Most Strongly Supported LSAT Blogs

I haven’t had television broadcast into my home for about five years. Don’t worry, I’m not one of those self-righteous “Kill Your TV” jerks. I have an LCD and waste as much of my life in front of it as any other obese American; it’s just that I switched to watching everything on DVD a long time ago. If you couple that with Netflix Watch Instantly, you really won’t miss cable at all. The things you do technically miss out on (news and sports and being able to watch TV shows when they come out) should really be viewed differently (sports should be watched drunken in a bar or not at all, if you still watch televised news you’re probably not reading this because you’re elderly and afraid of computers, and watching TV shows back-to-back is a million times better than having to wait weeks or months between episodes – it took me days, not years, to realize that Lost was going to turn out to be really, really stupid).
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If you want to apply to law schools this coming fall (2010) to enroll next fall (2011), then you probably haven’t taken the LSAT yet. If you’re a junior who wants to go to law school right after graduation, then you’re in this boat. If you’re reading this, and planning this far in advance, then you’re already a step ahead of most people. But when to take the test? June, October, or December?

Technically you have four options, because you could take the February 2011 test and still apply for enrollment for Fall 11. But this really isn’t your best bet. A lot of schools won’t even allow you to apply, and those that do will generally say that it certainly lessens your chances of getting in and getting financial aid. You can make the February test work for you, but it is a last resort of sorts, so I’m going to take that off the table for this discussion (I should note, though, that if you’re not applying in the same year that you’re taking the test, then there is nothing wrong with the February test).
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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.
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Three years ago, I took the LSAT, and the memory stays with me like all the halcyon days of yore. Here’s a rundown of how I spent my time the weekend of the LSAT. As an added note, I took the test on the only day in the last eleven years that UCLA has defeated USC in football. A plan to take the LSAT every December has been proposed.

Disclaimer: This is mostly true. As it is a mostly-true story about my life, I recommend absolutely none of the actions taken by me.
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Originally posted 12/04/09.

We’re less than 72 hours away from ¡THE BIGGEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE!, and one of the most important things to do is eat right on Saturday. And this is coming from a guy who eats M&Ms for breakfast everyday (in a bowl with milk, with a spoon), so believe me, I’m serious. You’re about to get a three-hour long brain humping courtesy of the good people of Newtown, PA, and you need to be on your feet. So not eating breakfast is really not an option. You want something that is going to stick with you, so granola and yogurt is probably a better option than Cap’n Crunch. Eggs are probably a good idea, hash browns maybe not so much. Coffee is obviously important, but be careful to not drink too much or you’ll have to constantly pee. I have a sort of nutty student with a Capri Sun-sized bladder who developed a system of “tea shots,” where she brews 2 ounces of extra strong tea so that she gets the caffeine without the liquid. I had another who swore by those 5-Hour Energy shots that you get in gas stations. The important thing is that you’re fully alert and energized for when section one begins, so plan out your morning consumption in advance.
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Five days left before the February LSAT! In other walks of life, lots can happen in such a time span. You can acquire mad bowling skills, build a poorly constructed hut out of palm fronds, and watch enough Lost to wish for Dharma peanut butter.

But what should you do for the LSAT in 5 days?

At this point in the process, your mind-set is far more important than learning new information. Maintaining your calm on test day so you can get points with what you know will yield better results than taking practice test after practice test. So in the words of Douglas Adams, Don’t Panic. The LSAT is getting close, yes. And that is stressful. But there are ways to manage the stress while continuing to study productively.
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The LSAT is a mere week away.  What does this mean for you?  Well, if you’re not taking it, then nothing.  But if you are, you’re probably freaking out a bit, regardless of how prepared you may be.  If you haven’t studied at all then you have good reason to be pissing yourself, because you’re probably going to get hosed.  So good luck on the guessing.  For everyone else: you’re ready, but your nerves are probably trying to sabotage any confidence you may have.  So let me lay out some rules for this final week to keep the demons at bay.
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Due to the overwhelming tidal wave of popularity and support and unadulterated love for my previous post about old LSAT questions, I decided it was time for a second heaping serving of ancient LSAT goodness leftovers. Like I mentioned last week, the LSAT has been in its current incarnation since 1991, but before this it looked like some fever dream of SAT questions on acid combined with 1950s political incorrectness. Open your mouth and taste the rainbow:

Word Classification
This showed up in 1948, only to hibernate for a number of decades before resurfacing on Sesame Street in the popular “One of these things is not like the other” segment. What happened is that you would get five words, and would have to cross out the one that didn’t fit. Some of these required familiarity with things that you might not expect prospective law students to know, such as Chaucer, respiratory illnesses, and the respective sizes of mythical creatures. I’m also extremely pleased to report that dinosaurs made it onto the very first LSAT ever. Observe:
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You may have noticed that each released test is given a prep test number, in addition to the test date. The December 2009 will eventually be released as PrepTest 59, and they go all the way back to PrepTest 1, which was from June 1991. This was the very first “modern” LSAT in the way we see it today: two logical reasoning sections, one reading comprehension section, one logic game section, and an unscored experimental section. So 5 sections, 35 minutes each.

Since 1991, it has all been remarkably stable, with none of the above structure changing. Reading comp has gotten a little harder, in my opinion, and games have definitely gotten easier (a trend which might be slightly reversing itself). But changes have been very gradual (other than the sudden addition of comparative reading in 2007). Not everything used to be so stable, however.
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