Archive for January, 2012

Eating for a 180: LSAT Brain Food

Jan 30th, 2012 / 0 Comments

Just before each LSAT, we like to repost these tips for feeding your brain for the LSAT. If you’ve read them before, you’ll get a refresher, and if you haven’t seen our posts, they’ll likely come in handy. Don’t forget to eat for brainpower! Bon appetit!

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These days nearly everyone recognizes that the foods they eat affect the appearance of their bodies; however, most people fail to realize that what they consume also has a considerable impact on how their brains work. Your diet can affect your brain’s energy level, memory, and the efficiency with which it handles its tasks. What should you eat on the days leading up to the LSAT to make sure your brain is operating at peak levels?

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LSAT Prep

“Which LSAT should I take?”

Jan 26th, 2012 / 0 Comments

Part of what makes the LSAT the LSAT is how intricate this seemingly straightforward standardized test is. And I’m not even talking about the inherent complexity behind a logic game, or the sheer weight of the words and concepts in a reading comp passage. No, law school applicants, I’m talking about something that should be particularly easy to determine (but, for many applicants, isn’t): When the best time to take the LSAT is.

I recently spoke to a student on the phone who was planning on applying to law school this fall for entry in next year. He wanted to go over a detailed plan of attack for everything: When to start working on his applications, when to start drafting his essays, when to ask for letters of recommendation–everything. The conversation drew to a screeching halt, however, when I posed what I considered to be a fairly simple question: “So, when are you planning on taking the LSAT?”

Silence on the other end of the line. Then, “Well. I. I was thinking that–I guess I just thought I would just take it when I was ready.”

Which is certainly a valid response (and one that I praised, since students often take the LSAT without being fully ready to take it, which is definitely detrimental). However, the decision of when to take the LSAT should be based on a little more than your overall preparedness (although that is certainly a very important factor). It should also be logistically timed so that it is as beneficial as possible to your application cycle.

So, what did I tell this student?

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Admissions Tip Of The Week

2012 Law School Application Deadlines

Jan 25th, 2012 / 0 Comments

It’s that time of the year, guys and gals. It’s deadline season. Time to get all your ducks in a row and get everything where it needs to be. To help you out with this process, here are the deadlines for all ABA-approved law schools. Note, these deadlines were compiled from information provided by LSAC; however, it is always a good idea to double-check with the schools themselves to make sure that the deadlines haven’t been moved. If you see any errors or changes, you can let me know by commenting on the post, or sending me an email – achaconas (at) powerscore (dot) com.

Below, I’m providing you with two lists: One is sorted by school name, alphabetically, and the other is sorted by application deadline.

NOTE: A considerable number of schools–including some T14 schools–have their deadlines on February 1st and February 15th. If you haven’t gotten your apps together (and you really should have by now, if you’re considering schools of T14 caliber), then stop whatever you’re doing and get it done right now. LSAC can take up to two weeks to process your transcripts and letters of rec, and that’s after they’ve received the documents from your recommenders and schools. There is most certainly no time to be wasted (as you can tell by my enthusiastic use of italics, I’m very adamant on this point–GET IT DONE.)

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Law School Admissions

Reading Comprehension: Skimming Not Advised

Jan 20th, 2012 / 0 Comments

Excerpted from the PowerScore Reading Comprehension Bible

In theory, it might seem that skimming could add some degree of efficiency, but in practice this is not the case. In fact, this approach actually reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the Reading Comprehension section.

Skimming might be sufficient to absorb lighter materials, such as newspapers or magazines, but that is because those types of materials are written with simplicity in mind. A newspaper editor wants readers to know half the story by the time they have read the headline, and magazines put the most attention-grabbing pictures on their covers; these publications are trying to draw you in, to entice you to make a purchase. The makers of the LSAT, on the other hand, are well aware that they are dealing with a captive audience; they do not feel any pressure to entertain (as you may have noticed), and passages are chosen based on completely different criteria.

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LSAT Prep

Tips for crafting a top-notch personal statement

Jan 19th, 2012 / 2 Comments

Apart from your LSAT and undergraduate GPA, the personal statement is certainly the most important aspect of your law school application. It is the one part of your file that is solely you–your voice, your experiences, your story, told in your words. Every day, as we help students put together exceptional applications as part of our law school admissions counseling programs, my counselors and I dispense tidbits of personal statement wisdom that we hope help students craft a top-notch, unforgettable, impactful essay.

Without further ado, here are some of what I believe to be some of the most salient morsels of advise I’ve seen this admissions cycle–right from the mouths of PowerScore’s law school admissions counselors.

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Law School Admissions

To add or not to add a conclusion?

Jan 12th, 2012 / 0 Comments

I recently helped a student cut a 4-page personal statement down to a lean, mean, Oh-Wow-I-Can’t-Believe-We-Squeezed-It-Into-Two-Pages essay. She needed a 2-page statement for several schools that required it and, although this client had a number of experiences we agreed showed some tremendous personal qualities, I felt one of the experiences needed to be removed because there simply wasn’t enough room.

It was one of the toughest editing jobs I have done in a while. Once we were done, the student told me she was happy with the statement, but wondered if it should have a conclusion. After some thought, I gave her two reasons for why it did not need one.

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Admissions Tip Of The Week

Which schools accept February LSAT scores?

Jan 12th, 2012 / 0 Comments

With the February LSAT and application deadlines right around the corner, it’s worthwhile to know which schools accept the results of the February LSAT, which don’t, and which ones accept it but wish you’d taken an earlier one.  Below is a list of the law schools with application deadlines from January to March, along with their take on February LSAT scores.  Schools are separated into four categories:

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Law School Admissions

LSAT Study Tips for the Home Stretch

Jan 11th, 2012 / 0 Comments

Test-taking season is upon us! To get in the mood, take a look at this article on Wall Street Journal: Toughest Exam Question: What Is the Best Way to Study? While the article is geared predominantly towards SAT/ACT-takers, most of the suggestions in it can prove useful to someone preparing to take the LSAT. With a month left until the February 2013 examination, here’s how you should tailor the recommendations in the WSJ to your study regimen.

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LSAT Prep

The Genesis of an LSAT Question, Part II

Jan 9th, 2012 / 1 Comment

Continuing on with our discussion from Part I, let’s take the text from the article and turn it into a proto-LSAT Logical Reasoning stimulus:

    “In the country of Downlandia, over 100,000 people currently live in towns with populations of fewer than 100 residents. This is an increase of over 20,000 people from a decade ago.”

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LSAT Prep

The Genesis of an LSAT Question, Part I

Jan 6th, 2012 / 1 Comment

The other day I was reading an article about a town in the US with just two residents. In the middle of the article, the following text caught my attention:

    “The 2010 Census found 13 hamlets with one or two residents, including Lotsee, Okla., Gross, Neb., and Bonanza, Utah. About 119,000 people live in towns with fewer than 100 residents, up from 79,000 a decade earlier. Mr. Cantrell suspects the increase is due largely to towns shrinking below the 100-resident mark as residents die between the two censuses, rather than any influx of people into tiny towns.”

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LSAT Prep