LSAT Blogs

I’m going to address an easy topic today: your academic transcripts.

As you know, you need to submit your transcripts to the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). For complete instructions on how to do so, please check out the LSAC website: www.lsac.org. On the home page on the left, click on the "Transcripts" button, and you’re on your way.

Now is a good time to request your transcripts. It takes very little effort to do so, and during the time it takes for your academic institution(s) to mail your transcripts to LSAC, you can be working on the rest of your application. As I mentioned in an earlier entry, it is your responsibility to track online that your transcripts have been received by LSAC.

Once LSAC receives your transcripts, it recalculates your GPA. Sometimes the LSAC GPA differs from the one noted on your official transcript. A common occurrence is the university that allows you to retake a class and will use only the more recent grade when determining your GPA. On the other hand, LSAC may include both grades in calculating your GPA, creating a discrepancy between the two.

If the two GPA’s differ, call LSAC to inquire why. Then all you need to do is write a brief addendum, pointing out to the Admissions Office why the two don’t match.

"I can usually narrow down the answers to two choices. Then, I always pick the wrong one."

If this sounds like something you say, you’re not alone. This is one of the most frequent complaints among test takers. The good news is that your performance on these questions is better than you might think. The great news is that there are ways to approach this situation to further improve your odds of getting those questions right.

Let’s start off by understanding why this perception is often flawed. To help, let’s present it as a Logical Reasoning argument:

In reviewing the questions she got wrong on a recent LSAT, a student observed that, on 90% of those questions, she had the answers narrowed down to two choices – the correct answer and the incorrect answer. She concluded that, when she was able to narrow down the answers to two choices, she usually chose the incorrect answer.

So, what’s the flaw? The LSAT would possibly word it as so: the student fails to consider the number of questions she got correct when she was able to narrow down the answers.

Since students are usually so focused on reviewing their wrong answers, they tend to overlook all of those 50-50 questions they actually answer correctly. If you review your entire exam, rather than just the questions you get wrong, you may be surprised that you’re doing better on those questions than you might expect.

What’s more important though is this: how can you get even more of those questions correct? The answer involves attacking the answers from a different angle. Most people view the two remaining answers as two good answers; one is just better than the other. This is the wrong way to view them. The correct way is that, of those two remaining answers, one is correct and the other is wrong – explicably, demonstrably wrong.

Stop trying to convince yourself that one answer is better than the other. Instead, focus on looking for common LSAT wrong answer traps. Is one of the answers a little too extreme? Then it’s wrong. Does one of the answers approach the logic of the argument backwards? Then it’s wrong. Does one of the answers use the author’s words, but not quite in the way the author used them? Then it’s wrong.

If the two answers you’re left with are remarkably similar, look for the subtle difference. Usually, the one or two words that differ will break the wrong answer. If one answer says "people need…" and the other says "people can use…," then eliminate the one that isn’t consistent with the author’s tone.

No matter what, stop looking for the best answer. Instead, change your approach and start recognizing the many different ways the LSAT has to create subtle wrong answers. By developing an eye for these patterns, you should start to miss fewer 50-50 questions.

It’s one of the most common questions my clients ask me…and one of the hardest to answer.  Let’s say that you’re considering applying to a school for which your LSAT doesn’t quite fall within the 25th-75th percentile range that the school is looking for.  Should you retake the test?

As a Kaplan consultant, I advise you to contact your Kaplan instructor before making a decision.  Your instructor knows you best as he/she has been with you every step of the way.  Maybe you did extremely well on every section but one.  You and your Kaplan instructor can then discuss strategies relevant to your particular situation.

From the perspective of a former admissions officer, I’d most likely recommend that you retake the test because a stronger score will make your application more competitive for acceptance and scholarship.  I admit that it’s easy for me to recommend retaking the test; I’m not the one who is retaking it.

Here’s another thought.  Maybe your current score is a 149, and you retake the test and earn a 152.  You might think that three points is no big deal.  I disagree.  Three points is a great increase, and it’s beneficial to see a ‘15′ in front rather than the ‘14′.

I know it’s not an easy decision to make.  I also know that you’ll make the right decision for you.

While each law school’s application form is pretty straight forward, I would like to point out a few things.

Some law schools start accepting applications on September 1, others on October 15, or somewhere in between. You’ll find that information on each school’s website. As I mentioned in an earlier entry, you’ll be applying through the LSAC website, and it’s possible that the schools haven’t yet made available their applications for the Fall 2010 Entering Class. That’s ok. In the meantime, check out each school’s website because you may be able to find the Fall 2009 application, which will give you an idea as to the information you’ll need to provide.

There’s a question that asks you to indicate what area(s) of law you may be interested in. Don’t worry; there’s no right or wrong answer. But if you check the box – or write on the blank line – that you’re interested in estate law, as an Admissions Office reading your application, I’m going to wonder where they interest came from. Do you have work, life, academic or volunteer experience in this/these areas? If so, make sure you comment on it in your personal statement. Your experience will add richness to the classroom discussion; be proud of it.

Remember, even if a school’s application is not yet posted, you can still be working on all of the other pieces of your package (your transcripts, letters of recommendation and personal statement) so that completing the actual form is your last step before submitting all of your material.

A vast majority of questions in the Logic Games section ask for basic information such as "which of the following must be true?" or "which of the following could be false?" However, once in a while, the LSAT throws a curveball and asks a question that requires extra analysis to determine how to answer it. Here are two such examples (disguised a little so as not to spoil the games should you come across them in your practice):

1.) The ranking of the participants is completely determined if which one of the following is true?

The rules of any logic game will never provide a complete picture of the end result. A question like this is looking for one additional piece of information that will provide a definitive solution to the game. If you add an answer to the rules and something is still uncertain, then the answer is wrong.

For this question, let’s say we’re asked to rank five participants (A, B, C, D, E) in order of their performance in a race, and are given these three rules:

* A is ranked immediately higher than B.
* B is ranked second highest.
* C is ranked higher than D.

We know that B is ranked second highest. By the first rule, that makes A ranked highest. However, we’re still not entirely certain about C, D and E. We need something that would confirm their rankings.

If an answer said that C is also ranked higher than E, then we’d know that C is ranked third highest, but we still wouldn’t know if D ranks higher than E or vice versa. That answer would be incorrect. However, if an answer said that C is ranked lower than E, then we would know that the last three participants would be ranked E (third highest), then C (fourth highest) then D (lowest). The rankings would be definite, making this the correct answer.

2.) Which of the following could replace [a specified rule] and produce the same effect in determining the ordering of the participants?

It’s not entirely uncommon for the last question in a logic game to remove one of initial rules and replace it with a new rule. This question adds a new twist to the concept by asking us to provide the new rule – one that will result in same exact setup we had with the old rule. Basically, it boils down to figuring out which entities were impacted by the initial rule and finding a new rule that will impact those entities in the exact same way.

For example, let’s go back to ordering the five participants we talked about above. Say the question asked: Which of the following could replace the rule that B was ranked second highest and produce the same effect in determining the ordering of the participants? This removes the second rule which affects the direct placement of B and, in effect, the placement of A. The correct answer would have to re-establish both entities in the positions we had determined. So, an answer that claimed A was the highest ranked participant would do the trick. That would re-place A as the highest ranked participant. Then, in conjunction with the first given rule, B would be re-placed as the second highest participant.

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When you come across questions like these, it’s usually a good idea to make them the last questions you tackle in the game. They can be more time consuming, so stick to the standard questions first and solidify as many points as you can. However, when you come back to these questions at the end, take a few seconds to truly understand what’s being asked of you. If you approach it strategically, you can earn another point without getting rankled by an anomaly.

Ok, let’s start at the top…

The Admissions Committee has a two-fold goal: to bring in as competitive of a class as possible, while bringing in as diverse of a class as possible.

There’s no question that each school is looking for the strongest LSAT and GPA. At the same time, the last thing the Committee wishes to do is bring in a class in which everyone is from the same hometown, same high school, same college and same major. It makes for very boring classroom discussion. Instead, they’re looking for applicants who:

• Are in-state and out-of-state
• Attended private universities, state universities and community colleges
• Majored in biology, math, music, accounting, history, engineering, English, foreign language
• Just graduated from undergraduate school, as well as those who’ve been out of school one year, five years, ten years and twenty years

So what does this mean for you? Be comfortable knowing that there is no mold that you have to fit. A common mistake made by applicants is crafting an application that reinforces what the applicant thinks admissions committees want to hear. The committee doesn’t expect you to be an expert on the legal system, nor do they want to hear you pontificate on what your views are of the law (a major turn-off). Use your application to embrace your uniqueness, and combine that with your passion for earning a JD. Each stage of the application process (from writing personal statements to securing strong letters of recommendation) allows you an opportunity to showcase your unique story and your drive. We’ll address each piece of the application further in future blogs.