For prospective law school students, the LSAT, or Law School Admission Test, is the most important assessment they will come across in their educational careers, perhaps only rivaled by the bar exam upon completion of their education. An extremely high LSAT score can erase slightly low GPA’s, underwhelming extracurricular activities and even mild character issues in one fell swoop, in some cases giving mildly lackluster students second life. Even undergraduates at the top of their class should be intimidated by the influence the LSAT has over their post-graduate options. Just as easily as it can make a decent application into a great one, a poor score can turn excellent into mediocre as well. Keep these tips in mind as you approach the big test date because you can never be too prepared for such an important crossroads.Study Hard the First Time Though you can retake the LSAT, approach the test as if there were no tomorrow. Students who play it by ear, looking at their first LSAT as a practice run, often either do not score well and get discouraged, or score higher than expected and do not take the test again. For students with unexpectedly high scores, they are limiting their long term potential by selling themselves short, thus settling for less in terms of the quality law of school they might attend.Sign Up for a Prep Class A lot of students think they can do their own preparation work with just a book and a desk. Unless you are very naturally gifted and disciplined, budgeting time consistently in the months leading up to the exam, many test takers are disappointed with their self-tutored results. A class allows you to stick to a set out plan, proven to work by years of legal minds before you, without having to interpret your own strategies for a test you’ve never personally taken.Cramming Does Not Work No matter what kind of questionable study habits may have served you well in your undergraduate studies, waiting until the last minute before the LSAT is the kiss of death. The test is not built around memorization or formulas; it requires you to learn how to think in a way that may seem unnatural, which cannot be accomplished overnight.
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