first, good luck to anybody else taking it

second, i'm consistently getting 160-166 on my practice tests and i'm using the Harvard Curvebreaker's method of study

has anyone else used this method? im not weak in any one area, in fact i almost always miss the same amount of answers in every single section (around 6 or 7) so im not sure if this last week I should concentrate on Logical Reasoning since it makes up a larger percentage or keep taking practice tests as a whole

6/7/2008 8:36:14 PM

you will feel like you got beat, kicked, and raped after that exam.


I hated it.


are you doing a real simulated practice? Or are you doing a section, grading, doing a section, grading, etc?

[Edited on June 7, 2008 at 9:46 PM. Reason : .]

6/7/2008 9:46:17 PM

i took the gmat...sucked massive donkey balls

6/7/2008 9:52:55 PM

im only scoring when i do a real simulated test following the exact time requirements and being alone in a quiet room

i am using alot of scrap paper and im not sure how much room ill have to work in reality but i dont want to write all over my booklets because i like to rework the problems over again weeks later until i get them right

6/7/2008 10:26:32 PM

you get a desk. you should be fine. Good I'm glad you weren't doing a section and grading because that would probably add a good 10 points to your exam just from the mental break.

6/7/2008 10:32:23 PM

i just wasnt sure if i get as much scrap paper as i want

but i usually had at least 1-4 minutes left after each simulation and then id reset the stopwatch, except for the logic games section ill occasionally not finish but only by 2 questions or so

6/7/2008 10:34:55 PM

I was getting anywhere between 160 and 170 on my practice tests and I ended up w/ a 165 on my actul LSAT... and I felt like I totally fucked it up as soon as it was over..

They are a pretty good barometer of success (i did Princeton Review)... of course I decided against law school just before I was going to start at Villanova!

[Edited on June 7, 2008 at 10:37 PM. Reason : keep taking practice ones if you have them...]

6/7/2008 10:36:22 PM

The LSAT last September was more difficult than any practice test I had taken. I felt like I completely screwed the whole thing up. Five people walked out of the room before it was finished. But... I ended up doing pretty well. You don't have to get everything right, you just have to get more right than the other people!

6/7/2008 10:43:26 PM

well i know you get a certain amount of time to evaluate whether you want to cancel your score, but everything ive read suggests you not do it unless you didnt finish on alot of the sections

i like to mark how many questions i really am not sure of and usually i miss close to double that amount, lol

6/8/2008 9:03:17 AM

I took it with absolutely no prep and did very well on it, but the same problem came into play as it did back in high school with the SAT, where my extremely poor GPA countered it and made my look like a gross underachiever, which I was.

I got several brochures and applications from UNC, Georgetown and a few Ivy league schools, and all was well until they saw my 2.2.

I never seriously considered law school and always thought of it as a fallback option if I couldn't find a good job soon after graduation, but I took care of that, so I put law school on the backburner for now.

Good luck to GoodLock.

6/8/2008 10:51:56 AM

i know several people who have gotten into good schools with high lsats and low gpas. although maybe not as low as a 2.2.

i did not crack a book for the LSAT and i didn't do phenomenal (as one would guess) but i didn't do terrible either. and i had a decent gpa. so above average in the gpa and lsat field got me into some decent schools, wait listed at a few, etc. i think i am happy where i am now because i had the opportunity to get a scholarship and got nominated for a few more. it really came down to what i thought would be the best deal...weighing school and money, etc.

6/8/2008 1:24:35 PM

my GPA isnt great but thats because my first two years i was a chem major and then i changed to crim justice in which i averaged a 3.2, hopefully they just look at my major gpa or my last two years that i kicked ass in

a 160-170 LSAT would be great, anything lower and id be dissapointed

6/8/2008 2:35:00 PM

yea my gpa was higher than that but like i said not phenom on the lsat. i wanted to get a 160 on mine but w/o studying i just missed it oh well its my own damn fault and i honestly don't care. i don't have any desire to practice--just want the degree. and like i said i still got into decent schools and waitlisted at some (what i consider) really good ones. although i also applied to schools based on what i was interested in (which is environmental/international), rather than overall school name. so i applied to places like vermont, which isn't high up in the overall rankings but it has a badass environ program. interestingly, in the end, i chose a school that isn't known for anything in particular yet as it is new. it is odd because that was the last place i wanted to go at first---i applied only as a safety. and it does suck a little bit that there are several people who go to Elon who ONLY got in there (again prob because it is new). that made me regret my decision shortly after i got there because i wondered if people looked at me and thought like "what an idiot." BUT after the first year i think i made the right choice as far as money and scholarships go. and i'm honestly not 100% sure i'm even going back. i'm like 70% sure. i think i'll finish since i already did the year but, once i got into law school i realized i am in the small % of people who would like to use their law degree to pursue a career that ISN'T practicing (i still want to do something in the political arena though). i enjoy the classes but really dislike the people (for the most part, not all) and the mentality overall. i'm competitive, but not cut throat. i have high standards for myself so i am competitive in that nature, but i don't go around boasting about my grades and trying to push other people down. i just really hate that atmosphere. so that has really been the hardest part for me. that and the work ethic. its not that the classes are necessarily hard as far as material it is more the TIME and EFFORT that has to be put in in order to do well.

ANYWAY i'll stop rambling now. good luck i'm sure you'll be fine. i mean you are studying hard you will definitely be fine.

6/8/2008 2:56:17 PM

Didn't that trogdolyte Wolfpack2k got into law school with a 2.2 GPA in political science

6/8/2008 3:01:32 PM

I did really well on the practice LSATs (mid 160s most of the time with a few outliers in both directions), but only managed a 160 when I took it. I was later told that was the hardest LSAT they had given in the past five years and that schools were setting curves accordingly...which made me feel better because I have a good history of performing very well on standardized tests. Luckily my GPA was pretty good too, so I got into most of the schools I wanted to, but ended up going to a lower-tiered school that offered me the most money.

Not regretting the decision in the least bit, but also don't know if I'm going to practice either. Studying for the Bar right now...and will probably do more studying in the next 4 weeks then I did in 4 years of undergrad and 3 years of law school combined....AWESOME!

6/8/2008 3:02:14 PM

I took it stoned drunk high on PCP with a hooker and I got a 163. Hope this helps.

EDIT: Okay truthfully I thought I did terrible on it too as soon as it was over (I actually did completely bomb the logic games but I only missed like 4 on the rest). You will think it was awful but don't cancel your scores unless you just guessed on everything.

EDIT 2: Do better on logic games than I did.

[Edited on June 8, 2008 at 7:05 PM. Reason : .]

6/8/2008 7:01:57 PM

does lawyering still pay well?

you'd think it'd be oversaturated by now

6/8/2008 9:45:13 PM

don't cancel your score unless you like seriously don't finish a lot of the questions. i know a couple of people who have totally bombed the lsat and i don't understand how that happens. i really don't. i feel like even if you take it cold you should still get a 155. or at least make it into the 150s.

and ^ yes, it is over saturated in some areas. it just depends really.

6/8/2008 9:55:53 PM

There are certain fields and geographical areas that are oversaturated but the article from the Law School thread in Old School uses numbers from either 2005 or 2006 and the median starting salary for a UNC law grad was $100,000, Duke was around $110,000, and Wake was around $65,000. So yeah as long as you do well in school you can certainly stack some cheddars.

6/9/2008 12:33:25 AM

Quote :

"does lawyering still pay well? you'd think it'd be oversaturated by now"

It really all depends. Depends on the area of practice and the area of the country/state you're in. A decent number of law students struggle right out of the gate...but in general, if you stick with it, you'll be sitting pretty six or seven years down the road (or even earlier if you get luck/work your ass off).

North Carolina is extremely saturated with lawyers right now. There are like 6 or 7 law schools in NC right now? I'm in SC and there are now 2 law schools. Charleston is a bit saturated with lawyers, Columbia and Greenville are getting close, but you can go small town and get a job just about anywhere.

6/9/2008 12:55:05 AM

Oh hey speaking of, if anybody from the Old School thread is reading this, are any of you doing patent law?

6/9/2008 9:39:36 AM

Well, The Pope Center did a study and determined that NC had fewer lawyers per capita than most other states.

Law firms are still pretty busy, but are feeling the effects of the recession. Small to mid size firms pay far less than big firms. However, law firms lose money when they bring in a new associate and it takes a while for that person to build and bring in their own clients.

With the economy like it is, firms are holding off on hiring, just in case things continue to slow down. Fewer firms participated in the State Bar Job Fairs and a record number of students submitted applications. Historically, most of these students received job offers from their summer employment or placed with a firm well before Christmas their 3L year.

With only two affordable law schools in NC, debt is outrageous and a lot of law students find it difficult to pay their loans upon graduation.

I've heard of a few big CLT firms actually laying off associates and most firms are very hesitant on their hires.

[Edited on June 9, 2008 at 9:48 AM. Reason : k]

6/9/2008 9:46:05 AM

That's why I went to the school that gave me the most money and continued to work a part time job throughout law school. I'm graduating with very little debt and plenty of money saved in the bank.

I still have no idea what I'm going to do, but I'm comfortable financially and I'm not freaking out about not having a job right now.

6/9/2008 10:32:21 AM

a friend of mine is taking it on June 16.

6/9/2008 10:40:00 AM

So how'd you younguns do

6/18/2008 4:14:57 PM