 Law School
Admission Resource Center
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| Within
the Law School Resource Center, I have listed numerous resources and
tips to help you make your law school application process run a little
smoother and more quickly. |
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Set Priorities and Balance Activities
Using a planner you should map
out your entire semester including your classes, study times,
work hours, and holidays. You should keep track of your daily
routine and try to identify your biggest time wasters in an
effort to eliminate them.
Identify Goals
You need to identify your goals
because without a target how are you expected to hit the
bull’s eye. Recognize your problems and find efficient coping
strategies to help you through your semester.
Effective Study
Ideally you should study every
two hours per hour class time. If you need to take a break
you should do so about every half hour for about 5 minutes.
Be
Realistic
At times, unexpected events
happen that may deter your original schedule. Do not let this
stop you. Rearrange your schedule effectively by first
eliminating low priority items.
Cultivate Good Habits
Some good habits to practice
include: avoid clutter, delegate your responsibilities, be
sure to set deadlines for yourself, get things done now not
later, always have a “to do” list, and concentrate on one
thing at a time.
Avoid Procrastination
Always
confront your tasks head on, no matter how strong the urge to
avoid them. |
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look through your planner and identify your biggest time
wasters you should be able to eliminate them. Once this is
done, and you have time to finish your high priority items,
you will actually have more time to do the things that you
would like. The most common time wasters include: Telephone,
lack of objectives, priorities, and planning, attempting too
much at once, disorganization, indecision, inability to say
“no”, unclear goals and direction, lack of self-discipline,
leaving tasks unfinished, socializing, television, and e-mail. |
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What
if I experience anxiety during the test?
For the day of the test make
sure that you get enough sleep. Because of this you will have
more energy and you will be able to think more clearly. Once
you wake up, give yourself sufficient time to get everything
together for the test to ensure that you get to the test
early. An important thing to remember is to not discuss
material with others before the exam because this may only
cause you confusion. Be sure to choose a sit away from all
distractions such as windows, friends, etc.
Once you begin the exam you must
develop a plan of attack. This will alleviate some of the
anxiety you will naturally feel. Start by reading all the
instructions, then schedule your time based on the amount of
questions being asked, look for clue words (words that
determine the precise interpretation of the questions), skip
all difficult questions, use intelligent guessing for
questions you are not sure of, and leave enough time at the
end to review all your answers.
If you
become anxious during the test do something unusual such as
get a drink or go to the bathroom if this is permissible. If
the anxiety persists, tense and relax muscles in several parts
of your body and take several deep breathes. Attempt to calm
yourself down by ensuring yourself that the test does not
determine your future in itself, while visualizing a calm,
soothing scene. |
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In order to prepare for your
test you need to gather all material to which you will be
tested on and possibly form a study group. Look at old exams
to get an idea of format of the test, level of difficulty, and
types of questions asked. Breakdown your work into manageable
pieces, planning your study time effectively.
If your
test consists of essay questions make a brief outline before
beginning the test. If there are multiple-choice questions,
read the question, call to mind the relevant material, read
all the choices, do all questions you know definitive answers
to first, and finish with the rest of the questions. Be sure
to use all the time allowed for the test. When the test is
finally returned, evaluate your results to ensure that next
time you will not make the same mistakes again. |
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This
section of the LSAC site offers a way, based on your
undergraduate GPA and LSAT score, to calculate your likelihood
of admissions to all the ABA approved law schools. It is a
helpful tool, but keep in mind that it is not an exact science
for stats change year to year. Also, the calculator is only
taking two aspects of your application into account.
Start at
the LSAC.org website, click on the ABA-LSAC Official Guide
icon in the bottom right corner. Under “Search Law Schools”
click the “LSAC Data Search” link. From there you can type in
your GPA and LSAT score. Check off “Estimate likelihood of
admission” box. Press enter and once all the school’s stats
show up, click the “Your Estimated Likelihood” link in the top
right corner. You should use this list to help you narrow
down some of your options. |
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If you are
looking for a way
to figure out what kind of law you might like to practice,
check out CoachingForLawyers.com. This site can help you find
the type of firm that would be ideal for you, and whether the
legal profession is the career that suits you best. |
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1Boston University Pre-Law Advising Office, Academic
Success and Achievement Program (2001). |
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2Pre Law Insider, Match Your Future in law - online
(Summer 2002). |
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