LSAT Test Prep
LSAT Test Preparation: Because the LSAT is the most important factor when it comes to admission to law schools, it is well worth spending the time it takes to effectively and efficiently prepare. The LSAT is a skills-based test, not a knowledge-based test, which means students have, to a certain extent, already developed many of the actual skills required to score well. In particular, students who have taken English, literature, political science, history, philosophy, or ethics will most likely already be highly prepared. Students of philosophy have done unusually well on the LSAT. However, the LSAT is designed to test students on the intellectual abilities they have developed over a lifetime of schooling.
The good news about preparing for the LSAT is that even tiny improvements in scores can lead to large gains in percentile. A percentile improvement of 20% is possible from just 5 additional raw score points. Preparation for the LSAT can be divided into 3 categories: test familiarization, test-taking strategies, and skill reinforcement. First, it is crucial to become familiar with the way the test looks, the format of the questions in the different sections, the logistics of test taking, and the timing of the test. Next, students should work on strategies for test taking that increase their pacing and scores. And finally, it is also important to work on the basic logical and analytical skills that the test requires.
How much time should be spent preparing for the LSAT? This is an important question because overpreparation can be almost as damaging as underpreparation. There is no need to cram for the LSAT, simply because it is not volume of knowledge that counts. The idea is to become familiar and comfortable with the test structure and then build up endurance that will hopefully peak some time around the test day. About 1 month is plenty of time to devote to test preparation. The three weeks leading up to the exam are the most important, and the thing to do during that time is practice, practice, practice. Take practice tests again and again until the patterns of the test become intimately familiar.
The first thing to do is find out your starting score and from there determine exactly what will be necessary to improve that score. LSAC, the organization that runs the LSAT, offers free sample tests on their site. It is important to treat this first sample test as the real thing, including limiting yourself to the actual time constraints of the LSAT. Pretend it is the actual test, do as well as you can, and you'll have much more accurate information to work from. After you've completed the sample test, go through the test and look for patterns concerning the questions you got right and the ones you got wrong. Determine which sections you did well on and which ones could use the most work. Now the thing to do is take more practice tests. In fact, take as many as you can. The more you take in the weeks leading up to the LSAT, the better the chances your score will improve.
Besides the preparation for taking the actual test, there are a few logistical preparations to make. These are just as important as the test preparation because they eliminate any unneeded stress that could affect your concentration on test day. About two months before the day you're taking the LSAT, get a copy of the registration booklet, decide on your test location, and register for the test. About 2 weeks before the exam, look over your LSAT admission ticket and double-check all the information. 2 days before test day, make sure you get a good night's sleep. You may not sleep well the night before the test, so you want to make sure you've got plenty of reserve energy. The day before the test, take the day off, relax as much as possible, and make double-check your travel arrangements to the test site. It is a good idea to have a backup transportation option just in case. Maybe set a second alarm for the morning - you don't want to have something so simple as your alarm clock ruin something you've prepared so thoroughly for.
