First things first, a little about myself. I graduated from college in 2013 and have a fantastic support system around me. I'm from Houston Texas, the greatest city in the world (go Astros). My undergrad GPA leaves a lot to be desired, so if I want to get into a solid law school, I have to crush my LSAT. I'm not trying to get into an Ivy League school or even a top 25 school. Realistically, a school in the top 50 range is ideal for me. I've … [Read more...]
Mountain Climbing for the LSAT
I have an admission to make: I don't like heights. It's not that I'm petrified of them or can't deal with them, I just don't like them very much and they make me a bit nervous. Somewhat perversely, I've become fascinated with mountain climbing and have read numerous books on climbing Everest and other peaks. So of course the following climbing article in the New York Times caught my eye: El Capitan, My El Capitan. The article details Alex … [Read more...]
Do Law Schools View Multiple LSAT Attempts as a Negative?
This blog is from special guest, Spivey Consulting Group. One of the most persistent law school admissions myths is the notion that schools consider every LSAT score – or the average score – for individual applicants when assessing their admissions profile. This is a particularly tough myth to counter because it often originates from the carefully crafted semantics law schools themselves use in describing how they view multiple tests. The High … [Read more...]
The Most Dangerous Conditional Rule on the LSAT
On our LSAT Discussion Forum recently, I've been running into a recurrent question about a conditional reasoning rule. These questions revolve around a really tricky phrasing, one that has devastated test takers when it has appeared on previous LSATs. But if you can learn the idea, it takes something the test makers expect to be very difficult and turns it into something fairly easy. Plus, it's not that tough to learn! So what is this mysterious … [Read more...]
How to Walk into the LSAT and Destroy It
Leading up to the LSAT, many students ask me what they should be thinking about when they walk into the test center. I always tell them to focus on the following things:Relax. Stress is your enemy. Stop thinking about specific LSAT concepts—you've prepared enough at this point. Think instead about overall success, and visualize scoring well. Be confident. Scoring well is all about believing that you CAN score well. Get in the right frame … [Read more...]
How Do You Defer Law School?
The end result of applying to law school is--obviously, some might say--attending once you've been admitted. However, for some applicants, for a variety of reasons, this isn't possible. They may have every intention of attending, but things come up. It could be anything: A once-in-a-lifetime internship in a foreign country, the opportunity to take on a unique one- or two-year assignment, an unforeseen family or personal emergency. In that case, … [Read more...]
A Comprehensive List of Rarely Tested LSAT Logic Games (Outliers and Oddballs)
A tutoring student of mine asked me recently if I could put together a list of Circular, Mapping, and Pattern games that have appeared over the years, hoping to ensure that if the next test continues recent trends of LG weirdness he'll be ready.So while it's always a reasonably safe bet that you won't see any games like the ones noted below, savvy test-takers are ready for any eventuality. To that end, you'd be wise to review a few games from … [Read more...]
My LSAT Regimen with Marvin Dike, Part V: A Reflection
PowerScore student Marvin Dike blogs about his comprehensive study regimen so that our readers can learn from his experience. Make sure you read Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV. So my LSAT journey is over. Finally. I want to give you a rundown of my test day experience and my mentality. I'll also include a handful of things I learned, a few tips, and some things I would've done differently if I could start the whole process over knowing … [Read more...]
How to Handle “Even If” in Conditional Reasoning (Even If it Doesn’t Matter)
Most students confront conditional reasoning very early on in their LSAT preparation. They spend hours mastering the logic of conditional rules in Logical Reasoning stimuli and answer choices, and in Logic Games as well. To this end, students must memorize a number of common conditional reasoning keywords and phrases that help indicate the presence of this logic.Some of these indicators become incredibly obvious with practice. Many of us can … [Read more...]
4 FAQs About Law School Letters of Recommendation
US News and World Report recently interviewed PowerScore to ask questions about the law school admissions process, specifically about letters of recommendation. Since their magazine article didn’t use the entirety of our answers, we thought we’d post them here for you to use!Below are the four main questions we were asked, with each question followed by two separate responses. The first reply is from Dave Killoran, PowerScore’s CEO. The … [Read more...]
What is Yield Protection in Law School Admissions
In the world of law school admissions, the U.S. News and World Report’s (USNWR) annual law school rankings are always looming, in one way or another, in the background.For better or worse, the USNWR rankings are the most widely cited. For many, they are considered the gospel truth when it comes to law school rankings. They receive heavy criticism along a number of lines. Many criticize them for placing insufficient emphasis on employment … [Read more...]
Do Nontraditional Law School Applicants Have an Admissions Advantage?
Anyone who has been following posts on the PowerScore blog knows that I’m pretty interested in using data to get insights into law school admissions. For example:What factors might affect law school admissions decisions? To what degree do those factors have an impact? How do different facets of an application package affect admissions decisions at different law schools?So far, I have explored whether the timing of the application … [Read more...]
Why You Should Take the LSAT in June (and Not in September)
When taking the LSAT, timing when you should take the test is a big factor. A lot of students plant to the June LSAT, but when that test swiftly approaches, you may start to question postponing. Maybe you take a prep course, buy the Bible Trilogy, or invest in tutoring. If you see an uptick in your PT scores, that's awesome. If you aren't, then taking the June test becomes daunting. So, you may think that putting it off until September is a good … [Read more...]
Numbers and Percentages in Logical Reasoning Questions? Count On It!
The authors of the LSAT love to play with numbers. This makes sense when you consider that the LSAT is a test of logical reasoning, and math is completely logical. While it’s true that they sometimes test our understanding of actual numerical concepts, like averages and ratios, most questions are not testing your math skills. Don’t worry, you will never have to recall the Pythagorean theorem. Instead, they test your understanding of logical … [Read more...]