As advisors, you probably have been asked more times than you’d like to remember what it actually takes to hit a goal LSAT score– we hear the same thing. So today is a great opportunity to share with your students a simple, foolproof prescription for test day success. Utilizing these four pieces effectively means planning ahead (a frequent student issue), so we try to continue to encourage our students to follow your best advice and fill out a calendar, and to go through our pre-law school admissions checklist as soon as possible!
Time:
Timing is a huge factor on test day, of course, but the time I am talking about here is the amount of minutes, seconds, and hours a student can really commit to studying for the LSAT. For the vast majority of our students, this is not a two week process: we recommend putting an average of 100-120 hours of preparation toward the test itself. Students should take a good hard look at their schedules now, and plan ahead. Students who find they have a very limited amount of time per week must start prepping many months in advance. The LSAT does not lend itself to a crash diet for students targeting big increases; students need to be realistic with their goals based on how much free time they have and how ambitious their goals are.
Action:
Almost everyone thinks about law school for a long time before actually taking the plunge and looking into applications, registering for a test date, and choosing their LSAT preparation game plan. That is as it should be! That doesn’t mean, however, that all those thought processes actually count toward a serious, goal-oriented law school admissions gambit. That clock starts ticking once a student comes to you and actually starts filling out applications, taking a prep class, and moving toward their target. There’s no time like the present for students who are on the fence to get in on the action. The longer someone is actively engaged with LSAT material, the better the sense of the test. If there’s one thing that will be stressed above all others in a Kaplan LSAT class, it is the predictability of test day material. A student can only get there by putting one foot in front of the other and seeing it live, in real test questions.
Strategy:
If working with LSAT material was all it took to get a 180 eventually, we wouldn’t be in business. We have all encountered that student who just took a billion real practice LSAT tests, every single day, as her sole means of preparation. For students who are already scoring very high, this might work out. But for most people, throwing time at LSAT material without the structure of strategy does not lead to long-term, serious point increase. Familiarity with the test is absolutely necessary for success, but it is not generally sufficient. Digging deep into the way the test makers craft questions, passages, and games means students will never be at a loss as to what to do next and how to replicate victories. It takes real strategy to achieve LSAT brilliance!
Killer Instinct:
I have told every LSAT class that I have ever taught that confidence is the great “unteachable” factor on test day. When I say unteachable, I don’t mean that a student can’t gain confidence from a great teacher (or a great advisor), but in the end the student will have to be able to take the next step and stand on her own two feet when confronted with questions on test day. Applying accurate strategies, taking appropriate actions, and setting up a successful schedule are the ways to gain a killer instinct on test day that will serve every student well in law school and in that eventual legal career. Everything about “LSAT thinking” prepares students for “law school thinking” and “legal thinking”; that’s why the LSAT is such an accurate barometer of success in law school and beyond. Students can and should get that preliminary training right from the start, setting themselves up for a stress-free (or as close to stress-free as possible) test day experience.
