Missed registration deadline for June LSAT

[Chrissy52]

So, I just found out yesterday that I missed the registration deadline for June . This is quite embarrassing for me to admit or even talk about, seeing that I'm halfway through the Live Online prep course, but I feel like at this point it is wise to get some insight regarding how to effectively prepare for the September 24th exam and to keep moving forward and not let this drag me down.

In a perfect world, my plan was to study for the June LSAT for a couple of months with the help of PowerScore, do well on the LSAT, finish up the rest of the application process by September and then travel a bit. But now that things aren't going as smoothly as I had planned, I need to develop a new game plan from scratch leading up to the September LSAT. On a side note, I don't feel too bad about this unfortunate situation, as up until now (5 weeks before the June LSAT) I'm not too confident with my progress or my focus on this exam which is why I wasn't too quick to register for it in the first place. So perhaps this is a blessing in disguise so I can dedicate more time to preparing for it. As relieving as it is to come to terms with the fact that I would actually be more prepared for the September exam, I have a few thoughts that are keeping me up at night and would really appreciate some well needed advice.

My first concern is regarding my resume for when I apply to Law School. I worked as a Paralegal for about 6 months and recently resigned in order to study for the June LSAT (I couldn't handle the stress of the job and putting in enough study hours). I left a little over a month ago and don't regret it as my priority is the LSAT and applying (resume, personal statement, letters of recommendations, etc.) by September. By September it will have roughly been six months without work. Though I currently volunteer a few hours a week for a non-profit pardons and expungements program for the State, I'm still worried that any law school I apply to will wonder why I have been out of work for over six months. Is this something I should be worried about? And how much does work experience weigh in on the admission's process?

My second concern is that I am worried about how greater the competition will be when I take the September exam as opposed to the June exam. I am currently aiming between a 155-163 to get into the three law schools I plan on applying to. Should a person aim for a higher LSAT score for the September exam than they would for the February or the June exam due to the rolling admissions process? Are schools typically less generous with their scholarships in September vs. June? Also, can I go ahead and start requesting recommendation letters now or is too early in the process?

Finally, I am afraid that now that I have practically 4 more months to prepare for this exam than I had initially planned, I'm afraid that I will subconsciously procrastinate (procrastination has always been a struggle and a habit of mine). Do you have any tips on time management, study habits, and self discipline when preparing for an exam 4-6 months ahead of time? I really don't want to take this exam more than once.

I apologize for asking so many questions, but any advice is highly appreciated to alleviate some of the anxiety I'm experiencing right now. Thank you in advance.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Chrissy,

Thanks for the questions! I'm going to answer this in stages if that's ok—I'm travelling at the moment and so it's tough to get the time to answer it all at once.

First, don't worry about missing the registration deadline. It happens all the time, and ultimately you may find that the extra time works to your benefit. In my experience, students who have longer periods of time until their LSAT tend to be more relaxed, are able to study more, and tend to score higher

Let's go through your questions one-by-one:

My first concern is regarding my resume for when I apply to Law School. I worked as a Paralegal for about 6 months and recently resigned in order to study for the June LSAT (I couldn't handle the stress of the job and putting in enough study hours). I left a little over a month ago and don't regret it as my priority is the LSAT and applying (resume, personal statement, letters of recommendations, etc.) by September. By September it will have roughly been six months without work. Though I currently volunteer a few hours a week for a non-profit pardons and expungements program for the State, I'm still worried that any law school I apply to will wonder why I have been out of work for over six months. Is this something I should be worried about? And how much does work experience weigh in on the admission's process?

Fortunately, this is not a concern! The law schools will not worry about your time off when it's this short a period. I've seen similar situations multiple times, and also spoken to admission committee members about this same scenario, and it's not a worry.

As far as work experience, one thing to remember is that in the not too distant past, very few law school applicants had work experience. Most came straight form undergrad, and so work experience was a non-factor. In recent years there have been more and more applicants with work experience (and by that I mean full-time jobs for a minimum of two or more years after college), but that number, while growing, still applies to less than half the applicants. I look at work experience as a plus—it can add to your candidacy, but it's not necessary for admission.

My second concern is that I am worried about how greater the competition will be when I take the September exam as opposed to the June exam. I am currently aiming between a 155-163 to get into the three law schools I plan on applying to. Should a person aim for a higher LSAT score for the September exam than they would for the February or the June exam due to the rolling admissions process? Are schools typically less generous with their scholarships in September vs. June? Also, can I go ahead and start requesting recommendation letters now or is too early in the process?

I actually wrote an article about this that might help: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/284 ... y-is-early. The gist of that is that if you take September and apply immediately after taking the test, you will be in the "early" cohort of applicants. So, on that front, you have nothing to worry about

I do think that when looking at scholarships money and admissions chances, the LSAT is always king in the process. For example, it's better to take a later LSAT if you can score even 3 points higher than on an earlier LSAT. The LSAT has such a great effect on your admission chances and financial package that minor score increases are worth the time delay. So, as an applicant, always attempt to score as well as possible. If that means a later LSAT, so be it. In your case, you've been pushed back into September, which as we saw above isn't really a "late" test. Thus, you now have the time to maximize your score. So, focus on that, and given your timeline the applicant pool won't be significantly larger or more competitive than from the start of the application window.

Finally, I am afraid that now that I have practically 4 more months to prepare for this exam than I had initially planned, I'm afraid that I will subconsciously procrastinate (procrastination has always been a struggle and a habit of mine). Do you have any tips on time management, study habits, and self discipline when preparing for an exam 4-6 months ahead of time? I really don't want to take this exam more than once.

We definitely can help, and you will have more than enough course material to keep working through the summer. I'll talk more about this aspect tomorrow if that's ok.

Alright, I'm back! The way to approach this process is to treat the extra time as a huge bonus, not a burden or a possible roadblock. You now have an incredible luxury: the ability to take your time and to move slowly through the material, return to troublesome topics, and take time away during your study process. Delaying your test date is a true blessing in disguise

The first thing to do is to set up a regimen that allows you to develop a routine for studying daily. For example, I might take a test every Saturday, and then fully review that test on Sunday. I might then take Monday off, and then study several hours on Tuesday through Friday (I would vary this up—some days I'd go for more hours, then fewer the next day, and so on). In this way, you start to know that on Mondays you always have a break, on Tuesdays you are studying 4 hours, etc. Having that routine makes it easier to follow. Since you do have more time, it is perfectly fine to study at a lower level in terms of hours-per-day. I'd still take some days and amp up the hours, partially because the LSAT itself is a grueling experience and you want to be mentally and physically ready for that.

You should also use some of the resources we have here to keep you on target. For example, reading the Forum regularly is both informative and it helps you feel more connected to other students and the test itself. Same for our blog: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat.

I'd also build in some blocks of time away from the LSAT. As I wrote on our blog, taking time away from the LSAT can be extremely beneficial. So, build on occasional weeks off from your studying, "LSAT vacations" as it were.

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!

[Chrissy52]

Hi Dave,

Thank you for answering my questions so thoroughly. The article you sent me did relieve a lot of my worries regarding my chances of getting into law school if I take the September/October LSAT. Now that I have more time to study, I am planning on studying less hours a day so I don't overwhelm myself or lose focus. (I know you said you will touch on this later so, I can't wait to hear from you if this is a good starting point or not). However, given the free time that I will have in the day, should I start on my personal statement and requesting recommendation letters now? If so, can I actually start applying to schools now as well as submitting the recommendation letters before I take the LSAT? I know that as far as the personal statement goes, it probably won't be ready until later in the summer because I want it to sound perfect.

Also, I would like to mention that I have actually graduated almost three years ago from undergrad. Since then I have interned and worked full time as a Communications Assistant for two years. My father became very sick shortly after I graduated and passed away the beginning of last year. Shortly after, I was laid off and was unemployed for about four months until I got the job as a paralegal and was there for six months. I know you assured me not to worry about my work history when I apply, but I thought I should mention this to you since I am not fresh out of college and in the past year, have had an unusual work pattern. I didn't know if this is something I should be explaining to schools when I apply.

You've been very helpful, Dave. Thank you again!

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Chrissy!

Ok, I answered your study question above, adding to my first response. Let's now turn to some of the questions in this post:

However, given the free time that I will have in the day, should I start on my personal statement and requesting recommendation letters now? If so, can I actually start applying to schools now as well as submitting the recommendation letters before I take the LSAT? I know that as far as the personal statement goes, it probably won't be ready until later in the summer because I want it to sound perfect.

The answer to you question in bold is: YES YES YES The rule is to always start early, take your time, and make repeated edits. Then set it aside for a week and do it all over again. If you'd like more info on how to formulate a statement and what the law schools are looking for, I held a seminar on the topic a while back, which can be viewed at: https://player.vimeo.com/video/94191768. Further info on the statement and apps can be found here: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/the-pow ... ource-list.

Same thing holds for your recs: start early, give your recommenders some guidelines and suggestions, and give them plenty of time. Here's more info on the process: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/how-to- ... mmendation.

While you can't yet apply to individual schools, you can open your CAS account and begin collecting all the data they need. Then, when the window opens, your info will be sent to the schools you select. The schools won't review your app until they have all the pieces, but having everything in place before it's needed speeds things up.

Also, I would like to mention that I have actually graduated almost three years ago from undergrad. Since then I have interned and worked full time as a Communications Assistant for two years. My father became very sick shortly after I graduated and passed away the beginning of last year. Shortly after, I was laid off and was unemployed for about four months until I got the job as a paralegal and was there for six months. I know you assured me not to worry about my work history when I apply, but I thought I should mention this to you since I am not fresh out of college and in the past year, have had an unusual work pattern. I didn't know if this is something I should be explaining to schools when I apply.

I'm terribly sorry to hear about your father! I've lost a parent, and it is awful. My condolences to you and your family.

On your work history, I think there may be value in explaining this to law schools, possibly as an addendum. It also depends on what you write your personal statement about—if your father's illness is part of that, perhaps it can be tied in there. If not, perhaps an addendum on the topic. Nothing extensive, just a brief explanation of events and reasons why.

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!

[Chrissy52]

Hi Dave,

Thank you so much for your advice. Since we last talked, I've had major test anxiety. I stopped studying all together and lost all motivation to study. I started to force myself to open my books and I find myself just staring into space and lose all focus, no matter how hard I try. I'm so disappointed with myself. I think it has a lot to do with me not working as well as some depression associated with losing my dad. I don't know what to do but what I do know is that each day I don't study, I'm potentially decreasing my chances of reaching the score I want on the LSAT. I don't know what to do but I'm certain I want to go to law school by next year. I guess what I need your advice on is how can I get back on track and how can I defeat my anxiety and gain focus again? What section or concept should I start focusing on first in order to maximize my productivity and use all the time I have to study sufficiently? For example, should I work on logical reasoning, or concepts or should I jump to my weakest section, logic games? I'm beginning to panic

Thank you!

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Chrissy,

Thanks for the update. I really appreciate you sharing this information with me. Test anxiety is an area of special interest to me (I'm very slowly writing a book on it, actually) and so I have a lot of thoughts here. Let's run through a few of those, and see if it helps at all

First, take a deep breath and relax. I could feel the panic in your message before you mentioned it at the end, but the excellent news here is that you still have plenty of time to study. I've worked with many students who didn't start studying seriously until July or August and who still did extremely well on the test, so at this moment you are just fine. There's no reason to panic and you can still study in an efficient and comprehensive manner.

Second, what you describe to me doesn't actually sound like test anxiety. To me, test anxiety is related to a fear of the test itself, and more specifically, a fear of the consequences of performing badly on the test. This anxiety manifests itself in a variety of ways, from a lack of interest in the exam as a whole to a failure to perform to potential during the actual test. Each person expresses the anxiety in a different way, which is one reason it's such a challenging area (and that also makes it interesting to me, but far less so to the people going through it, as you might expect). Instead, i think you actually identified the problem in your last message: depression. You've stopped studying and lost interest, but there are two clear events that could cause this, namely the death of your father and the fact that you stopped working (which removed a stable part of your life, leaving another hole in your life). Your loss of motivation has the hallmarks of you simply suffering from a serious emotional even in your life, and is not only understandable but completely expected. In the face of the loss of your father, exactly how important does the LSAT look? Not very, and so your lack of interest makes perfect sense. Knowing that the likely cause here is more related to depression than anxiety changes how you should react to it, and the steps you should take to get back on track. This is harder for me to give advice on, as I have less professional experience in this particular realm. I do believe from what you have said that your depression will eventually lift, and things will return to some semblance of normality. At that point, you will likely return to your career goals with greater motivation and interest. The problem is that it takes time, and with the dates of the LSAT set in stone, you know that you don't have the luxury of time. So how to jump start that process so you can get some quality work done while you emotionally process everything? I'm not sure. It's clear to em that you really want to attend law school, and so you have an internal motivation. Did your father support that goal? Was this something he would have urged you to do and to apply yourself to? If so, perhaps that would help energize your and give you the boost you need.

Last, you asked about how to get back into studying. Can you tell me what your section breakdown was like previously? I know your score range goal, but I'm not sure if you liked or disliked Logic Games, or how you felt about LR, etc. Knowing some of that would help me, because I'd suggest starting by working on topics that either interested you or that you enjoyed. Those are easier to stay interested in and what we want for you int he beginning is short sessions where you can do some LSAT work, feel good about doing it, and feel like the time you spent was reasonable enjoyable or worthwhile. I mentioned before that test anxiety interested me, and consequently I've written a lot about it on our blog (even done free seminars on it that you can view anytime on Vimeo). I put together a list of some of those resources, and you might find a few of them to be a really interesting yet easy way to start thinking about test taking in general and the LSAT specifically. The list is at http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/5-days- ... ource-list, and I'd suggest maybe reading the ones that look interesting to you. We tend to use real world examples and anecdotes in our writing, so usually that makes them more interesting (we hope!).

That's a start, and please let me know what you think about the above. Thanks!

[Chrissy52]

Hi Dave,

I can't put my finger on what the root cause of my anxiety is. I know I lack confidence about the LSAT. Every time I open the book, I have fear that I won't improve and that time is against me. And, I guess you are right about the pre-existing depression I have developed since my dad's loss. My dad's dream for me is to go to law school and become a lawyer. On a very personal note, this was one of the last things he told me on his death bed, so I am certain it will make him very happy and proud. That's why I'm developing anxiety about letting him down as well as letting the people around me down if I don't do well on this test, as everyone already knows I am studying to get into law school. I'm sorry if I'm speaking to you as if you're my psychologist, I know this is not your job or specialty, I just wanted to give you a bit of knowledge on where I'm coming from and what's causing my struggle.

I didn't start studying until I started the PowerScore online course in May. I would follow the same order as the books. I would do the drills and do the homework. I think what scared me the most was when I did the homework and realized I would only get only about half of the answers correct in the LR. This kind of brought my self esteem down a lot. I find that I have trouble understanding the stimulus. However, I think I did pretty good on the reading comprehension. Logic games has been my biggest struggle and I stopped studying that section due to my anxiety about it.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Chrissy,

Thanks for the reply! That's interesting to hear that because of your Dad you feel even more pressure here. One of the things you need to do is separate your performance on this test from the expectations of others. It's not an easy thing, but once you start focusing on outcomes and disappointing other people, you are in trouble. Instead, you have to focus on the process, and the enjoyment of learning new ideas. You can never control how other people feel, so you need to somehow diminish how that affects you. And, yes, I am most definitely not a psychologist nor do I play one on TV, but I've worked with many students and have often encountered the general situation you are in.

The thing about missing questions when doing homework is that there are two ways to take it: unhappiness because you didn't do as well as you hoped, or inspiration because of all you can learn when you don't answer a question correctly. Remember, getting a question right or wrong isn't a litmus test on you as a person, but rather an opportunity to learn more about how this test is made. I wrote about this last year on our blog, in an article titled The Benefits of Failure. Everybody misses questions. How you react to that can deeply impact your ultimate outcome. So, I'd recommend that you slowly start doing questions again, and when you miss one, track it. Keep a log (spreadsheet works well) of every question you miss, the type of question, and why. Over time, you'll find this is invaluable in helping you determine the little things you need to focus on. It also provides a record of how you performed in the past, and as you get better, it becomes a source of pride in that you can see that you're better (and you will get better!!).

Last note: LG allows for some of the biggest score increases, so the fact that it's your weakest section is a sort of hidden strength, if that makes sense. Don't let it intimidate you—this section can be conquered You simply have to be systematic in understanding what you are looking at, and the more you practice, the easier it becomes to make a setup, diagram rules, and draw inferences. And then very quickly you start to realize that you are getting better.

Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

[Chrissy52]

Hi Dave,

I want to thank you for thoroughly answering all of my questions. I think I am more calm about the exam than I was a few weeks ago. I'm working on not letting my failures put me down. There are 56 days until the exam and I have decided to study 4 hours a day until then. Perhaps I am wrong, but I think studying 8 hours a day is overkill (My friend who was studying for his dental school exam studied 12 hours a day for two months and kept encouraging me to do the same). However, I will have to bother you again with a few of my concerns.

I still have A LOT to improve on. I was sort of taking my time and not being on a consistent schedule these past few weeks and realized that I was wasting a lot of valuable time that way. I also haven't started taking any practice tests yet and will start today. I didn't feel ready to take them until I thoroughly went through lessons 1-4 (I've been listening to the video modules for each lesson, taking notes, making flash cards, and doing the homework). I'm thinking not taking any practice exams earlier is a big mistake, as I know how crucial it is to start taking practice tests as early as possible to give myself time to properly evaluate each exam and take as many of them as possible. I'm trying to get back on track and was thinking taking one every other day until the exam. And try to brush up on the question types I'm weaker on in between. What do you think about this study plan?

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi Chrissy,

Dave is on the road at the moment, so please allow me to weigh in on your question.

Yes, this is a great plan! I'd probably tweak it a bit so you don't take more than 3 practice tests each week, but other than that, I think it's fine. Also, make sure to add one (or even two) "experimental" sections to each practice test in order to approximate as much as possible the experience of taking the real thing. You can easily do that if you break up older tests and use their sections as "added" sections to your scored practice tests. Speaking of which, I'd probably take only tests that were published after 2008, and use the older ones as fodder for your experimental sections or just additional practice. I noticed you've taken one of our courses - the homework in it is drawn mostly from pre-2008 tests, so you should be fine.

Please remember that while taking practice tests is a critical part of any study regimen, it is not sufficient to guarantee success. It is absolutely imperative that you review your tests correctly. We've written a number of blog posts on how to review practice tests, so please make sure to check them out. I've included links to all relevant posts here: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/cogniti ... -be-stupid

Please let me know if you have any other questions, and best of luck over the next 2 months!