The Official "I boast about my LSAT score" thread

[CaptainCanada]

Having graduated with my MA in History back in 2010, I decided not to pursue doctoral work because I didn't believe in nothing no more, so my only choice was law school. I wrote the LSAT (the law school entrance test) back in June, and got a 158 (out of 180) and a percentile of 74 (meaning I was better than 74% of the people who wrote the test). I decided to rewrite it to see if I could boost that from the middling range, but when I actually wrote it I was kind of convinced I'd actually done worse.

As it turns out, I got a 168 out of 180 and a 96 percentile this time around, which means I should pretty much be able to get into any school I want. I could even get into U of T, not that I want to because that's ungodly expensive.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Congratulations. I got a 164 when I took it, but a 168 is great. I would say keep an eye out for scholarships, since all Law Schools are expensive, but getting into a top school is great just for the flexibility.

 

[propita]

I screwed the test--did a few (only a few) practice test, but was acing the logic portions. Come the real thing, and I blew the logic portions--two portions on my version, meaning that one was sample questions. I literally filled it out randomly.

That means my 158 was almost entirely on the 3 reading portions (assuming my random answers were all wrong). My Dean was impressed with that. She said that means I missed almost nothing on the reading. I said the reading portions were much easier than the practice tests I took, while the logic was MUCH harder.

 

[CaptainCanada]

The first time I wrote I was making good time on the last section, and I had reached what I thought was the last page (it was only half full) - then I realized at the last second that there was actually another page with five questions left, which I hurried to try and fill in.

 

[abeardall]

Look around for scholarships...they are there. I got a 175, and combined with a killer essay, I got into just about every school to which I applied

 

[TheBrew]

I was bored one month and took the LSAT for shits and giggles and got 161, which was 89th percentile when I took it a few years ago. I pretty much only looked over the format and did a practice test.

I have no intention of ever going to law school though.

Congrats on the 168! I had a friend who got that and complained about the score and everyone else just gave him "WTF" expressions.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I'm jealous of people who just take it for fun and do well. My former roommate almost did the same thing. He basically said "I like logic, I might as well take it." He was a business/management of information systems double major (maybe one was a minor) and now hacks into companies for a living so I guess thinking logically is natural for him. Of course, when you go into lawschool, thinking logically isn't something on the top of anyone's minds. It's usually professors calling on you randomly and asking confusing questions, having to read 50 pages per night per class, or just the fact that everything you do is part of a competition with every other student and your ability to do well depends entirely on other people doing worse than you.

 

[Vulcan Princess]

Congrats, CaptainCanada! Good luck on the application process. And sadly, Alidar Jarok speaks the truth about what the law school experience is like.

I'm still here in limbo-land waiting for my bar exam results. I'm not sure why it takes so long to grade the tests. (I took the bar in July and I won't get my results until November 18!)

 

[Holdfast]

As it turns out, I got a 168 out of 180 and a 96 percentile this time around...

Congratulations!

I actually teach students for a couple of not entirely dissimilar exams that pre-med students have to sit on this side of the pond, in order to prove their reasoning abilities (and have a prep book on one of those exams coming out next year too). They're annoying little tests, but as long as one is moderately intelligent, scores really respond to preparation & practice as they're all about learning a way of thinking more than anything else.

 

[Ln X]

Being British, what are LSAT's? And what sort of educational level do they cover? A-levels? Degree level?

 

[Geck]

Congrats!! That's awesome. I got 166 when I did mine and got in everywhere I applied (ended up choosing uVic), so coupled with your MA you should have no troubles either.

I was on the Admissions Committee at my school last year - reviewing the files was interesting. Some people had 178 LSAT scores but awful grades, others had LSATs around 150 but an incredible GPA and other experience. The scores, like any standardised test, can't ever tell the whole story - it's almost too bad so much emphasis is placed on them.

As a side note, even though it's been five years since I took it, I still sometimes do logic games practice tests just for fun.

 

[StolenThunder]

They're annoying little tests..

Yes.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Being British, what are LSAT's? And what sort of educational level do they cover? A-levels? Degree level?

It stands for the Law School Admission Test. Essentially, your LSAT score accounts for about half of the consideration for a law school accepting you.

 

[Holdfast]

Being British, what are LSAT's? And what sort of educational level do they cover? A-levels? Degree level?

Can't say specifically for LSATs, but these sort of admission test generally require you to apply a fairly basic level of knowledge in an advanced way. So the "syllabus" is elementary (reading passages of text, doing sums, finding patterns, etc, etc) but they stretch you by requiring you to apply those techniques under time pressure, in very precise ways. It's not about facts as such, it's about how (and how well) you can think.

They're annoying little tests..

Yes.

In my day, we didn't have to do any of them. No UKCAT, no BMAT, nothing. I really feel sorry for today's prospective students; it's a marathon of preparation they have to go through. Don't know if you got away without having to do them; I guess you might have too. In my day you had the option of choosing to sit the Oxford Entrance Exam if you were applying there, which was time-consuming to study for, but it did have the direct benefit of getting an unconditional (EE) offer in return if you got in via that route so it was well worth it. No unconditional offers these days...

 

[bluedana]

I don't remember what I got on my LSAT -- too long ago, and I think the scoring may have changed since then anyway. I do know I was good at logic games and reading comp, so whatever. What I do recall is that the night before the test, I learned what "grain alcohol" was, and that just because you can't taste alcohol in a cup of punch at a frat party, doesn't mean it isn't spiked.

 

[StolenThunder]

They're annoying little tests..

Yes.

In my day, we didn't have to do any of them. No UKCAT, no BMAT, nothing. I really feel sorry for today's prospective students; it's a marathon of preparation they have to go through. Don't know if you got away without having to do them; I guess you might have too. In my day you had the option of choosing to sit the Oxford Entrance Exam if you were applying there, which was time-consuming to study for, but it did have the direct benefit of getting an unconditional (EE) offer in return if you got in via that route so it was well worth it. No unconditional offers these days...

I started university long enough ago that I was before all the UK-wide testing. I 'voluntarily' did the BMAT - in that my second choice was UCL.

Getting into medical school seems such a rigmarole now. I don't envy people applying now.

 

[Holdfast]

What I do recall is that the night before the test, I learned what "grain alcohol" was, and that just because you can't taste alcohol in a cup of punch at a frat party, doesn't mean it isn't spiked.

Excellent revision technique, highly recommended!

Getting into medical school seems such a rigmarole now. I don't envy people applying now.

Agreed. That's partly why I run the courses, etc that I do to help them; the current application system has become a game (Krypton Factor with a bit of Crystal Maze thrown in... ), so having a good rulebook and a bit of insider knowledge becomes necessary.

Personally, I think the whole system is actually more unfair than when you or I would have gone through it, because of all the new things they've brought in to improve fairness. They all require preparation and inside knowledge, and reward practice, so inevitably favour those with the resources to do all that.

Anyway, all a bit off-topic I guess, but...