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One of the most anticipated—for good or for ill—tests that any law student will take is the Law School Admission Test, otherwise known as the LSAT. Not only does it determine whether you’ll get into law school at all, but the higher your score is on the test, the better your odds are of getting into one of the top law schools. Instead of focusing on what you’ve already learned up until this point, the LSAT measures how you’ll be able to handle what law school throws at you. Because of its specificity, in order to do well on this exam, you’ll need to clearly understand the LSAT format and what will be expected of you on test day.

 

In order to prepare yourself for this test, here are some pointers to help you be the best you can be.

 

Put months of effort into studying, not days.

 

It’s tempting to brush aside studying in favor of doing something more fun or to let your preparation fall to the wayside due to busy school or workweeks. Don’t let yourself fall into this hole, though; practice tests may help, but the LSAT is a skill-based test, so it’s impossible to cram studying in on the weekend and call that adequate preparation. Instead of gaining knowledge, you’re building a skill like you would a sport or an instrument—and skills take time. To properly build this specific skill-set, you need to give yourself over six weeks of continuous work. Ideally, you should be preparing for three months at a minimum, if not longer. 

 

Help yourself before a friend.

 

While studying with a friend can be beneficial, you have to remember to put yourself first when preparing for the LSAT. This exam is meant to expose your personal strengths and weaknesses, so something that might be easy for you could be very challenging for your friend. For everyone to best prepare for the test, you need to find out what gives you the most trouble, not your friend, and work on improving upon those skills. 

 

Work your way up to timing yourself.

 

 When you first start studying for the LSAT, start with untimed practice sessions at the beginning so you can become familiar with the content throughout it. This can quickly help you figure out what’ll be the most challenging for you and highlight where you need to study the most. Once you’re comfortable in your untimed sessions, work your way up until you can complete every timed multiple-choice section in one sitting.