Ready to study the right way? We incorporate the latest discoveries in learning science into our LSAT course to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your prep. Want to see? Try the first session of any of our upcoming courses for free.

Just a quick note to any student thinking about buying (or using) one of those LSAT watches on test day—don’t! Read more

In this series, a jdMission Senior Consultant reviews real law school personal statements. What’s working well? What’s not? If it were his/her essay, what would be changed? Find out!

Note: To maintain the integrity and authenticity of this project, we have not edited the personal statements, though any identifying names and details have been changed or removed. Any grammatical errors that appear in the essays belong to the candidates and illustrate the importance of having someone (or multiple someones) proofread your work.

Personal Statement

Everyone said it would be a mistake to keep my baby. My mother, my father, my teachers, my guidance counselor. Seventeen when I got pregnant, I would not even have a chance to graduate high school before he was born. Instead of going to the prom, I’d be going to the maternity unit. Instead of putting on a cap and gown, I’d be putting diapers on another human being. Read more

Ready to study the right way? We incorporate the latest discoveries in learning science into our LSAT course to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your prep. Want to see? Try the first session of any of our upcoming courses for free.

Stacey Koprince, one of our amazing GMAT instructors, recently wrote an article about how to make the most of a study group for that exam. It sounded like a great idea, so I’m adapting it for LSAT study groups! Here’s a (lightly) edited version, tailored for all you future lawyers.

Stacey, all yours! Read more

Ready to study the right way? We incorporate the latest discoveries in learning science into our LSAT course to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your prep. Want to see? Try the first session of any of our upcoming courses for free.

GPAs, GREs, LSATs, oh my! There is now a new factor adding to the complexity of all the moving parts of law school applications—the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), traditionally used by many graduate programs outside of law school. In March, Harvard Law School announced a pilot program allowing applicants to apply with either the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), the standardized test that nearly all law schools have used for decades, or the GRE. More top law schools have followed and other schools are expected to join the GRE party. Read more

A personal statement is really no more than telling a story—one that illuminates the “you” a law school would be lucky to have in its student body. In this series, “Telling Your Story,” a jdMission Senior Consultant will discuss how elements of storytelling can—and should—be applied to your personal statement.

You have finished a draft of your personal statement. You have read it over, looking for ways to make it stronger, and you have rewritten it a few times. Is it true? Yes. Is it compelling? Yes. Is it concise? Yes. Does it have an ending? Yes. Are you happy with it? Pretty much. What is left that could be improved? Read more

Ready to study the right way? We incorporate the latest discoveries in learning science into our LSAT course to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your prep. Want to see? Try the first session of any of our upcoming courses for free.

Have you been studying for the LSAT for months? Going to classes, reading textbooks, and trying out problems every day? Have you drilled all of your Logic Game types and figured out the secret to identifying every flaw known to humankind?

That’s awesome. But you’re not done. Read more

Ready to study the right way? We incorporate the latest discoveries in learning science into our LSAT course to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your prep. Want to see? Try the first session of any of our upcoming courses for free.

Most LSAT students who encounter time trouble attempt to speed up. This is a natural reaction, of course, but there’s an inherent tradeoff of accuracy when you increase your speed. You may finish the section, but that won’t translate to a higher score if rushing leads to mistakes. So how do you know the right balance of speed vs. accuracy on the LSAT? Read more

In this series, a jdMission Senior Consultant reviews real law school personal statements. What’s working well? What’s not? If it were his/her essay, what would be changed? Find out!

Note: To maintain the integrity and authenticity of this project, we have not edited the personal statements, though any identifying names and details have been changed or removed. Any grammatical errors that appear in the essays belong to the candidates and illustrate the importance of having someone (or multiple someones) proofread your work. Read more

Ready to study the right way? We incorporate the latest discoveries in learning science into our LSAT course to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your prep. Want to see? Try the first session of any of our upcoming courses for free.

If you, like me, prefer to take your LSAT studying poolside during these hot summer days, here’s an analogy that you’ll relate to: Note-taking on the LSAT is like applying sunscreen. Like sunscreen, if you use too many notes on certain parts of the LSAT, you may be left with foolish-looking marks that didn’t end up being especially useful; but use too little, and the test will scorch you just like the sun. Also like sunscreen, there’s a time and place for notes on the LSAT. Unless you’re hanging at a nudist pool, you probably don’t need sunscreen literally everywhere, nor do you need notes everywhere on the LSAT. Unfortunately, figuring out sunscreen is generally a lot simpler than figuring out note-taking on the LSAT. Since this is an issue many of my students grapple with in all phases of their preparation, here are a few guidelines, and here’s hoping you’re reading them by the pool. Read more

Ann K. Levine is the founder and chief law school admission consultant at Law School Expert. Each year, pre-law students rely on Law School Expert’s blog for advice on personal statements, letters of recommendation, LSAT scores and more, to help them get into reach law schools. She has been a law school admission consultant since opening LawSchoolExpert.com in 2004, and this is her fourth book. The following is an excerpt from the Amazon bestselling law school guide, The Law School Admission Game.

What Is a Personal Statement?

This is the piece of your application over which you have—at present—the most control. And it’s not to be taken lightly. A good personal statement adds to the application by tipping the scales in your favor. If someone with your numbers has a chance of being admitted to a particular law school, but not everyone with your numbers is admitted, the major deciding factor is the personal statement. A good LOR helps, but if you can’t advocate for yourself, someone else advocating on your behalf isn’t going to make your case for you. And, if the personal statement is unimpressive, the person evaluating your application may not even go on to read the LORs. Read more