Good-bye

After 16 years, I have learned everything I want to about the LSAT, not that there isn't more to learn and more than I wanted to about applying to law school.  I have loved getting to know our students and will continue to watch for you and celebrate your successes.  I am moving on to new adventures but will not forget everything you have taught me.  

Thank you,

Sandy 

Happy September!  Soon the weather will cool down and it will feel like study time.  The law school applications are starting to roll out.  We should see all of them by October 1.  Typically our two local schools here in Seattle release their applications on that date.  While you want to keep studying and focusing on the LSAT, there is a task that you can take on right now that will take some time to complete but not on your end.  You are going to want to request your transcripts and get them sent to LSAC.  You need to send transcripts from every school where you have received college credits, community college, Running Start, a summer quarter fulfilling a math or foreign language requirement, etc.  Even if a school's grades show up on another school's transcript, you still need to send the transcripts in.  If you are still in school, you need to send transcripts right now.  The grades from fall quarter or semester won't be in in time for you to send off your applications.   When you get the grades at the end of this next term, send an updated transcript to LSAC and they will automatically forward it on to any school that has already requested your information.

If you went to a school that used evaluations instead of grades, you will need to have your evaluations sent to LSAC.  They have a special process for that so be sure to follow the website's instructions.

There is a transcript request form available on LSAC's website.  However, it makes the most sense to contact your school/schools first and ask them what their procedure is.  Some use that form and others do not.  It will take about 3 weeks from when you request the transcripts before they show up in your account under the academic summary report.

Letters of Recommendation

I hope you are enjoying what is probably the most unusual summer we have had here in Seattle in years.  Between bouts in the sun (wear your sunscreen!), you should start thinking about letters of recommendation.  No matter where you are at in the testing process, now is a good time to get them going.  Make sure you have paid your CAS fee through LSAC.  You are going to need two letters of recommendation and, if you are applying to the University of Washington, two evaluations from two different people.  I recommend that you ask for 3 letters in case something goes wrong along the way.  LSAC will walk you through the steps of how to get your recommenders to submit them.  Because people can procrastinate, getting this going now will save you loads of headaches later.

Ideally, if you are within 4 years of graduating, law schools are going to want to hear from professors.  They don't have to be law related or from your major.  What is most important, they want to hear about you, so pick someone that knows you, even if they don't have a fancy title.  They would rather read something written by a TA that you have had for several classes than the dean of a department but they couldn't pick you out of a line up.  Once you have exhausted the professor option, then employers or volunteer supervisors are great choices.  Same rules apply, knowledge of you trumps titles here.

You won't get to see the letters once the arrive in your account so pick wisely.  Make sure this is someone that will be excited about doing this for you.  Also, most likely it will get done in a timely manner.

Once they are in your account, you will be able to select which letters will go to which law schools.  You can have the same two letters go to all of the law schools that you apply to but you have to assign them.  Fortunately, the system has become pretty idiot proof and won't let you submit an application without the required number of letters attached to it.

You can do school specific letters.  However, the beauty of this system is that the letter writer has to write only one letter for you.  Basically, what we have heard from the law schools is that unless the letter writer is in some way connect to the LAW school or they are talking about how you are good fit for a specific program located at that law school, they are not interested in reading the name of their law school in your letter of recommendation.

This can be a complicated process so be sure to contact me with questions.

June LSAT Scores - What next?

As the June LSAT scores have come out today, some of you are now very happy, happy enough and some need a drink.  Whatever your status, you need a what next plan.  Everyone should be starting to think about your personal statement.  It is a 2 - 3 page, double-spaced essay that you will attach to each application.  The good news is that you are pretty much going to be able to do one and tweak it for each law school.  Almost all law schools ask for a generic personal statement, while they may make suggestions as to what you can write about, they are pretty open ended.  Start thinking about why you are going to law school.  While most people do not write their whole essay on why they want to go to law school (way too boring), it will help with the framework.  The law school essay will be about something you were an active participant in; a job, a volunteer activity, hobby, sport, something that happened to you growing up, travel, etc.  It is not about someone else, either famous or family, nor is it a book report or a laundry list of all of your accomplishments.  When you are ready to start brainstorming with me, contact me and we will set up a time.

If your score has you thinking about taking this test again, you have several questions to ask yourself.  Take a look at your results in your LSAC account and see what you missed.  If you have enough "what was I thinking" and "I am so close to getting that" questions, then it is worth further consideration.  Then ask if you have it in you to put the work in again.  You want to make sure if that if you are going to go through the expense and the bother that you will improve.  If your answers indicate giving this another go, get in contact with us to draft a repeat plan.  There are several options, including taking the class again for $200, just taking mock test on the weekends, etc.  As you gear up for starting this again, start by reading.  Read for pleasure (books or magazines, not the Internet - a different reading skill set entirely).  Then start setting a time for 35 minutes and push your reading skills with some fairly difficult non-fiction.  Work on increasing your stamina and ability to stay focused.

Sandy

Congratulations to all of you June LSAT test takers.  Give yourself a big pat on the back for just having gone through the process.  That is a huge risk that you took and you should give yourself credit for it.  One of the things that you may be asking is whether you should cancel the test or not.  This is the biggest benefit of taking the test in June is that you have two more chances to take the test again.  The first question to ask yourself is there anyway I can do worse?  If no, then do you have the time to put into preparing again for the October test.  If you went into June feeling pretty ready, it was just a last minute debacle that threw you off, then you will not have to do quite as much studying.  If you weren't as prepared as you could have been, then look at your August and September and make sure that you will have the time to focus on this.  If you are sure you could not do worse and have the time to prepare for the October test, the next question is do I want to see how I did on the June test.  If you cancel, you will never know how you did.  The test will be available for purchase sometime about the end of July so you can approximate how you would have done.  If you think there is learning potential from being able to see how you did and most of the schools you are applying to take the higher score (they will, about 95% of schools take the higher score at this point , as they should), then keep it.  You will be able to assess what went well and what you need to work on.  If there is nothing to learn from keeping the score, i.e., I don't do well when I have the flu or I have just been dumped or have a major panic attack that causes me to do one whole less logic game, then cancel and let's prepare for this again in October.

Whatever you are thinking, be sure to contact us if you have any questions.

Sandy

Thanks to a spectacular pollen season, I managed to completely lose my voice last week.  While my kids thought it was the greatest thing ever, it was beyond frustrating for me.  I was apprehensive that it would even make sense for me to come into work.  However, it turned into a great reminder of one of the best ways to study for the LSAT.  Because I couldn't talk, I was having students teach me.  They would tell me what kind of question it was, what they do with that kind of question and then why the wrong answers were wrong.  They were able to get clarification about which kind of questions they weren't really getting and, more importantly, why.  However, the real learning was taking place as they tried to figure out what was wrong with the wrong answers.  One student even learned that a much better strategy for her would be to look for the wrong answers rather than try to make one of the 5 options be right.  I had a flashback to when I was studying for the LSAT and I can remember sitting at my desk talking to the wall.  That wall in the U-District is now an expert on how the LSAT writes wrong answers.  Try this - you will find that you are repeating yourself.  That is because there are very few reasons as to why an answer can be wrong so they are using the same methods over and over again.

Happy studying!

Sandy

The sun is out!  It must be spring then.  There is a Ray Bradbury story that takes place on a planet where there is only one hour of sunshine every one hundred years.  I think about that story on days like today.  Be careful, it is easy to let something like the sun be an excuse not to study.  Make sure you are keeping to your schedule.  The sun will come back.

I am learning about this new technology tool called the internet.  We are hoping to roll out a small Google Ads campaign in the next month or so.  I just learned about Snapchat today.  There is something to make every lawyer shiver.  As much as it promises that the pictures will disappear, I would still use it like your grandma will be seeing those pictures.  You never know what level of access law schools will have.

Speaking of law schools, the University of Washington is having a meet and greet with their fabulous director of admissions, Mathiew Le.  It is Tuesday, April 23 at 5:30pm in Smith 107 on the University of Washington campus. It is an excellent opportunity to ask some questions if you are thinking about applying for the fall of 2014.  I understand food will be provided.

Sandy