Ask Misfire anything about the LSAT/Law School Admissions
 

I make my living teaching people how to improve on the LSAT. Toss me your questions about the test, test preparation, and the admissions process (I can't claim to be a total expert on admissions, but I'm at the end of this year's cycle after applying to 19 schools, so I can cover the basic stuff).

Re: Ask Misfire anything about the LSAT/Law School Admissions
 

how do you make your living helping people on the LSATs if you just now applied to law school yourself? WTF

Re: Ask Misfire anything about the LSAT/Law School Admissions
 

The LSAT has nothing to do with law, so I don't need a law degree or legal education to teach it. It only tests logic and reading comprehension. The LSAC claims no prior knowledge is required, but that's not true. I make my living teaching people all the things they're not supposed to have to know before the test.

Re: Ask Misfire anything about the LSAT/Law School Admissions
 

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how do you make your living helping people on the LSATs if you just now applied to law school yourself? WTF

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Heh...I taught the LSAT for two years before starting at law school, and the first question I *always* had to answer was some version of this.

Re: Ask Misfire anything about the LSAT/Law School Admissions
 

1) any recommendations for good lsat review books?
2) how much time should be devoted to preparing for the exam to get you near your best possible score?

Re: Ask Misfire anything about the LSAT/Law School Admissions
 

How do I get a job for KAPLAN/Princeton Review/et al? I did very well on my LSAT and wouldn't mind earning some money during the school year. I could probably look online but this way you get to post another answer.

Re: Ask Misfire anything about the LSAT/Law School Admissions
 

I just finished writing my LSATs on the 10th. When can I expect the results? The proctor said "around" March 5th, what does that actually mean?

Re: Ask Misfire anything about the LSAT/Law School Admissions
 

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I just finished writing my LSATs on the 10th. When can I expect the results? The proctor said "around" March 5th, what does that actually mean?

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2 weeks earlier, at least this was how it was for last decembers test

Re: Ask Misfire anything about the LSAT/Law School Admissions
 

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1) any recommendations for good lsat review books?

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Most retail LSAT books suck. You're going to get better books by taking a class. There are a couple reasons for this. First, the LSAC doesn't license real LSAT questions for any retail books (other than their own practice test books), but they DO license them for in-class materials. Second, most of the retail books are made by companies who also give classes (Princeton Review, Kaplan, Powerscore, etc.). To add value to their live classes, they leave certain information out of the books.

If you're not going to take a class, I'd get the most recent "Actual Official" books from LSAC. I'd also find a book that shows you how to identify all the game and question types and goes through a method for attacking each. "The LSAT Workout" from Princeton Review is pretty good for this, although some of it is geared more towards 165+ test takers (comparable to the difficulty of Kaplan 180, but the Workout organized and explained much better*). Avoid anything from GetPrepped, Arco, or Barrons. Also avoid the LSAT for Dummies and Cracking the LSAT.

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2) how much time should be devoted to preparing for the exam to get you near your best possible score?

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The LSAT is the most important admissions requirement, and admissions people could give a damn if your boss overworks you. Don't shortchange yourself on study time. If you're in school take the June LSAT so you can use summer break to study. (Quitting work is +EV here [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img])

Also, make sure it's quality time and you're not just pounding your head against the wall with practice tests. Part of your practice should be timed to get your pacing down. The other part should be slow and focused on understanding the test--not just the question/game you're on, but recognizing that question/game type elsewhere and knowing how it works. For instance, there are only like 7 types of games on the LSAT. Come up with a plan for diagramming each one so you don't have to get creative when you're actually taking the test.

*full disclosure - yes, I teach for Princeton Review.

Re: Ask Misfire anything about the LSAT/Law School Admissions
 

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How do I get a job for KAPLAN/Princeton Review/et al? I did very well on my LSAT and wouldn't mind earning some money during the school year. I could probably look online but this way you get to post another answer.

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I think both Kaplan and TPR will audition you if you score in 95% or above. Some other companies only audition 98% or above. Auditions are like, "Teach us something new in 5 minutes. Go."

From what I've heard, Kaplan's training is more about classroom management and they assume you know the test. I've also heard they train LSAT, SAT, ACT, GMAT, and GRE all in the same group (can someone verify this?). TPR training was basically a 40 hour job interview where you had to learn their LSAT technique and teach it back. Having not taken their class beforehand, it was pretty rough. 1/3 of my class didn't get certified.

The money is great, and if you've got the scores, I highly recommend doing it.