<p>I’ve been pretty much a self-didactic man my entire life. My parents are barely functionally literate. And I’ve pretty much got into college without the help of any counselors or teacher support or whatever. I just relied on my intuition the whole time.</p>
<p>Anyways, I came across this board and it has very valuable information. I want to get into law school, but I don’t know if I have the necessary finanical backing to buy all these books and LSAT prep courses. The only book I have managed to get my hands on was the Princeton Review LSAT 2008. I took a practice exam in it without studying anything and got a 138. I have always failed in standardized testing; I had a bad score for the SAT when I got into college. I sometimes inferred that I got into a decent university by miracle. :P</p>
<p>I’m a junior now in college. I’m a history and spanish major. Hispanic minority, first-time college student for the family. I have 3.4 G.P.A, but it is drastically improving right now. I think this quarter I will only end up with one “B” and all A’s. I’ve been to a study abroad program to Central and Eastern Europe this summer, and got A’s on those. So it seems like I can get that G.P.A to a 3.7 at the end of this school year. </p>
<p>But I don’t know what to do with the LSAT. I don’t think I have any chances since I don’t do any activities, and I do spend the whole time of my life in the library. I’m not a smart man, writing good does not come to me naturally. I have to spend hours and hours to produce something of quality.</p>
<p>I didn’t spend a cent on studying for the LSAT. There are books in the library, and make sure you avoid downloading all the previous LSATs from torrent networks.</p>
<p>I think it’s probably worth buying at least a set of books. I know it’s expensive, but… well, so is law school. Getting as high an LSAT score as you can is really a crucial part of the process.</p>
<p>no need to buy the books–cherokeejew is right; your local public library or your college’s career office will likely have some, you can take free practice tests through Kaplan or Princeton Review (just prepare for a lot of junk mail) and on the LSAT website. you can also buy used lsat prep guides online to save a little money.</p>
<p>some test prep places have scholarships for low-income students–something to look into.</p>
<p>when it comes time to apply to law school, if your LSAT score is low and your GPA high, you might want to write an addendum explaining that you outperformed your SAT score in college and you expect that the LSAT is not a great predictor of your success in law school. I think Anna Ivey’s book has some good advice about this type of addendum.</p>
<p>Don’t call yourself a loser, even if you’re joking.</p>
<p>Do you really want to go to law school? Do you really want to do it right after graduating college? If you suck at standardized tests and don’t know exactly what you want to do with a law degree it might be best to work for a couple of years before applying to law school. This would give you plenty of time to prepare for the LSAT and if you find the right job it might give you an idea of what kind of legal career appeals to you.</p>
<p>I hate the idea that someone who is a self-starter like you are might get derailed by a blown LSAT or, worse yet, might suffer through three years of law school and then see that it was a bad choice.</p>
<p>Go buy a bunch of books and practice to death. The LSAT, just like any other test, is more about regurgitation than anything else. You don’t have to KNOW what you’re regurgitating, or UNDERSTAND it, you just have to regurgitate the right answers. Period. </p>
<p>That’s what I say when I’m studying for a test and it’s less than 48 hours to the test…it’s no longer about KNOWING, it’s now about REGURGITATING. If I really want to KNOW later on, I can go study it later. But during the test, I must regurgitate. I don’t have to know what I’m saying, or understand a word I’m saying, I just have to say it.</p>
<p>… that’s a ridiculous claim. The LSAT is a critical thinking test. There are no factoids to remember. You have patterns to recognize and rules to apply, sure, but that’s not regurgitation.</p>
<p>The LSAT is obviously a critical thinking test, but by “regurgitation”, I believe, futurenyustudent is refering to the fact that with repetition one begins to familiarize with the question patterning. If that’s what he meant by “regurgitation” I agree with him; however, all the regurgitation in the world will be of limited help if one doesn’t learn to apply the rules to the different question types respectively. </p>
<p>Evola… The first thing you need to rectify before even considering law school is your attitude. This is a academic discussion board, not a lifestyle one, so I won’t bloviate, but people who achieve their great things aren’t doubting themselves, and certainly not calling themselves “losers”. </p>
<p>I took the Testmasters LSAT prep course and found it to be instrumental in my newly found understanding of the exam. Powerscore sells useful material as well (I recommend the Logic Games Bible and Logical Reasoning Bible). </p>
<p>As far as your finances are concerned, the committment is only worth it if you’re determined to attend law school. Don’t invest $1,200 of your hard earned money in a Testmasters course out of a momentary sense of empowerment, but because you’re 110% certain that law school is the road for you.</p>