Reason #1 – It is an ‘Undisclosed’ Test

The main reason the February LSAT is a bit more frustrating than its June, October, and December brethren is that it is the only LSAT given that is completely ‘undisclosed’. When an LSAT is ‘undisclosed’, it means that the only thing you’ll get back in terms of results from LSAC is your score out of 180, and your percentile. You will not know how many questions you got wrong, or which questions you got wrong. For obvious reasons, this is super annoying!

February: The Ugly Duckling of LSAT Administrations

So why would LSAC do this to you? According to LSAC, they need to keep some  of their content under lock and key in case they ever need to administer an emergency LSAT due to any number of unforeseen circumstances (i.e. inclement weather). Keeping the February LSAT undisclosed allows them to have a ‘reserve’ stash of LSAT content that could be used in a pinch.

Reason #2 – Lousy Timing

Another knock against the February LSAT is the timing of it; Since law schools use a rolling admissions process that begins in January and typically wraps up early in the new year, February LSAT scores are too late to use to gain admission in fall of that same year. In other words, February 2012 LSAT takers are unlikely to be permitted to use those scores to gain entry to Law School in September of 2012. I say ‘generally’ because there are some rare exceptions to this, however they are just that: exceptions. You should strive to have your applications completed by the end of the calendar year.

Reason #3 – It has a Horrid Reputation

There is a general attitude of contempt for the February LSAT, which I’m betting has just about everything to do with reasons 1 and 2 above. I’ve even heard people take the besmirching of the February LSAT so far as to claim that it is the “hardest” of all the LSATs given in a calendar year. Let’s be perfectly clear about this: the February LSAT IS NOT HARDER than any other LSAT given.

Certainly the fact that it is undisclosed makes it less appealing, however there is absolutely no data to suggest that it is in any way more difficult than any other LSAT test.

I could repeat those last two sentences until I’m blue in the face, and folks would still start vicious internet rumors about how the February LSAT is 100x more difficult than the others. This is plainly false, although I’m sure the inability of individuals to see which questions they slipped up on adds to the mystique of the vicious “February LSAT is harder than others” rumor. In the interest of painstaking, mind numbing clarity: it is NOT harder than any other implementation of the LSAT.

So why would anyone in their right mind actually take the LSAT in February?

Glad you asked! There are many good reasons to take the LSAT in February, particularly if you’ve planned ahead and are taking your LSAT well ahead of your application deadline. If your best opportunity to study was over the Fall/early Winter, the February LSAT likely makes sense for you.

At the end of the day,  “when” you should take your LSAT comes  down to this: when can you do your very best on it? The answer to that question unsurprisingly will correlate to when you have the most time to prepare. Happystudying

• 5 Unique Career Paths for Law School Grads (US News and World Report)

Practicing law isn’t your only career option post-law school. Check out these five nontraditional fields where you can leverage a law degree.

• How to Pay For Law School (Hello Law School)

There is no denying that law school is an expensive investment. Here are some suggestions on how to lower the amount of money you have to borrow.

• Is Law School At Middle Age Worth Doing? (The Careerist)

Looking to change careers? Find out the pros and cons of going to law school in your 30′s and beyond.

• Top iPad Apps For Lawyers (Legal Skills Prof Blog)

Have an iPad? Here are 10 helpful apps for a lawyer or lawyer-to-be.

These 2 hours workshops will include a Logic Games and Logical Reasoning lesson, and will be led by some of our geekiest instructors. Did we mention that these are free?? Dates and links for signup are below.

Free LSAT workshops in New York:

• Wednesday, February 29th
• Thursday, April 5th

Free Live Online LSAT Workshops:

• Monday, February 27th
• Wednesday, March 28th

Happy Studying!

It all started with a 180 on his LSAT

A serious motivational factor for many aspiring lawyers is the potential income that top attorneys earn. A recent New York Times article strives to deconstruct “the one percent”, and the folks at the Above The Law blog have pulled out the data from the article relevant to lawyers.

They point out, among other cool factoids, that only physicians, CEOs, and public administrators rank ahead of attorneys on the list of livelihoods represented among the 1%.

There are some truly compelling statistics in this article, and a very interesting interactive breakdown of earnings by career.

How many of you are going to law school with the hopes of joining the 1%?

The data in the report shows a 16.7% downturn in applications to law school, and a 15.3% downturn in applications to the American Bar Association. Simply put, there are fewer players in the “law school game”, a trend you should expect to see continue, at least in the short term.

The Law School Express, circa 2008

If I place myself in your shoes, oh law school hopeful, I think there are two important things to glean from this information. The first is quite obvious and good news for the law school applicant. Less competition for those coveted spots in the nation’s top law schools will certainly not hurt your chances.

I arrived at the second big takeaway by considering  why law school applications are declining.  The market of law school hopefuls is certainly reacting to the well publicized lack of job prospects that newly minted attorneys are facing today.

The staggering 16.7% downturn is compounded by the fact that there is a natural tendency for undergrads to flock to grad school during an economic downturn instead of testing the struggling job market. This tendency likely accounts for some record high application numbers dating back a few years ago (note: I haven’t checked those statistics, but I do know for a fact that LSAT administrations hit an all time high in 2009-2010), which makes the current decline seem particularly sharp.

In summary, jobs are hard to find across the board in the United States of America, and legal jobs are no exception. There is more competition for seemingly fewer positions.

Enter second takeaway: it is more important than ever to get in to a law school that makes sense for you. Are you looking to become a power player at a reputable firm? If so, you’re going to really want to land at a top ten law school. However, if working for a public interest firm and avoiding crippling debt is more your style, then you’re going to really want to get law school paid for and going to a top ten should be less of a priority..

I think you get the point. There are many, many things to consider (and reasons to be skeptical, for that matter) before you decide to pursue a career in the law profession. While there are countless scenarios besides the ‘power player’ and ‘public interest’ career hopeful, this latest crunch in the legal job market should serve to motivate those starting down the path to law school to aim higher.

Unfortunately there is no overtime on the LSAT

To help you gear up for this Holiday weekend, we gathered some interesting law school and pre law links from around the web, as well as a few ‘just for fun’ selections.  Enjoy!

The National Law Journal analyzes the results of the 2011 Law School Survey of Student Engagement. The findings? Law School students are generally quite happy with their experience.

Law School Podcaster examines which majors are most advantageous for pre law students.

This is slightly throwback, but still supremely interesting! Long before the landmark 2008 Presidential election, Barack Obama became the first African American elected to another prestigious post.

The New York Times has a very interesting piece on undergraduate education, titled “What is College For?“.

And last but not least, just because I can’t get enough of Tim Tebow mania, “Tebowie“.

She's probably hanging out with your December LSAT score

@*&%$#^!!!

That pretty much sums up the collective sentiment of December 2011 LSAT takers everywhere. Forget Waldo and Carmen Sandiego, where the #$&% are the December LSAT scores?! Well, the wait is over:  LSAT scores started rolling out at approximately 5:20pm EST. The curve for the December exam was -14 for a 170, -28 for a 160.

Remember, it is inadvisable to open up that email from LSAC while driving a car, operating heavy machinery, or standing in the same room as minors or others who might object to vulgarity.

Lastly, remember to check out our free review of the December LSAT happening next Tuesday night. Two of our geekiest instructors will be on hand to review some of the more difficult games from the exam, as well as give their sage-like advise on whether or not you should consider a retake.

Best of luck!

2011 was a banner year for Manhattan LSAT: in addition to teaching a record number of students, 2011 saw the release of the 2nd edition of our LSAT Strategy Guides.

Happy New Year from Manhattan LSAT

2012 promises to be an even bigger year, as we get ready to bring our 99th percentile approach to even more students in more places (check us out in Boston and Boulder this year!).  Needless to say, we can’t wait to help every one of our students achieve their personal goals on the LSAT.

Today I’m taking a look at the road ahead in 2012 and making some bold (and some not so bold) predictions for the year:

• There will continue to be a decrease in LSAT takers year over year.  While there was inevitably going to be a decline in test takers from the record high numbers seen in 2009-2010, one can’t help but entertain the idea that perhaps all of those NY Times articles cautioning students about the cost/benefit of law school (more on that in a second) is having an impact on the psyche of prospective law school students.

• The LSAT will continue to evolve and change. No, I don’t expect there to be a new section introduced on the test – or for LSAC to suddenly change the format or scoring of the exam, but one thing that history has consistently shown us is that the LSAT is constantly evolving. There are always new ‘curve balls’ that each new version of the test throws at test takers, and that shouldn’t be expected to change. This is why it is so important to study for the LSAT in a way that focuses on the necessary skills that the test is measuring: reading quickly and efficiently, organizing large amounts of information and making inferences, and verbal reasoning – as these haven’t changed (nor do I expect them to change) any time soon.
• LSAT takers will continue to agonize over the retake decision. As long as the LSAT exists and you are allowed to take it up to three times in any two year period, this will be the case.
• The aforementioned ‘is law school worth it’ debate will rage on. Costing three years and up to $200,000, this debate is a healthy one. Make sure you have carefully considered your reasons for going to law school, and that you have well researched what it will take to reach your personal and professional goals post law school. Often reaching these goals begins with a killer LSAT score!

New York Times journalist David Segal has written another article about law school – although this time he abandons his familiar cautionary tone to point out some of the flaws in the current American Bar Association accreditation process that law schools must go through.

OnlineColleges.Net has a useful piece on dealing with the stress of law school.

ClearAdmit.com is debuting a new law school blog at http://law.clearadmit.com/. Here you can download 12 free guides to law school – they have guides for Harvard, Yale, Stanford, NYU, and Northwestern, among many others – totally free!

GirlsGuideToLawSchool.com has a fun and insightful piece about making the most of your winter break.

The Art of the Sketchy Attorney Billboard - via Copyranter

the number of distractions that this time of year can provide. Try telling that to someone who has spent the last 8 months studying, however, and I’m sure they could convince you otherwise. When it does finally get released, be sure to join our Free December 2011 LSAT Review Session.

Regardless, I know most December 2011 LSAT takers are craving some sort analysis/advice as to when that crucial  email will hit inboxes. Past trends tell us that you can anticipate scores being released some time either shortly after Christmas, or shortly after New Year’s Day. Last year, scores were released on January 6th – but for SEVERAL years prior, scores were  released before the New Year.  It remains to be seen if last year’s January release date was an anomaly, or the start of a new trend of later December LSAT score releases.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for lawyer-ly things to pass your time, check out this hilarious blog entry from ‘copyranter’ depicting six hysterical roadside billboards advertising local attorneys. It’s worth a click- I promise!