Welcome to the latest installment of Law Admissions Q&A, a monthly feature of Law Admissions Lowdown that provides admissions advice to readers who send in questions and admissions profiles.
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Dear Dan: I applied for law school this year and am currently wait-listed at several schools. When I applied, I knew that my GPA was on the higher end of the schools I applied to, but my LSAT score was on the lower end, and I think that my low LSAT score is what might have placed me on the waitlist at some schools. I am considering taking the June LSAT to increase my chances of gaining admission from the waitlist. Do schools consider June LSAT scores when evaluating their wait-listed applicants and, if so, would it be worth it to retake the test? –Wait-listed
[Learn how law school applicants can handle low LSAT scores.]
Dear Wait-listed: This is a great question, and it’s one that comes up a lot this time of year. Unfortunately, there is no universal answer. Whether taking the June LSAT has any bearing on a wait-listed applicant varies from year to year and from school to school. You should reach out to each school that has placed you on their waitlist and ask them if an improved LSAT score on the June exam would strengthen your chances of being admitted.
Working with my Stratus Prep clients this year with similar circumstances, we know that some schools will consider the June LSAT when evaluating waitlisted candidates.
Assuming you are wait-listed at a school that will consider the June LSAT, you are right to ask whether it is worth it to retake the test. The reward is greater than the risk only when you have some concrete reason to believe that you did not maximize your score previously — for example, incomplete preparation and underperformance on test day. In this situation, however, the risk of retaking is much lower. Your June LSAT score only affects the few schools that will consider it.
Dear Dan: As I prepare for the June LSAT, it is becoming clearer and clearer that I am not going to be able to complete the logic games section of the exam. I have been studying for a couple of months already, and I can only complete two games consistently in 35 minutes. Should I speed through each game to try to get to every question or should I just randomly guess on the questions that I don’t have time to answer? –Running Out of Time
[Know how to win at LSAT logic games.]
Dear Running Out of Time: First, you are not alone! The LSAT as a whole is designed to be extremely time intensive, and many people find the logic games to be the most difficult to complete in the 35-minute time limit. You still have approximately two months until the June LSAT, so you should work on gradually improving your speed with the goal of getting to three of the four games in 35 minutes.
Assuming that you cannot get to all four games in 35 minutes, there are a few steps you can take to maximize your score without being able to comfortably complete every question in the section.
— Tackle the easiest games first: At the beginning of the games section, quickly skim each of the four games and try to identify the easiest and most difficult games. Do the easiest game first, and only spend time on the most difficult game if you have addressed all the other games.
— Focus your preparation on the most common games: Ordering games are the most common type — 40 percent of all games, and at least one per test since 2007 — and are also generally the easiest for most students. Since you can be almost assured of finding an ordering game, make sure you are extremely comfortable with this game type.
[Apply these techniques for conquering LSAT logic games.]
— Avoid time-consuming question types: Questions that change a rule or ask you whether the game’s outcome is fully determined are rare — only 5 percent of all questions — but they’re inherently time-consuming and almost always require you to test answers. It is best to skip these questions and move on to the next game.
— Always answer the complete and accurate questions: Complete and accurate questions ask you to choose a complete outcome that doesn’t break any of the rules. These questions can generally be done quickly and with only a cursory understanding of the game’s setup and rules. Always save yourself a bit of time at the end of the section to answer any complete and accurate questions.
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Weigh Taking the June LSAT, Master Logic Games originally appeared on usnews.com
