Most Strongly Supported LSAT Blogs

Ann Levine of US News dropped anvils of knowledge on unsuspecting potential law students this week.

In her piece on the US News blog on Monday, Levine asked the question, “Can You Really Go to Law School?” and answered it with a resounding “Sort of, as long as you enjoy Puerto Rico.”

“Just wanting to go isn’t enough,” Levine writes. “Be honest with yourself. Do you really have a chance to get into the law schools you want, or even to get in anywhere?”

Improving on my reading comprehension has been tough lately. When I first encountered reading comp, I was actually excited to get away from heavy diagramming and scenarios, at least for a bit. I obviously know how to read, and I’ve been tested on my comprehension in school since I can remember. Putting this skill to the test didn’t scare me at first. I figured I could just bank on my natural ability to decipher reading passages.

But, my unabashed confidence quickly exposed my Achilles heel. With logic games and logical reasoning, I am very methodical and detail-oriented from start to finish. In those questions, the fine details usually make the difference in sifting out the correct answers. With reading comprehension, getting lost in the details can cause you to miss the forest, as Trent Teti would say. As the passages and their respective questions have become more difficult, my number of incorrect answers has begun to increase as well.

Guess what? The rankings still sort of suck.

If the US News & World Report rankings didn’t already seem problematic enough, a few weeks ago Bill Henderson of Indiana University came to some conclusions that are a bit annoying, although not that surprising. Henderson is known for studying the rankings, and making models of the rankings to play with. Using these models, he was able to yet again show how these rankings are sometimes based on some crappy measures. Getting back to that in a second.

Just when you wondered why in the world someone would pay $400 for a pretty phone that breaks easily and gets terrible reception…

The dating website OkCupid recently released the results of a shocking new study. It turns out that people who own iPhones have had more sexual partners than people who own other smart phones.

As expected, this groundbreaking scientific breakthrough has convinced many to conclude that an inferior cell phone is the root of their sexual misfortunes. Yahoo summed it up best, when they claimed, “I guess this accessory really helps your game.”

Wow, apparently the halfway point in the lessons has come and gone and I didn’t even notice. I feel like I should celebrate with a belated Line Crossing Ceremony, minus the hazing. It’ll be great, instead of going before King Neptune; I can hit up Apollo for his logical blessings upon an LSAT n00b. Libations of Monster and coffee will be offered, Latin will be uttered, and I’ll boldly go into the second half of the course.

Come to think of it, I guess we did have a sort of Line Crossing. This past Saturday, we took practice exam number two which, while lamer than a party where you hang out with deities, was probably more useful. It was definitely useful having to do approximately four hours worth of questions because it gives you a sense of just how much endurance you need to have to take that test. Between taking the first practice test, going to classes each week, and taking the second test, I’d forgotten how draining that sucker is. By the end of section four, I was pretty much ready to check out mentally. You can only do so many problems before your brain starts going “Oh, HELL NO,” and then makes you miss stupid things like specific words in the prompts.

I received a tweet from one of our many millions of twitter followers the other day, asking me what I thought of the Economist story about the rise of globalization and its effect on the legal industry and what it meant for the LSAT.

Because it will take me 140 characters just to write the sentence you’re reading right now, I decided to tackle the question in a blog post.

The gist of the article is that, in an increasingly global economy, the legal profession is rapidly becoming the sort of profession where, if you’re at a high level, you can draw up contracts and hate your life all over the world; you’re no longer limited to an office building in the middle of some skyline. It then goes on to say that in certain places, the global legal trade (i.e. you or I deciding to practice law in India or wherever) is frowned upon, or even actively illegal.

Rumor has it that test-day nerves can get the better of you. All the work I put in will be represented by just a few hours of testing. By the time the October LSAT comes around, I’ll have studied for about three months, not including the logic course I took last spring semester. I am one to get very nervous in situations like this.

To help ease the tension, I’ve begun focusing more on the whole package: mind, body and soul. Sure, my brain is cranking out logical reasoning answers like a machine now, but I will be the first to admit that after a long day of studying, my body is exhausted. Then, I hit the sack, wake up and do it again. It’s not easy, and the reason I think I’m able to keep this going is because I want to do well so badly.

If you’re like me, and write an LSAT-related blog with a deadline that is nearly missed on a near weekly basis, you’ll know that one of the best ways to attack procrastination is by heading over to Wikipedia and hitting the “Random article” link. This hasn’t actually ever helped me write a blog, but it has been invaluable when it comes to finding ways to sit in a chair and not write.

I don’t know anything about cell phones, and mine currently still involves some pretty sweet flipping action. But hey, it can take pictures and shit.

So understand that what I say here is translated almost entirely from the Blueprint tech guy into recognizable English. Apparently, this new type of phone operating system called Android 2.2 has come out which basically allows you to watch Flash movies on your phone. Because Apple is comprised of a bunch of whiners who don’t want to run Flash on their phones because of some dispute with Adobe, you can’t watch our videos on an IPhone. Sprint’s HTC Evo is one of a few types of phones that currently does support Android 2.2.

What this means for you: You could literally work out and study for the LSAT. You could study the LSAT while walking to work. You could study for the LSAT in so many convenient ways that involves looking at your phone instead of a computer that I can’t think of. Maybe during the fifth inning of a baseball game.

So, if you’re interested in being able to watch Blueprint: the Movie almost anywhere, check out a phone equipped with Android 2.2.

I will now return to not knowing anything about cell phones.

Well, it’s that time again, brothers and sisters in arms (or number two pencils in this case). This Saturday is Practice Exam number two; time to step up and show that LSAT who’s boss. Or at the very least own the shit out of the problems we’ve learned to tackle so far. I’m not exactly thrilled to be taking the practice exam. I guess it’s like ripping off a band-aid, but, unfortunately, this is going to be about four hour’s worth of band-aid ripping on what will probably be a beautiful, sunny Saturday. This leaves me with two options: a) suck it up, and stop whining or b) learn to enjoy it. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not some weird academic-masochist and my “learn to enjoy” curve is pretty high, so I’m going with option “a” this time around. I have a sneaking suspicion that Blueprint is trying to get us to the option “b” side of things, eventually. Or at least desensitizing us to four hour mental marathons of logic.