Articles published in 2017

Mastering the Science of LSAT Timing

by

Manhattan Prep LSAT Blog - Mastering the Science of LSAT Timing by Allison Bell

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.


Of all the standardized tests out there, the LSAT is perhaps the most intensely time-pressured. We all know the feeling of our hand shaking a little as we stare down at an entire unattempted Logic Game with only five minutes left on the clock. So students often ask me questions like, “When will I start to see improvements in my LSAT timing?” “Will it come with practice, or will I just kind of naturally start to go faster?” Read more

Telling Your Story: Brainstorming on Your Law School Personal Statement

by

Manhattan Prep LSAT Blog - Telling Your Story: Brainstorming on Your Law School Personal Statement by jdMission

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, a jdMission Senior Consultant will discuss how elements of storytelling can—and should—be applied to your personal statement.


About a year ago, my sister called and asked what I was doing.

“I’m brainstorming ideas for my book,” I told her.

“With whom?” she asked. I was alone.

“I’m pretty sure if you’re by yourself, it’s just called thinking,” she said. Ah. Indeed.

Brainstorming, as we all know, is a term commonly (over-)used today in business, education and pretty much any environment to describe how a group generates as many ideas as possible. Apparently, some of us use the term for individuals as well.
Read more

To Cancel or Not to Cancel Your LSAT Score: When to Press the Big Red Button

by

Manhattan Prep LSAT Blog - To Cancel or Not to Cancel Your LSAT Score: When to Press the Big Red Button by Ben Rashkovich

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.


Some people walk out of their test centers on LSAT day all smiles and good cheer, ready to enjoy their study-free day.

Some people. Read more

I Don’t Know How to Group Study for the LSAT!

by

Manhattan Prep LSAT Blog - I Don't Know How to Group Study for the LSAT! by Chris Gentry

Learning science has come a long way in recent years, and we’ve been learning with it. 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.


Note: If you haven’t yet read Allison Bell’s post on LSAT motivation, I highly recommend you check it out here. This post is inspired by both a comment from my lovely wife and that post.

At the end of Allison’s post, she mentions finding a study partner (or partners, plural—small group or paired study is very, very effective). I’m hoping to follow up on that post with some ideas on how to make these group study sessions more efficient. Read more

Real Law School Personal Statements Reviewed: Use Strong Supporting Examples

by

Manhattan Prep LSAT Blog - Real Law School Personal Statements Reviewed: Use Strong Supporting Examples by jdMission

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

I love gardening: My hands in the dirt, the smell of freshly grown flowers or vegetables, the invigorating sensation of working the earth in the great outdoors. There is order to sowing seeds – steps and clear directives that allow life to reproduce generationally.

I feel like the law boasts numerous similarities to a garden. While there are no hard and fast rules, there are serious guidelines to each. In a legal environment, you have to understand the existing laws of the land. But you must also understand that public opinion shifts and makes room for subtle changes to the law. Read more

How NOT to Study for the LSAT

by

Manhattan Prep LSAT Blog - How NOT to Study for the LSAT by Matt Shinners

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.


I was on my way to a science degree. I had all-nighters studying Organic Chemistry under my belt. I had completed hours and hours of lab work.

That last one was what changed my mind.

My career plan had been to become a researcher at a pharmaceutical company, but I just didn’t enjoy spending hot days in a glove box measuring out micrograms of catalysts for reactions that almost certainly wouldn’t work. Yes, I’m impatient.

So what was I to do? Law school, of course! It was a respectable profession that would allow me to deal with the cool part of science—when something’s been created and it’s time to get a patent. The rationale was half-baked at best.

That decision, and the LSAT it necessitated, changed my life. Read more

LSAT Logic Games Question Types

by

Manhattan Prep LSAT Blog - LSAT Logic Games Question Types by Matt Shinners

Learning science has come a long way in recent years, and we’ve been learning with it. 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.


After getting over the general panic that many feel as soon as they start looking at a Logic Game, people start to categorize the questions into general types. Ordering, Grouping, Hybrid, etc…

While that’s important, it’s just as important to put a premium on breaking the questions into categories and knowing how to deal with each of them.

Note: This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it covers 98+% of questions. Read more

Your Law School Personal Statement Story: Show Change

by

Manhattan Prep LSAT Blog - Your Law School Personal Statement Story: Show Change by jdMission

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.


With respect to your law school personal statement, stories about how you came to be who you are today are interesting. On the other hand, stories about how you always were who you are today because you have not changed over the years are not.

“I have wanted to be a lawyer since I was three” may be true, but this kind of statement is not effective in a personal statement. Read more

Harvard Law School Now Accepts the GRE for Admission

by

Harvard Law School Accepts GRE in Addition to LSAT - Manhattan Prep LSAT Blog

You read that right.  Read more

High-Level Tips for LSAT Time Management

by

Manhattan Prep LSAT Blog - High-Level Tips for LSAT Time Management by Daniel Fogel

Learning science has come a long way in recent years, and we’ve been learning with it. 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’ve taken a practice LSAT, you’ve probably frantically bubbled in your favorite guess letter – mine’s D, for Daniel – as the last few seconds ticked off the clock. Maybe you keep getting stuck on a difficult game, or perhaps you struggle to get to that last Reading Comprehension passage with more than a few minutes left. Whatever your specific difficulties, here are some high-level strategies that you can apply to be more efficient with your time. Read more