I want to go to a good law school and score high on the LSAT?
Hello. I am 17-years-old and just graduated high school. I will be attending the University of California, Santa Barbara this fall and will be majoring in Political Science with a minor in Philosophy and possibly Sociology. I plan to set up a Pre-Law program.
I have accomplished a lot in high school. I graduated high school an AP Scholar with Honors and made a rousing speech. I graduated at the top of my AP classes. I understand though that college is different from this.
I have aspirations to go to an Ivy League law school. I understand that the two most important things in admissions to an Ivy League law school like Harvard Law is GPA and LSAT. I will work my butt off in college to get the highest grades possible, covering the GPA. However, it is the LSAT I am a little worried about.
I understand that to get into an Ivy League law school, you should get 170+ possibly 175+ on the LSAT. I read that this is in the 98th percentile.
I have nothing to do this summer. I do not begin college until the fall. My friend got a near perfect score on the SAT and he told me he had studied that for 2 years. So I figured I can apply the same strategy to the LSAT so, I bought the "Cracking the LSAT" from the Princeton Review (Because the Princeton Review guides has served me well on my AP classes). However, looking into it, the LSAT looks much more difficult than I imagined.
My question is how can I best prepare for the LSAT? I know I should self-study a prep book like the one I bought but I should also take a course. Where can I take a course? Where do I even get started? Should I even worry about the LSAT right now?
What is the best plan of action to prepare for the LSAT so I can get a 170+ in the future?
2 Responses
freshy84
08 Mar 2010
ctizz184
08 Mar 2010
It is way too early for you to start worrying about the LSAT. A lot of your college courses will indirectly help you prepare for the exam, and you have several years before you need to take the test. Enjoy your last summer before college, focus on your classes when you get to college, and prep for the LSAT closer to your junior year. Princeton Review and Kaplan both offer LSAT prep courses, and trust me they will advertise all over your college campus, you wont miss it.
I disagree with the other writer, it’s never too early to worry about the LSAT, for your goals you better believe you’ll need a 170+ to get into Harvard. Law Schools also like bringing in other majors too. If you are as much a superstar as you claim to be(Note: High school accomplishments mean nothing for law school, you’ll need similar achievements in college and extra curricular activities too". ) Think about doing engineering or another more difficult major to make yourself stand out. a 4.0 in Chemical engineering as a TON more impressive than a 4.0 in political science.
The LSAT is very confusing at first. I"d suggest taking a Kaplan review course, although that should be closer to time to take the test. It wouldnt hurt though to get the Kaplan review books. You can learn how to do logic games under their system and at the very least get that part down. I’d also suggest starting to do full exams. Can’t hurt.
Good luck.