I really don’t know how to feel

After living, eating and breathing the LSAT for the last couple of months, it is finally over! But I am not sure how I feel about it and I am not certain that I did the absolute best that I could. I may cancel my score and retake it in December or I may await my score and then decide if a retake is necessary.

I need to think about it carefully before I do anything. It is apparently a very common phenomenon to feel as if you did not perform as well on the actual test as you had been doing on your practice tests. The deadline for cancellation is the end of next week, so I will take my time and consider it from all angles. I will keep you informed as I go through the decision-making process.

By the way, I should point out that I am not even close to being the only one suffering this very same anxiety. The LSAT Prep forum over at TopLawSchools.com is full of people who are begging one another for advice and reassurances about the cancel/retake decision.
……..

But before we get into that, I will give you a rundown of the test experience itself.

Even though the testing center is located within 30 miles of my house, I decided that in order to perform my best and to insure that I didn’t arrive late for some reason, I should spend the night at a hotel near the university. My wife drove down as well and we had a nice relaxing dinner (that is to say, as relaxing as it could be given that it was the night before one of the most important tests I will ever take!)

Anyway, after dinner, she left to go home while I turned on the TV in the hotel and tried to just relax in preparation for getting a good nights sleep. I am amazed to say that I actually managed to get to sleep around 11:30. But it was a fitful sleep which was fueled by my anxiety. I am not usually susceptible to stress, but this test is important!

The test was scheduled for 9:00 AM and I set the alarm clock for 7:00 AM. When I got up, I took a warm relaxing shower that I stretched out for a full 15 minutes. Emerging refreshed, I ate a very light breakfast and drank a few sips of Mountain Dew. These last points are important because I have heard numerous horror stories about people having to retake the LSAT because they had to leave the testing room to go to the restroom during a section which pretty much guarantees that you will not have time to complete that section.

I dressed in light slacks with a short sleeved shirt that I covered with a light jacket. My thinking was that dressing this way would allow me to be comfortable with almost any temperature I encountered in the testing room.

Around 8:00 AM, I checked out of the hotel and drove the short distance to the university. Pulling into the same parking lot from Wednesday’s scouting trip, I was pleased to see that I had been right. With it being Saturday, I was able to park almost at the door of Warf-Pickel. As I got out of my vehicle, I could see a few others who were obviously there to take the LSAT as well. I say obviously because we were all carrying our LSAC regulation clear-plastic baggie containing our ticket, pencils, erasers, sharpener, snack and ID. The LSAC regulation are very clear on this point; this is all you are allowed to bring into the testing room except for a silent wristwatch.

I also noticed several test takers who burst from the doors and began an animated discussion with the others standing there. I knew even before I came into earshot that they had seen the sign on the 4th floor and were wondering if they needed to move to the other building. I quickly told everyone there to ignore the sign on the 4th floor and instead to proceed to the testing rooms indicated on the front doors. This alleviated the concerns of those there, but apparently, several test takers had left earlier in search of the new building. I never found out if they made it back in time. I told you that the site visit was important!

As I made my way to the third floor where I was to take the test, I found a hundred things to worry about. I had read horror stories about people having to take the LSAT on tiny desks such as might be found in an elementary school. What if the room had these? Or what if the lighting was poor or there were other distractions? The testing environment is more important than many people realize!

As I walked into the room, my worries melted away. I was taking the test in a well-appointed and well lit room with large tables. Each test taker was able to have an entire table to themselves! Wow! I couldn’t have asked for better.

As each of us were admitted in turn, the proctor would check our ID and our ticket, thumb-print us and make sure that we had nothing other than the items allowed by LSAC. I was amazed by the number of people who showed up with backpacks and other items that were prohibited. These people were sent back to their cars to drop off the prohibited items, or, as the time for the test to begin approached, allowed to leave the items on the floor in the hallway.

Another variation on the LSAT horror story is that of the incompetent or inconsiderate proctor. Once again, fortune smiled upon me. My proctor took her time, explained everything we needed to do very clearly and gave us ample time to prepare each section of our test booklet before moving on to the next step.

And then it was time for the first section to begin. “Anything but logic games!” was the mantra I repeated over and over in my head. As you may recall from my earlier postings, logic games is the section that I have struggled with the most during my preparations for the LSAT. I was certain that as long as I could do any other section first to get me started, that I would be able to handle the logic games when they did appear. But this was not to be. Lady Luck, who had favored me so much, now turned her fickle back; logic games was my first section.

Pausing only to set my watch, I waded in and began diagramming (thank you Powerscore!). Everything was going well, but I realized that I was taking more time per problem than I should and this increased my anxiety. The last 2 questions of the 3rd game were very difficult and I made the strategic decision to move on to the 4th game and come back to them if I had time. I was still diagramming the 4th game when the proctor gave the 5 minute warning and my heart made a valiant bid for freedom by banging against my ribcage so hard that the person at the next table must have heard it. When my watch showed 30 seconds remaining, I still had 3 questions from game 4 unanswered and the 2 from game 3 I had previously left unanswered. I quickly marked them all as D (your Powerscore books will explain this) and literally had time only to lay my pencil down when the proctor called time.

I felt like I had run a marathon and we had only taken one section! The good news, if there was any after having guessed at five problems, was that the hard part was behind me. I had never experienced any difficulty completing any of the other sections during practice so now I could relax and focus on getting all of the rest of the questions right to make up for my dismal showing in games.

The rest of the sections went as well as could be expected. I didn’t encounter anything that I felt uncomfortable with, so I should have been ecstatic but I wasn’t. My performance on games had virtually assured that I would score below 170 which had been my target and this knowledge ate away at my confidence and happiness during the entire rest of the test.

On a more upbeat note, I am happy to report that my light breakfast strategy worked exactly as planned. I was able to make it to the break without any undo discomfort from having to use the restroom. I know there were several there who expressed that they had been in discomfort for at least the last section and they knew that it had affected their performance.

I had been told that another component of the LSAT that is never given enough attention is the endurance aspect of it. I certainly found this to be true. After five sections plus the writing sample, I felt as if I had performed a days worth of manual labor and in addition, while completing the writing sample, the light breakfast finally began to catch up with me. I was suddenly ravenous! I couldn’t wait to get something to eat.

And suddenly it was over. The test booklets were handed in and we were free to go. In something akin to sleepwalking, I made my way to my vehicle, climbed in and started it. Without much conscious thought, I pulled out and drove about a mile down the road where I pulled into a Chinese buffet I had noticed the night before. A heaping plate later, I finally felt able to take stock of my performance. But any way you looked at it, games had been a train wreck. I had been forced to guess on five questions! If I missed the normal number I usually did on the other sections and none of the five D’s were right, then I almost certainly fell somewhere between a 164 and a 168 depending upon the scale for the test (more on this whole topic later when I will dedicate a whole post to it). And God forbid that the scale be as harsh as the one from the previous June!

As I left the restaurant, I was certain that I had decided to cancel and retake in December where I could finish the games section in record time and get those five questions back. But now I am not so sure.

This has been a long day and sharing it here has taken some time as well. I am going to go have dinner with the family and relax. I will post what I am thinking as far as the cancel / retake decision in a few days.

Until then, I can only say that I hope my fellow applicants and test takers did their very best today!

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Scouting report

One oft-repeated piece of advise that I would like to repeat once more is this, “The week of your LSAT, do a site visit to the testing center”. This allows you to make sure that you are aware of any issues that might affect you on test day. This would include such disparate items as road construction, where to park, and changes in the location. Any one of these could drastically increase your stress on test day or even cause you to miss the test! The last thing you want on the day of the LSAT is to be trying to deal with issues that could have been easily avoided if you had only done a site visit.

My experience with the testing center at East Tennessee State University illustrates perfectly why this is the case. Yesterday (only 3 days before the LSAT), with my LSAT ticket in hand, I drove the roughly 30 minutes to ETSU. Pulling into the first parking lot I found, I asked a campus police officer where the building indicated on the ticket was located.

In the interest of spreading a little humor, I should point out that the name of the building where the test was scheduled to be held was “Warf-Pickel”. My wife, upon seeing this name, burst out laughing and said that it sounded like the title to a Star Trek themed adult film.

In any case, the officer identified a building directly adjoining the parking lot as Warf-Pickel. As I walked the short distance to the building, I was thinking how lucky I was that I wouldn’t have to walk halfway across campus to get to the testing center! I could park practically in front of the building!

Emerging from the stairwell on the fourth floor of the building, I knew immediately that something was wrong. The hallway was full of plastic sheeting and two-by-fours. Upon reaching the room number identified on the LSAT ticket, I found a small, hand-written note saying only “Moved to ….” and a room number in another building.

One of the men working down the hallway was able to give me directions to the new building (which was halfway across campus!) Groaning and grumbling, I walked across the campus (which I might add is quite lovely) and, after having to ask for directions only once, finally found the building I was looking for. Entering the room that had been indicated on the hand-written sign, I found a maze of offices with boxes, furniture and equipment seemingly stacked everywhere. I finally found a test center employee in the last office I looked in. She was busy unpacking boxes, but seemed happy to take a break to speak with me.

It turns out that the test center was being moved to the new building, but the LSAT scheduled for this weekend would still be held in Warf-Pickel, just on another floor. She assured me that the actual room assignments would be posted on the front doors of Warf-Pickel on test day.

As I walked back across campus, I silently thanked God that I had taken the time to do this site visit! Take it from me, this is a veryimportant part of your LSAT prep.

I am going to publish this post and then … based upon suggestions from previous LSAT takers, I am not planning on studying any further. Rather, I will be relaxing today and tomorrow and attempting to get as much sleep as possible.

Wish me luck! When next I post, it will be all over but the waiting!

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In my dreams

At least LSAT problems are better than the dream with the giant carrot

I had heard that law school changes the way you think, but I didn’t know that it started long before you are even accepted to a school.

I have been doing LSAT problems non-stop for the last week and this morning I awoke from a dream in which I was arguing the validity of a statement with an angel. Who knew that angels would improperly apply a statement that is true of an individual member of a group to the group as a whole?

The good news is that I continue to score in the high 160’s on the practice tests when I take them un-timed. Also, my copy of the Logic Games Bible has arrived and is sitting on my desk as I write this. I will be starting work on it this weekend.

Once I finish the Logic Games Bible, I plan on starting to take the tests timed … (not looking forward to that). Hopefully, it will help me to get closer to 35 minutes on this section. I will predict right now that if I do have problems on the actual test, it will revolve around this section.

And oh yes … it turns out that Powerscore, the company that makes the Logic Games Bible, also makes a book for the logical reasoning section of the test called The LSAT Logical Reasoning Bible. I have ordered it as well.

PS. Suddenly it is September and the 29th is only 22 days away!!! Severe stress time.

Wish me luck! Until next time …

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Consider me SuperPrepped!

Well … I spent every spare minute this last week working my way through the SuperPrep book. I tried to take it slow and went over the answers to every question to make sure that I understood why a given answer was right and why each of the other answers was wrong. After all, I have a full month. I can afford to do this right.

By the way, I am discovering that law school applicants have their own buzzwords and slang. For example, you do not say that “This is the correct answer.” Instead, you say “This is the credited response.”. Just typing that makes me feel more like a law school applicant.

Anyway, I am really happy with how I did on the SuperPrep material. Even on some of the questions where I didn’t grasp the logical constructs completely, I was able to get a high percentage of them correct. But I need to understand the concepts better before September 29th! NOTE TO SELF: Gain a better understanding of such terms as “sufficient condition” and “necessary condition”.

I also am really concerned about the logic games sections! As I mentioned earlier, I do well on them, but I take far too much time!

On a side note, I spent some time on the internet looking for LSAT information and I found that there are several forums dedicated to LSAT Preparation and Law School Admission. I signed up for a free account at Top Law Schools and it has already been an invaluable resource!

Having said that, I have ordered a book that one of the users on there suggested called the Powerscore Logic Games Bible. It is supposed to be the quintessential reference for getting better and faster on the logic games. I sure hope it can help me!!

I will let you know when it arrives. In the meantime, I am going to start work in “The Next 10 Actual Official LSAT PrepTests”. It contains complete tests but unlike the SuperPrep, it does not give explanations for the answers, just the credited responses. (Did you see that? I used an insider term!!!).

Until next time …

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SuperPrep and friends!

Just a quick update … They’re here!

I received my package from LSAC today. I got the SuperPrep book, The Next 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests book and a selection of the individual tests.

I will start the SuperPrep this weekend and when next I post, I will hopefully have a better handle on the LSAT material.

Have a great weekend!

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Diagnostic tests

I am still waiting for my Superprep book and my official preptests and the wait is killing me!

But I have found that LSAC provides a free sample test (the LSAT from October 1996) and also has the June 2007 LSAT available for free.

I took the first one and did quite well I thought. I scored 168. But before you get too excited for me, I should point out that I did each section separately and didn’t time myself. On the real test, you do all the sections back to back and only get 35 minutes per section. I took a lot longer than that.

By far the section I took the longest on was the logic games. I got almost all of them right, but I took over an hour to finish. I will definitely have to work on that section if I have a prayer of making it in 35 minutes.

I am going to go and start the June test now. Wish me luck!

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Law School Admission Council

We left off last week with me researching my next step. I have found it. If you wish to apply to law school, then all roads lead to The Law School Admission Council, also known as LSAC.

Why do you need to know about LSAC? Because they administer the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). The LSAT is the test that you will need to take (and score well on) in order to attend law school. They also handle your applications, letters of recommendation, etc, but I will worry about that later. For now, I will need to spend every spare moment getting ready for the LSAT!

The first thing you will need to do to take the LSAT is create a free LSAC account. Once you have this account, then you can sign up for the LSAT (which is NOT free). Registering for the LSAT is $123 unless you register late in which case there is a $62 late registration fee.

I am registered for the September 29 LSAT. At first I thought about waiting until the December LSAT, but some of the early action programs I want to apply to require that you take the September 29 LSAT so I will need to work morning, noon and night to get ready.

I ordered a LOT of LSAC’s preparation material and I can’t wait to get started!

Stay Tuned …

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Beginnings

The Monachus Lex adventure begins!

I am not sure exactly when I first started thinking about attending law school. It was an idea that had been at the periphery of my mind for some time but only as a fleeting thought. After all, as a 40 year old professional who is very happy with his career, what would be the point?

However, in addition to my career, I lead a “second” life as a very active civil rights activist. I care deeply about the issues for which I advocate and see my contributions in this arena as my true legacy to my state and my children.

In this role, I work frequently with the state legislature and local governments on legislative issues and I have increasingly come to understand that those who practice law are in a position to affect public policy that they share with no other citizen. Being a practicing member of the state bar would be an honor and a privilege that would allow me to fully contribute to the defense of my issues.

Add to this the fact that a fellow lobbyist and friend followed this exact same train of thought and is now ready to start his 3rd year in law school; suffice it to say that his experiences have only served to further whet my interest.

So … here I am … having finally decided that I will matriculate to some law school in the Fall of 2008.

What is the next step? Stay tuned …

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