Feb LSAT- Am I too late??

[FoxyBlue]

I'm very seriously considering applying for entrance into Law School, Fall of 2007.

Am I too late to start prepping for the February administration of the LSAT?

I realize I am cutting it close, but I am I completely sunk at this point? I'm a fairly intelligent girl and I tend to do well on standardized tests, but I have not heard any first hand accounts from anyone who has taken the LSAT.

Any thoughts or advice from anyone who HAS successfully taken the LSAT?

Thanks!

PS- A teeny bit of background: I graduated with a BBA in Accounting (3.4 GPA), and have been working for one year in Accounting. I got a 1260 on my SAT way back when, with next to no preparation. Not great, but not terrible considering that I walked through a very basic prep program ONCE months before I took the exam.

I have been at my job long enough that I am comfortable with my work and think I could handle the 'mental stress' of adding time for studying (for the LSAT) now. I've kind of decompressed from school now and am in a better frame of mind to start another big undertaking.

[SingleWhiteFemale]

I'd was looking at fall 2007 for law school as well (now thinking grad school instead... I'm confused :o ). I'd say yes, you're really cutting it extremely close. The schools I were looking at had rolling admissions, but the final dates were March 1. For a February test admission date, I don't even know if it would be possible for them to have your scores over to the schools you're applying at by that date. I got sick :( at my administration of the exam (nerves and greasy McDonalds breakfast do not mix), but the earliest time you the testtaker could get the score was a little over 3 weeks after the administration of the exam.

A good chunk of the LSAT is logic. I raked in a 1300 on my SAT a few years back, and scored in the 95th percentile overall of the ACT. I'm good at logic puzzles. However, to do well, a decent amount of prepping is needed. The Kaplan, Barron, etc books were way too light... nowhere near enough, full of fluffity stuff. But, they are good to borrow from the library so you have additional questions to practice on--it is just their strategies lack. The problem for me isn't solving logic puzzles--easy peasy to me--but the time issue. You can have 4-8 questions per logic game to answer, and if you divide the allotted time equally among the puzzles, that is about 8 and a half minutes per puzzle. Cramming at the end did me absolutely no good--I would be staring at the page, not reading it, because nothing else wanted to go into my brain! However, prior to me getting ill, I was doing really well. I did several months of prep. Not hardcore by any means, but 20 pages here, another chapter there, at my leisure. The books I used really broke it down so it made it really easy to find the giveaways in the question to make it super quick to know which answers weren't good enough. Unfortunately with the reading section, there isn't really a "wrong" answer--they tend to all be really good at answering the qurestion, you have to sit an tether out which is actually the best answer!

If it was me, I'd try to take the late summer LSAT, then the September one if need be, and apply early for the fall 2008 semester. I felt comfortable taking the September test because if I blew it, I would always have another shot in December if I so decided for it. Plus, knowing my university school, it could take an eternity for them to send out my transcripts, and I wouldn't want to have a semi-complete file, but get not even get it looked at because it lacked my transcripts. But, there are essays and other stuff involved in the application.

ETA: The book I used to prep were the PowerScore Logic Games Bible and the Logical Reasoning Bible. $130 for both of them new from Amazon. If you're interested, I'd be willing to sell mine to you, they're in virtually new condition with little writing and purchased in July 2006.

[FoxyBlue]

I'm torn too, but I like the option of entering law school now and knowing there's an option to add an MBA.

Let me think about the book thing. I've got to look up some more info about deadlines for test taking and figure out if I can even afford to apply for 2007.

Good point about transcripts and such! I hate to lose a year, but if I'm not accepted I 'lose' it anyways. Might as well make one good shot at it.

[karlatta]

My DH's law school (University of Houston) has a joint JD and MBA program, so that you can get both at the same time. I don't know anything about it, but you may want to look into something like that.

My DH didn't study for the LSAT very much at all, and got into law school. He didn't have a fantastic score, but it was high enough for him to get in. So it can be done, but I'm not sure I would recommend it. (I think he took 3 practice tests out of a Kaplan book or something like that.) I believe that he did take the September exam so that there would be plenty of time to get all of his stuff into the admissions office. And I looked on the Law School Admissions Council website (http://www.lsac.org/), and they state this:

Many law schools require that the LSAT be taken by December for admission the following fall. However, taking the test earlier—in June or October—is often advised.

Good luck making your decision!

[Aimee]

It depends. Are you looking to get into a top-tier school, or just school? Your score is much more important if you're looking to get into a very competitive school.

I took the Feb LSAT in my junior year of college (I plan ahead, what can I say?) I prepped for a few weeks before hand, on my own with a book. I took it again in September of my senior year, also with just a few weeks of self-prep and scored 8 points higher, putting my final score in the 80th percentile. That was fine, because I was only applying to the three schools within Louisiana, and none of them are a Harvard-Yale-Stanford. I also had a 3.8 undergraduate GPA in my favor. I was easily accepted to all 3 schools and got scholarship money at 2 of them.

So, a few weeks was more than enough time for me to prepare for the LSAT. However, a February test date may be too late to gain admission for Fall 2007.

[amew]

I took six practice tests on my own but did nothing else in the way of LSAT prep, and I did very well. Percentage-wise, I performed just about like I did on the SAT and ACT years before. If you generally perform well on standardized tests, then you will probably perform well on the LSAT without a ton of preparation. My advice: Take a practice exam (timed and all at one sitting, as though you were taking the real thing) and see how you do. If you are more than 10 points or so from where you want to end up, you might consider waiting. If you score close to what you need to give you at good shot at admission to your top-choice schools, go for it. Taking a few practice exams to get the timing down can easily up your score by several points.

[granada]

Like Aimee said, it depends on what school you want to go to. It sounds like you still want to work and go to school, so you will probably want to go to a school nearby. Take a look at what the range of LSAT scores their admittees have. If you don't necessarily want to go to a school that's considered "top tier," then you might still be able to take the February LSAT. If you start now, you might have enough time to prepare. Plus, a lot of the regional schools have rolling admissions, so you can still submit your February LSAT score and get in for fall, or maybe spring. If you want to get into what's considered a "top tier" school, you might be too late for the application period. A lot of them have November or December deadlines, if I remember correctly.

I understand the desire to start asap once you've made your mind up, but it might not hurt to take some time, research what schools you really want to go to, whether they have what you're looking for, and spending some time studying for the LSAT.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

[FoxyBlue]

I'm going to see if it is even feasible to apply for the fall of 07, but if it is not I think 2008 would be a good goal. I might have a better shot at the full time day program there.

No, I am not going for a top tier school. Well, I am kind of hoping that UT Austin might be a possiblity, but there is a local school that would just make things simpler.

So I'd be ok with the 'safety' school. I think their average score was 154. GPA not terribly impressive. I was really hoping I'd have a better shot at standing out there.

Lots of things to ponder :) Glad for all the advice!

[FoxyBlue]

As it turns out, I CAN read! Lol, their website says students must take the LSAT "by February of the year in which they intend to enroll." I knew I got that from somewhere.

So... got to see what other deadlines could be an issue. Such as whether I can even register to take the LSAT, should I wish to do so.

It is very temting to take the next steps. I don't want to lose motivation. But I don't want to rush things either.

[granada]

If you do good on standardized tests, and you get a good score, you could get offered a scholarship to the "safety" school. That would mean less law school debt, which imo is definitely an advantage when you graduate.

[amew]

No, I am not going for a top tier school. Well, I am kind of hoping that UT Austin might be a possiblity, but there is a local school that would just make things simpler.

Are you talking about St. Mary's? If you got a 1260 on your SAT way back when (especially if "way back when" means before they rescaled the test so that scores became higher), then I suspect you would have very little trouble getting the score you need in February. I wouldn't hesitate to at least take a practice test and see how things go.

That said, depending on what you want to do with your law degree, holding out for UT might be very, very worth it. I'm an attorney in Austin with a large Texas firm, and we hire lots of UT grads but won't interview from St. Mary's. Most other major Texas firms are the same way. It sucks, but that's just the way it is, unfortunately. I'm sure things are different in other fields of law and with smaller San Antonio firms, but the hard truth is that UT would very likely open up options that you wouldn't otherwise have.

[Kelly's Girl]

I'm going to buck the system here and say that you are FINE. I think you have plenty of time!

My personal story (yawn, I know! ;) ) is that I didn't even decide to go to law school until about this time of year. I had an undergrad degree in something completely unrelated to law but on a whim decided to take the LSAT and apply. I took the Feb. test, and knowing that I only had one shot to get a decent score and get my applications in, I took a prep test. It was a total waste, IMHO. You can get the same info from their test books.

Anyway, I did fair enough, applied to my local State school and a few private law schools around my area, and got scholarships to all of the private schools. Ended up at my State college for a number of reasons, not the least of which was cost!

Rambling aside, I say GO FOR IT. Get the apps and fill them out over the holidays and take that Feb. test. It's not too late to start in 2007!

[Amuse Bouche]

I'm with amew on the schools. While I think you're fine with enough time to prep for the LSAT, I also think that it's worth it to delay applications until Fall of 2008 and apply to UT. I would say that the December administration is really the latest I would take the LSAT. Going to a higher ranked law school really gives you so many more career options that it's worth it.