Time to get testy with the LSAT
Published: Thursday, September 24, 2009
Updated: Thursday, September 24, 2009
Saturday marks the end of a great labor of love for students like me who will take the Law School Admissions Test.
I first started preparing for the LSAT by accident. In Professor Barbara Levenbook's Philosophy of Ethics in Law class, the multiple-choice sections are similar to some of the questions on the LSAT. I also learned some fundamental concepts in the difficult Logic-Mathematics 335 course with Professor David Auerbach (engineering and computer science majors would recognize mathematical logic, as it is used in discreet math and basic computing programs).
Starting this past May, I have worked by myself, with an LSAT class, with friends, with my parents, after drinking coffee, after waking up early in the morning, late at night, after going to work for a full day, after going to school for a whole day, when I wanted to and when I did not want to.
This week, on Tuesday night, after working for many hours on my preparation, I dreamt about taking the test and getting a great score. It was a good dream, however, it still felt a little weird when I woke up the next morning and realized I had dreamt about the LSAT.
The test consists of six half-hour sections. Put those together, with directions read out loud and a ten-minute break, and the whole process is about five hours. The six sections are two argument sections, called logical reasoning; a mathematical logic-puzzle section, called logic games; a reading comprehension section; a writing sample; and a repeat of any of the three major categories. This last “experimental section” is not scored. I have, however, taken practice tests where I was so sure that the questions were too weird to be part of the ordinary test only to find out that in fact it was really part of the test, thus losing me points. The writing section is not part of the greater score of the test, but is sent out with the scores in order to show Law Schools that applicants can string cogent arguments together. The test is graded on a 120 to 180 point-scale.
The LSAT is, in many respects, similar to the Standardized Academics Test (SAT). The LSAT is similar to the SAT in that the two are long, multiple-choice based tests, which also have reading comprehension sections. The tests both have writing samples that are ranked outside of the test, and for entrance into higher-level academia. Obscure ivory-tower boards govern both: The College Board Governs the SAT and the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) governs the LSAT. Because of their simultaneous grip on the fate of my life and their complete absence in any material sense except for tests on test-days, I get the eerie feeling that these are ghostly organizations that sort of haunt around and wait until they can judge me for something. When has anyone ever met these people? Why should these distant ghosts make any sort of legitimate calls about peoples' lives?
Distinctly contrasting with this ghost-fog is the Kaplan Test Preparation Company, from which I took an enjoyable class. Fortunately, I had a great instructor in Jenny St. Clair, a local attorney who works with Kaplan for LSAT preparation. The comprehensive course has showed me the ins and outs of the test and given me a big confidence boost that I will perform well.
If you are thinking about law school in the future, I urge you to look at an LSAT as soon as possible. They are available online, but better yet, I urge you to introduce yourself as soon as possible to Mary-Anne Tetro, director for pre-law services at N.C. State. I recommend taking Dr. Levenbook's Philosophy of Ethics in Law Class and taking the Logic 225 course.
For those of us taking the test on Saturday, good luck.
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