Most Strongly Supported LSAT Blogs

It’s not a secret that we are not the biggest fans of the US News Rankings here at MSS. Trent has had multiple postings on the subject of the rankings and there’s no real reason to delve back into it except to say that the rankings themselves may or may not be an insidious plot by a evil mastermind living in a volcano.
(more…)

In an era where Humanities faculty are dropping like flies, law school faculty members have flourished. A study from the National Jurist indicates that the average law school increased its faculty by 40% over the past ten years.

This is a good thing, as it allows students to be in smaller classes with more access to the instructor and provides law professors with more time for scholarship. On the other hand, the increase in staffing accounts for 48% of the tuition increase from 1998 to 2008. Hmmm.

If asked, would a student desire a lower student to faculty ratio for lower tuition? Based on a highly technical and carefully conducted office survey that included two receptionists, a marketing assistant, and the IT guy, the answer was a resounding yes.
(more…)

Law school is a scary place. There are gigantic books filled with absurd Latin words and many people who, all things being equal, would prefer that you failed. So from my perch atop the widening gyre of 1L, I’ve decided to lend some advice on how to traverse the pitfalls of law school.

10. Skip an occasional class: I had classmates during fall semester that prided themselves on attending every single class session. This is not elementary school and you will not be given a certificate for the Perfect Attendance Award. You will get burned out and that will start to happen towards the end of the semester when you approach finals. The adage is true: law school is a marathon and not a sprint. If you take some time off throughout the semester, you will go into finals feeling saner, healthier, and happier than many of your classmates. And since it’s graded on a curve…you win!
(more…)

Last week, I explained to you how my LSAT score of 180 was a terrible burden to bear, but in so doing, I failed to explain how I attained that score. So now, dear reader, I present to you my patented, fool-proof, 100% guaranteed method for LSAT dominance (only 3 easy payments of $99.99 $39.99). How can I guarantee it will work? Well, I’ve never been one to brag (at least not to strangers), but my method has a perfect record – it has consistently delivered 180s 100% of the time, every time (and you’d be a fool to argue with results like that).

But rather than just share my method (much too practical and plain), I’d like to enliven the discussion (and simultaneously stroke my ego) by talking about the most interesting man in the world, myself (damn you, Dos Equis). I am going to share my story for the first time – a tale of luck, laziness, and determination – a trifecta of conditions that together wove their way into a perfect storm of LSAT mastery. That’s right, my score was more a product of circumstance, rather than a singular manifestation of my awesomeness.
(more…)

When people first look at the LSAT, they often feel great terror, as if they’re looking into the face of some rabid platypus that is going to rip your nuts off with his crazy freak bill. Most people attack the platypus head on with the baseball bat of LSAT study. If you strike the creature long enough, in a methodical, patient, focused, and driven manner, he’ll eventually expire, opening the doors to law school success. Hurrah! But for some, his beady eyes and foaming bill are just too terrifying, and while protectively clutching their crotch run to the seemingly comforting, yet soul-breaking arms of business school (which in the world of my schizophrenic metaphors would be a cuddly panda made of money who eats your heart out of your chest with a grapefruit spoon).

(more…)

Since more students took the LSAT in October 2009 than in any single administration in the history of the test, it’s not surprising that law school applications are up. However, we were shocked just to see how up they are. The Herald News reports a 132% increase in applicants over last year at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Yes, you read that correctly. Other schools around the country are reporting increases in their applications, too. Does the news mean you’re doomed? That it’s time to trade in the dream of a JD for a hair net and a name tag? (more…)

I’m not a patient man. I’m tyrannically intolerant of lateness, to the point of leaving a friend of mine momentarily stranded on her way to the airport because she was ten minutes late in being ready (eventually, I had an attack of conscience and turned back). When I’m on two-lane highways, and an 18 wheeler pulls out into the left lane to pass another 18 wheeler, I inevitably follow close behind and attempt to pass it on the right as soon as we clear the other truck. I once contemplated running down a sweet, old woman in a crosswalk simply because she wasn’t moving fast enough.
(more…)

Yes! I am half of the way through law school.

This means that I am a 2L, and I have just completed three out of six semesters in law school. The good news is I’m halfway there. The bad news is I still don’t have a job.

Let me take you back, way back, to when I was like many of you MSS readers. I took the LSAT, researched law schools and whether they are located in cities that have Trader Joe’s, Pottery Barn, and J.Crew, wrote my personal statement, applied to several schools, then nervously ran to the mailbox every day to await the results. A flurry of letters later, I basically narrowed down my options to two schools: a tier-1 school with a little scholarship money, or a lower-tiered school with a full scholarship.
(more…)