LSAT & Law School Blog

 Ask just about anyone taken the LSAT what the hardest part of the test was, and there’s a pretty good chance they’ll say it was the Logic Games. If you’re prepping for the LSAT and you’ve already started struggling with the Logic Games, you can at least take comfort in knowing that just about everyone who takes the test goes through the same challenge.

But the truth is, Logic Games don’t have to be especially hard or intimidating. What makes them stand out is mostly just that they’re unfamiliar to us. They don’t necessarily require a level of skill or intelligence that most people don’t possess. But our minds naturally stop processing information well when we encounter information we’re unfamiliar with.

The good news is that you can develop familiarity with the LSAT Logic Games pretty easily if you try, because they all tend to fall into one of a small number of types. In this article, we explain what those types are and how to recognize them. Once you’re able to correctly identify which type of Logic Game you’re dealing with, you’ll be able to draw on the stablished strategies for that game type.

For many aspiring law students, the LSAT can be such a major hurdle that it blocks out almost every other dimension of the law school admissions process. But let’s say you’ve finally finished going through the process of studying for and taking the LSAT. You’re probably longing to sit back and relax, but there’s still a ways to go in your law school admissions journey.

One crucial next step will be officially deciding which law schools to apply to. With nearly 200 ABA-accredited law schools in the US alone, this is can be an extremely daunting and complex decision. That’s why we’ve prepared this article, which can serve as a primer to help you make the best decisions for yourself about which law schools you should apply to. 

Most students who apply to law school are driven by some combination of the desire to build a career where they can do meaningful work in the world, and the hope of being paid well in the process. However, as law schools become increasingly expensive, simply attending law school represents a major financial hurdle. Many law students leave law school with over $100,000 in debt, all to attain the degree that will allow them to start earning money as lawyers.

So, you want to be a lawyer? Congratulations! Attending law school – and eventually practicing law – is a fantastic way to expand your strengths, enrich your academic life, engage in meaningful dialogues, connect with pressing, modern-day issues, and ignite your intellectual spark, all while working to change the future in a meaningful way. 

If you’ve received offers of admission from multiple law schools, congratulations! While the more difficult part of the application process is out of the way, another big decision awaits you. Deciding where you end up going to law school could dictate the course of your career. Do you prefer getting your JD at a campus where the weather is warm year-round? Or do your priorities lie towards ensuring that your classrooms are divided into small sections for discussion? As you go over your acceptances and pick your favorites, consider the following factors when deciding how to choose a law school that is right for you.

The Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) is a monolithic and conservative entity befitting a gatekeeper of legal academia. However, it’s beginning to be forced to change with the times in the face of some significant challenges. The number of LSATs administered annually has declined by more than a third this decade from 170,000+ at the end of the 2009-10 testing year to fewer than 110,000 during the 2016-17 testing year. Then came the news that, beginning with applications submitted in the fall of 2017, Harvard Law will accept the GRE as an acceptable alternative to the LSAT for incoming applicants.

Logic puzzles.  You probably ran across them back in elementary or middle school—those weird brainteasers that asked you to do things like sort out which five kids lived in which five houses and liked which five fruits and that sort of thing.  And you’d get clues—like “Alice lives next to the boy on Maple street”.  Or “the girl who likes pears has never met anyone who prefers citrus fruits” (some great examples are in this video by The LSAT Trainer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7mUPexyLZE) Games like these have a way of generating enthusiasm or dismay, and while some people can happily spend hours on them, others tend to shred the paper in cognitively contorted frustration.  So what on earth are such puzzles doing on a law exam?  And how can you navigate your way through them?

This June, the LSAT announced that during the 2018-19 school year the number of LSATs will expand from four to six administrations annually. This is undoubtedly excellent news for test takers who will obviously appreciate the added scheduling flexibility. However, there is an even bigger benefit for prospective law students looking to improve upon a previous score – beginning with the September 2016 exam there will no longer be any limit on the number of LSATs a test taker can record over a two-year period. The Law School Admission Council has announced these changes as part of an ongoing effort to reduce the barriers to entry into law school.

1.  Failing to Demonstrate a Genuine Interest in the Law

Many applicants to law school, especially ones who are trying to go K-JD, are fighting an uphill battle from the outset. This is because law school admissions officers harbor a healthy dose of skepticism that such applicants have seriously reflected on why they want to attend law school and if it is indeed the right move to make rather than a seemingly safe, default next step. If your personal statement for law school sounds exactly like your college personal statement and doesn’t paint a clear and compelling picture of why you want to go to law school, you’re going to be in a tough position.