Welcome to the latest installment of Law Admissions Q&A, a monthly feature that provides law school admissions advice to readers who send in questions and admissions profiles.
If you have a question about law school, email me for a chance to be featured next month.
This week, I will answer questions about Harvard Law School and GRE prep as well as about improving LSAT practice test timing.
I am planning on applying to law schools this fall, and Harvard is my top choice. I am preparing for the June LSAT, but so far my scores have been much lower than Harvard’s LSAT range. Now that Harvard accepts the GRE, should I consider taking the GRE in addition to the LSAT? -Conflicted Test-Taker
This is a great question with an unsatisfying answer: There is so much we don’t know about how Harvard Law School will treat the GRE that it’s impossible to answer this question with certainty. That said, here are a few considerations that will help you decide whether to take the GRE.
First, will your GRE score be significantly better than your LSAT score in Harvard’s eyes? Harvard has not yet issued guidance as to how it will treat GRE scores, so it is impossible to make a one-to-one score comparison.
[Read more about the GRE vs. LSAT and what prospective law students need to know.]
Absent Harvard’s guidance, a good guess would be to look at conversions from scaled score to percentile. Harvard’s median LSAT score is a 173, right at the 99th percentile. This would correspond to a 169 on the GRE verbal reasoning and a perfect 170 on the GRE quantitative reasoning.
Second, how much will you have to devote to your GRE preparation? There is not much overlap between the LSAT and the GRE.
Like the LSAT, the GRE verbal reasoning section has a reading comprehension component, but many of the GRE questions will be unfamiliar to you from your LSAT preparation.
The GRE’s quantitative reasoning section has no LSAT analogue. So expect to spend a lot of time preparing for the GRE, especially if it has been a while since you’ve studied math in a formal setting.
In general, I expect that the vast majority of Harvard Law School applicants submitting GRE scores will be those who have already taken the GRE for some other reason. For most applicants who don’t yet have GRE scores, the significant additional preparation and the uncertainty regarding Harvard’s treatment of GRE scores makes taking the exam solely for the purpose of applying to law school inadvisable.
[Discover six tips for GRE success.]
I am currently preparing for the June LSAT, and I have begun taking practice tests. I have noticed that I am consistently running out of time on my practice tests. When I’m taking practice tests, should I add time to each section to give myself enough time to finish, or should I limit myself to 35 minutes? -Pressed for Time
At this stage of your preparation, it sounds like you’ve begun taking full, timed practice tests but are still working on speed and timing. With just a little more than two months between now and the June LSAT, you are doing exactly what you should be doing, and the question you ask is a common one for someone beginning to dig into full, timed tests.
[Discover how to make the most of LSAT practice tests.]
I recommend that you give yourself exactly 35 minutes for each section, regardless of how far into each section you get. This approach serves a couple of important purposes.
First, by closely replicating the experience of taking the real test, you will gain valuable experience in terms of stamina and pacing both within each section and for the test overall. Second, doing each section in exactly 35 minutes gives you the opportunity to practice time management strategies, such as spending less time on time-consuming questions and making educated guesses on questions that give you difficulty.
Since you won’t be answering every question, I encourage you to spend lots of time reviewing each practice test, particularly the questions that you got wrong or didn’t have time to answer confidently. This review will help you solidify the concepts you are struggling with while still taking practice tests in closley simulated test conditions.
More from U.S. News
Learn How to Navigate Learning Disabilities in Law School
GRE vs. LSAT: What Prospective Law Students Need to Know
Reasons Law Schools Can Revoke Admission Offers
GRE, LSAT Test Prep Considerations for Law School originally appeared on usnews.com
