactly can someone study for a test that requires no memorization? For a test that does not test what you know, but how you think? The answer…very painstakingly. According to every test prep book I’ve read and every law student that I have talked to the best way to study for the exam is to just familiarize yourself with the format of the LSAT and to take as many practice exams as possible. Yes, Kaplan and Princeton Review classes can walk you step by step though special analytical models of how to approach the questions, but the best way to prepare for this exam is to dedicate time, and lots of it, to familiarizing yourself with the questions and improving your time.
With that in mind, my goal is to take 3 practice tests a week for the next 4 weeks before the test. Will my brain be fried? Probably. Am I going to be grumpy and irritable this January? You betcha. But am I going to own this test? OH YEAH! (It’s all about positive affirmation, baby!) So get ready LSAT because THIS IS SPARTA!
On February 7 I will be joining these gluttons for punishment, these masochists of the mind at MSU’s Bessy Hall to taking the most feared of all college admissions tests…the LSAT.
Ok, maybe I am being a tiny bit melodramatic, but to a college student contemplating a future career in law, this is one of the biggest obstacles I will have to tackle on my journey to attaining a Juris Doctor degree. And, thanks to my New Years resolutions (see Resolved), I am setting my sights high (come on Harvard!). That being said, it is understandable that I have LSAT on the brain.
Up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t even know what was on the LSAT! I had heard something about logic games and I knew that there was a lot of critical reading involved, but I really had no idea what I had gotten myself into. I have learned a lot more since then...
The LSAT itself is broken up into 6 sections. There are two sections of logical reasoning - small statements about which the reader must make logical assumptions and inference, one section of logic games - little games that test your ability to apply rules and regulations in a given situation, one section of critical reading - longer reading passages that test your ability to…well…read critically, one section of “experimental” questions - the part of the test that is not scored where the LSAT board gets to test out new questions on the poor unsuspecting test taker, and a writing section that tests your writing ability. The writing and the experimental sections are not graded, but colleges are sent a copy of your writing sample, and you are not told which section of the test is experimental. That is 4 hours of analysis, reading, writing, and shear agony…I can’t wait to have this behind me!
In the interim, while I wait for this fateful day, I am studying for the exam. I wonder though... How exactly can someone study for a test that requires no memorization? For a test that does not test what you know, but how you think? The answer…very painstakingly. According to every test prep book I’ve read and every law student that I have talked to the best way to study for the exam is to just familiarize yourself with the format of the LSAT and to take as many practice exams as possible. Yes, Kaplan and Princeton Review classes can walk you step by step though special analytical models of how to approach the questions, but the best way to prepare for this exam is to dedicate time, and lots of it, to familiarizing yourself with the questions and improving your time.
With that in mind, my goal is to take 3 practice tests a week for the next 4 weeks before the test. Will my brain be fried? Probably. Am I going to be grumpy and irritable this January? You betcha. But am I going to own this test? OH YEAH! (It’s all about positive affirmation, baby!) So get ready LSAT because THIS IS SPARTA!
