<p>Hi all, I was wondering if you could share with me your specific circumstances on when you took the LSAT (June? October? December?--Junior year? Senior year? After college?) , how much you studied, what prep courses/books you used, etc. </p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>I took it the september of my senior year of college. it gave me all summer and the first month of school to study before any of the serious work started. no prep course, took a free proctored diagnostic from Princeton Review and studied from LSAT 180 for about 2 months, 3-5 hours a week.</p>
<p>I did it the June after junior year. That enabled me to get my applications in very early senior year, because I had time over the summer to make my list and start getting recommendations, essays, etc. done.</p>
<p>I had 2-3 weeks to study (wish I'd had a week or two more, and that I'd been more diligent about it). I went through the Logic Games Bible and one more general book (forget the title--something with 180 in it), and took 4 or 5 previously-administered tests.</p>
<p>you should take it whenever you'll have the most free time to study... actual timing doesn't matter as long as it's before you apply (although you should give yourself room to retake once)</p>
<p>Actual timing DOES matter--a LOT!!!</p>
<p>Most law schools, including the most prestigious ones, work on a quasi-rolling admissions basis. If you wait until December the year before the fall you want to start law school to take the LSAT, many places in law school classes will already be filled by the time your app gets to the law schools.</p>
<p>Especially at the margins, an app that is "complete" (according to LSDAS) in November may get much better results than an identical app which doesn't go complete until late January.</p>
<p>I think the June or September in the summer before (or during) senior year is the optimal time to sit for the LSAT. I have though about this alot. The envionment that the summer allows as far as studying for the LSAT w/o the distractions of academic coursework is most conducive to getting the highest score possible. Also, in the event that you do perform poorly, you will have ample time to prepare for the December test.</p>
<p>As far as test courses are concerned, I know that I personally am not disciplined enough to buckle down and sit for 8+ hours a week and study, so I will probably take a course of some sort. Whether it will be Kaplan, Powerscore, Testmasters, etc. I am not sure yet, as I havent done enough research into the hefty investment these test preps have become.</p>
<p>Edit: haha, I just read the first post and realized you are asking for tips from those who have already taken the test...here are my $.02 anyway.</p>
<p>jonri, that's exactly what I am worried about...is the October test too late? At least Yale isn't rolling :-)</p>
<p>Yale IS rolling.The October test isn't too late IF you register for LSDAS, send in your transcript and get your LORS in BEFORE you take it.</p>
<p>October definitely isn't too late. I took the September 2007 exam, got my scores around October 20th. I believe by then my application was finished in terms of what I had to prepare (resume, essay, etc.). I was also registered with LSDAS and had sent in my transcript. All I had left to do was get my LORs, which I think I started to pester my profs about in early to mid October. Everything was in by early November, definitely allowing me to be in the "early" pool of fall applicants.</p>