LSAT Diary: Teacher Preparing for LSAT

This LSAT Diary is from Kira, who's studying for the September 2014 LSAT. Below, she shares her LSAT self-studying experience.

If you want to be in LSAT Diaries, please email me at LSATUnplugged@gmail.com. (You can be in LSAT Diaries whether you've taken the exam already or not.)

Please thank Kira for sharing her story below in the comments!

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June 2014 LSAT Score Release Dates

Good luck to everyone taking the June 2014 LSAT!

The June 2014 LSAT scores / results are scheduled to be released via email by Monday, July 7, 2014, so you'll have to wait for your LSAT score.

(Note: Test-takers' LSAC accounts are listing Thursday, July 3, as the score release date. I'm guessing this means scores will be released on that day, or possibly even sooner!)

However, the scores usually come out a bit earlier than scheduled.

Let's look at the trend over the past several years (click to enlarge):

LSAC doesn't like to release scores on major holidays, so a July 4 score release is unlikely. Weekend releases are uncommon, but possible. My guess is that they'll be released either Thursday, July 3, or Saturday, July 6.


"But at what time specifically do scores come on score release days? I need to know when to constantly refresh my email / LSAC account!"

In batches over the course of several hours. Likely starting late in the day (Eastern Time).

No one knows how the batches are organized, if at all.

The batches do not seem to be organized in any of these ways:

alphabetical/regional/high-to-low scores/low-to-high scores/test center #, etc.

Wish everyone all the best!

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See other LSAT score release dates posts and read about admissions.

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Please feel free to vent and discuss your general thoughts on the exam in the comments, but no specifics about particular questions themselves, please. (LSAC doesn't permit such discussion.)

Law Schools Might Stop Requiring LSAT Scores for 10% of Students

It's looking likely that the American Bar Association will soon allow law schools to admit students who haven't taken the LSAT.

The American Bar Association's governing council recently approved several changes to its standards. Among them was a change that would allow law schools to admit up to 10% of their entering classes even if these students have never taken the LSAT.

While the council's changes will go before the ABA's House of Delegates for review in August, the governing council still has the final say. Since the changes have made it this far, I'm guessing they'll become a reality.

Of course, Harvard Law and other top law schools are unlikely to stop requiring the LSAT for admission anytime soon. However, fourth-tier law schools may take full advantage of the change in order to woo applicants who'd be likely to do poorly on it anyway.

With the recent decline in the number of law school applications, these overpriced law schools need all the help they can get to fill their seats. Being permitted to stop requiring the LSAT will probably do a lot to help them keep that tuition money coming in.


Hat Tip: The ABA Journal

Previously: ABA Considers Allowing Students to Apply to Law School without LSAT Scores

June 2014 LSAT Questions and Answers

The June 2014 LSAT is just around the corner, and I know many of you are planning to take it.

What questions do you have about LSAT Test Day?

This LSAT Blog post is a place where you can leave comments and answer each others' questions about anything related to LSAT studying and law school admissions.

(If you're looking for general advice on improving your Logic Games, Logical Reasoning, or Reading Comprehension abilities, please note that I've already written plenty of blog posts on these topics. I also have plenty of advice in my LSAT study schedules.)

Keep at it in these last few days. The June 2014 LSAT will be here before you know it!

Registration for September 2014, December 2014, and February 2015 LSATs Now Open

LSAC opened registration for the September, December, and February LSATs late this year.

Many of you wanted to register but weren't able to.

Now, you can.

So, just in case you haven't registered since LSAC recently opened the floodgates, do it now.

LSAT test centers fill up quickly, and you don't want to be stuck traveling far the day before or morning of.

Photo by egfocus

Getting Extra Time on the LSAT Will Get Easier | Lawsuit Settled

Getting extra time on the LSAT is about to get easier than ever.

Last week, LSAC agreed to pay nearly $8 million to settle a lawsuit with the Justice Department over its notoriously strict LSAT accommodations policy.

2 big changes that will affect you:

1. LSAC will automatically grant most test accommodations if you've gotten them for another standardized test like the SAT or ACT.

2. LSAC will no longer flag the LSAT scores of test-takers who received extra time. In other words, law schools won't know whether you only got 35 minutes to complete a section or got twice as much time.

What do you think?

Was LSAC's existing policy on granting test accommodations like extra time been fair?

Should law schools know whether someone received accommodations when considering their application?

Leave your thoughts in the comments!

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Does the LSAT Discriminate Against Minorities?

Many have argued that the LSAT unfairly prevents racial and ethnic minorities from getting into law school.

However, one law school professor recently defended the LSAT from those who argue it's a form of racial discrimination. While he admits that the LSAT may not be a perfect predictor of ability in law school, he argues that it serves a valuable purpose, and in the absence of anything better, we'd might as well keep it.

Here's a key excerpt:

While we do need supplemental measures for prediction to get students who can make it through law school into the profession, we also need to know about those who cannot. Hard as it is to take in, there are apparently 150,000 law school graduates who have never passed the bar exam, and they deserved the law schools’ best judgment regarding their likely success as much as do those more likely to succeed. Ethical issues are not the only ones in play. Who is going to defend the law schools when these students sue, claiming that they were taken advantage of much like the borrowers in the housing debacle who succumbed to the blandishments of the mortgage brokers? The larger point is that law schools need to think harder about these students. Test critics, only somewhat understandably, completely ignore their existence.

See pages 378-388 of the PDF for the entire section about the LSAT. He also discusses some potential alternatives to the LSAT.

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What do you think? Does the LSAT racially discriminate? What real alternatives, if any, do we have?

Photo by enviied

Sample Law School Recommendation Letter

The below sample law school recommendation letter and analysis is from A Guide to Law School Recommendations.

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Lawyer Diaries: Former Michigan Governor

The following Lawyer Diary comes in the form of an interview with Jennifer Granholm, formerly Governor of Michigan. This interview is excerpted from Learning From Precedent.

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LSAT PrepTest 71 Explanations Available for Instant PDF Download

Complete explanations for all 4 sections of LSAT PrepTest 71 (December 2013 LSAT) are now available for instant PDF download. Both Logical Reasoning sections, the Logic Games section, and the Reading Comprehension section have been fully explained.

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Which College Majors Get The Best LSAT Scores?

Professor Derek Muller at Pepperdine University School of Law recently contacted LSAC to find out which college majors get the best (and worst) LSAT scores.

His findings:

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LSAT Diary: Studying While Traveling For Work

This LSAT Diary is from Ashley, who improved from 151 to 161 on the February 2013 LSAT after using my 5-month day-by-day LSAT study plan!

If you want to be in LSAT Diaries, please email me at LSATUnplugged@gmail.com. (You can be in LSAT Diaries whether you've taken the exam already or not.)

Thanks to Ashley for sharing her experience and advice!

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