The Law School Admissions Test and jazz. What do the two have in common? Gilad Edelman.

We all knew that Gilad can teach – he’s funny and wickedly smart. But last week, Gilad blew us away by revealing his other talent: the sax. It was dark, it was smoky (well, not really, NYC banned cigarettes – you now have to go to Jersey to smoke), and it was awesome. As one of Gilad’s true fans, I was super excited to see that he can play like a champion, because it’d be really lame for Gilad to try to impress the ladies with his perfect LSAT score. (Remember that initial scene in The Social Network?).

Watch him play and then sign up for his course.

If you want to see me seriously mangle some Bob Dylan tune on the guitar, please privately e-mail me. J

We have exciting news: Manhattan LSAT students now have access to all 63 LSAT PrepTests. Woo-hoo!

What Lucy failed to realize was that the rubik's cube section of the LSAT was experimental

Now that you’ve dried your tears of joy, let’s back up and talk about obsession. If you have OCD-like tendencies, the LSAT is the test for you. Not only is it one of the nit-pickiest tests out there, but the tests are also conveniently numbered and published after each administration. Except – and oh, how we love exceptions – the February exams. So, we now have 63 published LSATs floating about in the world, along with a bunch of odds and ends the LSAC put out. (Here’s a full list.)

Now the question is, should you do all 63 PrepTests? Read more

There's got to be a better way to decide whether or not to retake the LSAT

If you took the LSAT on June 6^th and were less than pleased with the outcome, then consider attending our free online review of the exam next Monday night (7/11) at 8pm EST.  Two of our instructors will be breaking down some of the harder questions from the exam and offering advice on whether or not retaking in October is a good choice for you.

Speaking of ‘the great retake debate’, here are a few questions you should ask yourself as you begin to make your retake considerations:

Read more

Did you put up the numbers you were hoping for?

If you took the June LSAT and didn’t know that the scores were just released, you are a hermit! Go check your e-mail inbox!

For the rest of you non-hermits, if you’d like to review that LSAT with us, we’re holding a free Live Online Workshop on July 11^th, at 8pm ET.

You rocked the LSAT? Awesome – good luck with your applications.

You didn’t rock it? Let’s talk. If you decide to retake, you should know that the average re-taker only does a few points better, so you better dig deep to beat that statistic! Don’t just repeat what you did last time and expect a different result – that’s the definition of insanity. Take a look at our various prep options. And, if you already took a class with someone else (gasp!), we’ve got a discount for “refugees” – folks who took another course and need to get down and dirty with us.

You kind of rocked it? Same advice as above – if you simply go and re-take, you’ll probably score about the same as this time. If you’re going to go for it, go for it. If you’d like to talk through this decision (and no, we don’t try to get everyone to take a class with us!), feel free to give us a call – (646)-254-6480 or shoot us an e-mail at studentservices@manhattanprep.com/lsat/.

If the trends of past LSAT score releases are any indication, you can reasonably expect that the June 2011 scores will be released shortly – likely some time tomorrow.  Who knew that three weeks could feel like three decades?

This week Ann Levine (www.lawschoolexpert.com) has written a very insightful blog post that brings some much needed perspective to the LSAT and law school in general, and offers 5 things that you can do while waiting for that email.

From LawSchoolExpert.com’s blog:

I know the waiting feels endless, but just think about all of the people taking the bar exam who have to wait three months to find out IF, after making it through law school,they will be able to actually practice law. I do expect scores to come out by email in the next 12-36 hours and I want to keep you all nice, calm, occupied, and feeling productive in the meantime. Here are some things to do in the next day or two:

1. Articulate the reasons why you want to be a lawyer. Not why you want to go to law school, but why you want to be a lawyer. Write them down and keep it in your wallet and look at it every time you spend money. I know no one will really do this, but I think it’s a GREAT idea. If you don’t want to be a lawyer but want to go to law school for some other reason, write down those reasons and spend the next day doing research on other ways to get to your goal without going to law school.

2. Go see Hangover 2 or Bridesmaids. I really want to see both of these films. I don’t have time (just moved houses and am trying to finish up my book to help you decide whether to go to law school) so please see these films, laugh a lot, and let me know how they are. One of my favorite traditions when I was in law school was going to see a movie on Friday afternoons. It was a great escape, and I haven’t had time to see movies since, so let me live vicariously through you….

Read The Full Article

As prospective law school students, your LSAT score is one key piece to a larger admissions puzzle that you must put together.  I’m sure you’ve heard many times by now how important your LSAT score and undergraduate GPA are to your acceptance in to law school – but there still remains a bit of mystery surrounding certain aspects of the overall application.  Just what are admissions officers looking for in a prospective JD student?

This week, Manhattan LSAT is pleased to be teaming up with AdmissionsConsultants.com – an admissions consulting firm with admissions counseling experience that spans decades – to bring you an exclusive interview with Sara Zearfoss, Dean of Admissions at the University of Michigan Law School.

Here is an excerpt from their exclusive interview:

What do you consider the most important part of the application process?

The personal statement, far and away. There’s a strong perception among applicants that the make-or-break factors are LSAT and UGPA – but while those are unquestionably important indicators of academic ability, it is certainly true that many people with strong metrics are not admitted, and also true that people whose metrics are well below our medians do get admitted. What never happens, however, is that someone who writes a terrible personal statement gets admitted.

To read the full interview, please click HERE.

Warm Up Those Medulla Oblongatas!

Yet another sign of my geekiness: I love Tuesdays because that’s when the NY Times has a science section. (And for those who are struggling with science passages on the LSAT, it’s not a bad place to start getting some extra practice – though throw in some more technical material as well). Last Tuesday there was an article that caught my eye: Brain Calisthenics for Abstract Ideas is about research on training kids’ intuitive senses about abstract problems. What the white lab coat folks did is develop a computer program that made kids match graphs to equations. The kids didn’t need to solve anything, they just needed to match them on gut instinct (which here means a general understanding of how equations graph out).

I love it! I used to teach math and I did some of this sort of thing – we’d always work on estimating answers before we learned algorithms (the formal steps for solving something). I think building up a student’s intuitive sense of a problem is essential. The question is how to do it for the LSAT?

One way we do it is through the LSAT Arcade. Our curriculum team came up with a bunch of different games, that work very specific mental micro-muscles and builds your intuitive sense of things.

Another tool in your arsenal is lots of practice! Read more

On To The LSAT!

For those of you who just walked across the stage – particularly those who managed to do so without face planting – we salute you.  Graduation ceremonies are the important culmination of 4+ years of careful study, even if it may have been in the art of carousals, the opposite sex, and parental money laundering.  In honor of all the new graduates out there, we have themed our latest Logic Games Challenge around the pomp and circumstance of the season.

Try out the easy or hard version of our new logic game, submit your best answer explanation to our forum, and you could potentially win a fabulous prize (either $200 off a course, or some books) from us.  Prizes are given to the best answer explanation for both versions of the game, as well as to one randomly selected participant.  So far, only 33% of respondents to the hard version of the challenge have been able to answer all of the questions correctly.  Do you have what it takes?

You’ve just gone five rounds with the LSAT.  How do you feel ? Relieved? Depressed?  Nervous?  Befuddled? Angry?

These are all natural emotions for someone fresh off an LSAT.  Hopefully you’ve learned a little bit about Zen and the Art of LSAT as you’ve been prepping for the last few months, but if you’re really freaked out – or just naturally anxious about how things went – we’re in your corner.  Come to our Free Online Review the June LSAT Workshop, led by two of our rock star instructors.  Whether you’re a champion of the LSAT world, or in need of a bit more training, this Review the LSAT workshop is a must attend.

In this session we will review the most challenging logic games from the June Exam, as well as any of the newer curveballs that the LSAC may have decided to throw at you…  We will also address the pesky question of whether or not you should be considering a retake in October.

Of course the decision to retake will be largely contingent upon your June score, which is scheduled to be released Wednesday, June 27^th via email. Past trends tell us however, that you can expect your scores to be emailed to you a bit sooner than that.

While you’re waiting, you may find some of our articles about retakes a useful starting point for making your decision about future LSATs.

Early Versions of the Reading Comprehension Section of the LSAT

The LSAT is less than a week away and people are often asking for final tips about test day.  Here’s my best of:

1.  Easy does it (sort of). Don’t take any full prep tests within the last two days. The brain is a muscle, let it rest.  But, you do need to keep it toned. So take a few timed sections each day and review   a bunch of the work you’ve already done. The day before the LSAT re-do sections you have already completed and on the morning of, redo one easy logic game on your way to the test center to get your brain moving.

Caveat: if you know you’ll do better with momentum, go right ahead and get momentumming– go crazy the week before the LSAT.  Some people like to do a six-section LSAT a week before test day to make 5 sections seem easy.

2. Pack-up the night before. Get all your pencils sharpened, print out the ticket (and make sure your printer doesn’t cut off any part of it), make sure you have a passport-sized picture, and find that analog watch your dad gave you years ago. Make sure you know how to get to your testing center – there’s nothing worse than freaking out on your way to the test. Plan to arrive early and to enjoy a coffee outside while you do a warm-up section, a crossword puzzle, or something that is fun and slightly intellectual. Read more