This past weekend the New York Times had a sobering article explaining that law school is “No Longer the Golden Ticket.”  Many people somehow assumed the the legal field was immune to the economic downturn.  “Well, Wall Street is dead for now,” people thought, “so I’ll go for law school.  Not as glamorous, but at least the money’s there.”

Turns out that big law firms are laying off big time and are not hiring many if any new lawyers.  In fact, we’re seeing a lot of resumes of law school grads that are looking for something to do during their “gap year.”  Overall, these folks are not making the Atlas cut, but many are quite bright.  Interestingly, often they’ve been hired by some law firm and then told to not show up for a year and instead do something community-oriented (and these folks receive half their salaries, which is still a nice chunk of change).  This sounds like a pretty good deal considering what many large law firms have young associates doing for the first couple of years (cue shot of Igor, the hunchback in old Frankenstein film creeping in the basement).  As we see it, the problem is that when the economy picks up and folks start suing and merging with each other with gusto again, law firms will probably pick up their half-way house hires and hold off on taking new ones for a year or so.  Basically, there’s a lawyer log jam.  [Yes, that sounds like the end of a good lawyer joke.]  Particularly since there’s been a 20% increase in LSAT test-takers this year! Read more

Good question! First off, we’ll be discussing this in our upcoming workshop in which we’ll review the December LSAT.

If you’re just looking to take an LSAT, it doesn’t matter which one you take — just take it after you’ve prepared!  But if you already have taken the LSAT and are wondering whether to re-take, there’s a lot more to say.  The question of whether you should re-take in June, Sep/Oct, or Dec  has one set of answers.  If you are wondering whether to re-take in one of those non-February months, take a look at some previous posts – should I re-take the LSAT & how to improve your LSAT score.   But for February you get a special set of answers just for you!

In general, the answer is NO.  Here’s why (and thanks to Ann Levine for some help on this one):

1. It’s hard to improve an LSAT score significantly in one month. Caveats: if you truly had a bad day on test day, and having such a day is completely out of the ordinary for you, sure, a re-test could conceivably show serious improvement.  But, so you know, most people don’t improve that much.  For example, the average person who re-takes the LSAT with a score between 150 and 160 improves only 2.4 points on the re-take (and the re-take improvement gets worse as you go up the score ladder).  For most people, those 2.4 points are not enough to significantly alter your application — and for most folks, those 2 and almost a half points definitely do not warrant a re-take because . . . Read more

A recent article in the National Law Journal raises some critical issues about the effects of US News & World Report’s annual rankings.  What I found most disturbing are some of the tricks that law schools play to increase their rankings (accepting students as part-timers, hiring graduates so those grads are not unemployed), and the ranking’s effect on how law schools spend their money is disheartening.  According to a GAO study, tuition at law schools has risen because of the need to hire top faculty amidst an increasingly competitive market.

If you’re on the fence about where to set your sites, one thought to consider when you’re facing the rankings game is whether you’d like to be in the top 10% of the 20th school on the list, or in the bottom 10% of the school ranked number 8.   Your ranking within your class can make a difference in terms of your experience at school and how potential employers view you.

Well, we won’t know scores for some time, but we’ve started getting some feedback from our students.  We stay away from talking about LSAT content to respect the testing process, but we’ve had students saying that it was a pretty standard LSAT for them.  A common report goes like this: just wanted to say I felt extremely prepped and ready for the test yesterday.  A great relief to walk in there and really be “surprised” by nothing.

Here is another nice letter: //www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=98343&p=2271246#p2271246

As a warning to future LSAT-test-takers, I heard from a few students who felt they did not do their best because they found themselves pressed for time.  Even if you are great on your timing on practice tests, the reality of taking the LSAT can make you act differently.  That’s why I sometimes recommend practicing with 34 or 33 minutes per section.

On another note, turns out that LSAC will be a bit slow with sending back scores this time.  Even the LSAT elves need to take time off during the holidays.

If you’re interested in reviewing the LSAT with us, we’ll be hosting a review workshop in about a month, so stay tuned.

We’re very excited to announce that we’re launching classes in Irvine and in San Diego this month!

If you’ve poked around on our site, you know that we are VERY picky about who we hire.  In the final stage of our 3-stage audition we fly each candidate to NY, even putting him or her up in a hotel (not the W or some other shmancy place, but DEFINITELY something with a door that locks and a bed with at least one pillow 🙂 ).  I bring this up because in this rather costly stage we reject over 90% of candidates — and that’s after the first and second stages, which have knocked out about 30 and 50 percent respectively of the folks who reach each of those (and all of that is after a resume filter eliminates a bunch).  When you pay one of the highest salaries in the industry, you get to be choosy.

My point?  We’re very excited to have found Matt Sherman, a seasoned pro.  He even started his own successful LSAT prep company at one point — writing the books, curriculum, etc.  He knows the LSAT like he knows the back of a grape.  (Read his bio and you’ll get that reference.)

So, Southern California, prepare yourselves!  We’re landing and we expect you to do some work.  Look here to sign-up to see what Matt is all about: www.atlaslsat.com/lsat-locations.cfm

We’ve been working to set up free and discounted prep courses for soldiers who are trying to get ready for the LSAT.  Here’s an e-mail update we received from Carina Ballard, a US soldier (a lieutenant, I believe). This really puts some LSAT struggles in perspective.

I am stationed in Tallil, Iraq which is southern Iraq, on Contingency Operating Base (COB) Adder.  It is the hottest and dustiest part of the country.

I had some issues with LSAC registering and paying for the test.  They actually emailed me the wrong registration deadline and when I tried to register it obviously didn’t work.  I had to make several phone calls (which is not easy here) to work it out.  Luckily I had saved the emails from LSAC and could verify that they had in fact misinformed me.  Eventually it worked out, but it was difficult.

I started out studying in my room, but that was problematic because my roommate works the day shift and I work the night shift so I was studying in the dark balancing books on my knees with a tiny light and trying not to make any noise.  So that really didn’t work.  Instead, I started coming into the trailers where my Tactical Operations Center (TOC) is and working there all night, but a lot of people come in and out so I eventually moved out of there as well.  I ended up having the most success working in a spare office in my Battalion Commander’s office trailer.  It was the only quiet place and very few people were in it in the middle of the night. Read more

We just did an interview with Ann Levine, and admissions consultant,

//www.lawschoolexpert.com/podcasts.html

A very fun conversation.  Some of the big themes: what sort of score increases to expect, how to choose a prep option that’s right for you, and some of the myths about LSAT prep.

This is our first chance to work with Ann, but it sounds like she has a lot of sound advice for navigating the law school application process smoothly.  Check out her blog: //www.lawschoolexpert.com/blog

And I’ve just ordered her book: //www.lawschoolexpertbook.com Looks useful . . .

You’ve taken the LSAT!  Hoorah . . . but how did you do?  If you’re one of the many folks considering whether to re-take or not, take a look at this:

//www.atlaslsat.com/lsat/blog/index.php/2009/07/01/lsat-re-take-considerations-how-to-improve-your-lsat-score/

But do not operate under the influence . . .

If you’d like to review the LSAT with us, we’re holding a live online workshop on October 25th at 8pm EST //www.atlaslsat.com/EventShow.cfm?EID=3&eventID=113

One interesting development in the latest LSATs is the introduction of a new strain of question in logic games.  The LSAT has begun to ask which rule change would have no effect on the scenarios possible under the rest of the game’s constraints.  One of the impressive aspects of the LSAT is how it continues to evolve so that it remains an accurate assessment of one’s ability to make inferences.  Strict executors were thrown for a loop by those questions since they’re new and not directly covered in most courses or books.  Flexible test-takers were able to adapt.  One of the major considerations with such a question — and a line of thinking that can help you avoid the time-consuming testing out of each answer choice —  is “How does the removed rule affect the game?”  All rules limit the possibilities, so the challenge is to figure out how that happens in relation to the other rules.

I thought I would add one more tip to a previous posting full of tips for those about to go and take the LSAT: //www.atlaslsat.com/lsat/blog/index.php/2009/06/03/final-lsat-tips/

Bring some light warm-up LSAT material with you to the testing center. I suggest bringing some tough questions that you completely mastered.  Before you enter the testing center, just run through the questions one last time, toss the paper into the recycling bin and head to your room.  Don’t bother checking your work.  The reason to do this is that you don’t want to use the first section of the test as your warm-up.  You want your logical thinking already moving when you start section 1.  The brain is a muscle, so warm it up just like you would your legs.

And I stand behind my night-before-the-LSAT recommendation: Legally Blonde, 1 or 2.

Good luck!

For all aspiring lawyers, note the power of your profession: after LSAC filed its lawsuit, TestMasters agreed to pay its outstanding bill and the two parties decided upon a new fee structure.

The LSAC is very careful with how its material is used, but I will say that folks who criticize it for being focused on profit are ignoring a lot of factors.  First of all, the organization is not-for-profit.  Secondly, the cost of taking the LSAT surely does not cover all the costs the LSAC bears in terms of creation, protection and administration of their tests (and many who apply for fee waivers receive them).  Finally, LSAC is pretty generous in terms of allowing free use of its materials by pre-law advisors and those who are using LSAT questions in a community-service manner.  My suggestion: hate the test, not the test-makers!  (and pay if you use their questions).