Tales from PT83 (Ep. 117)

Hot on the heels of the December LSAT, the guys share (some pretty funny) stories from test-takers across the country. The report? For the most part—it’s the same as always. Some folks fared well, and others, poorly. Tune in to hear news from the latest test as well as Q&A from listener mail.

03:32 – Email 1—Tyler’s test-taking experience got off to a jarring start. Moments before pencils hit answer forms, the entire building was evacuated due to a…get ready, dear listeners…bomb threat. Cut to a bunch of law-school hopefuls standing around in the cold with bomb-sniffing dogs and Tyler thinking WTF. Despite all the commotion, Tyler talks about how Nathan’s online LSAT course helped him with the games and shares some of the amusing pre-test emails he received from law schools.

08:03 – Email 2—Quart-sized bags bursting with trail mix. Teenagers screaming at the top of their lungs. A mock-UN end-of-term party. Professors…fumbling with each other (do you know what that means? We don’t…). These are just a few of the vignettes in the calamitous scene of Anon’s test-taking experience. Tune in to hear more about their test day and how the episode shapes their lawyerly aspirations.

13:59 – Email 3—Anonymous is a very consistent high scorer. In fact, on their last 15 practice tests they averaged 178—scoring 180 the lion’s share of the time. Pretty impressive, right? Well imagine sitting down on test day and feeling completely flummoxed by a game or two when you’re used to slicing the heck out of them like some gosh darn ninja. It might be pretty demoralizing for someone who generally destroys the LSAT. For anon, that’s just what happened. A couple of stumbling blocks proved to be a slippery slope for this test taker, but the guys have a bit of advice for our perfectionist pal.

32:53 – Email 4—Lando Calrissian writes in with data relevant to one of our favorite discussion topics: accommodated testing. Lando rehashes information from a recent report that seems to generally support the guys’ positions on testing accommodations. It turns out that both requests for testing accommodations and accommodations granted have increased by a staggering amount in the past several years. It’s no surprise to Nathan and Ben… they just don’t want to be subpoenaed to talk about it.

45:54 – Email 5—Keith saw his LSAT score jump from 148 to 163 (congrats, Keith!). By taking Nathan’s and Ben’s advice and simply focusing on accuracy (not on finishing every question), he can confidently put away question after question. Keith even has a strategy for approaching the questions he doesn’t get to answer. Tune in to hear his approach and what the guys have to say about it.

53:10 – Email 6—Junani passed the bar in Sri Lanka, and today works as a paralegal in the US. She’s thinking about sitting for the February LSAT and has some questions about her existing prep materials. How should she prep for RC questions when her LSAT prep calendar does not include specific book suggestions or materials for doing so? Instead of pursuing a JD in the US, should she consider an LLM or an “Advanced JD” for foreign-trained lawyers? The guys suggest checking out Ben’s free online LSAT classand Nathan’s free online LSAT class to get a sense of how you should approach different LSAT questions. Plus, the guys discuss the sticky situation foreign-trained lawyers face when thinking about practicing in the states. The bottom line, Junani? Please, please don’t get ripped off by a law school that wants to make quick money at your expense.

1:15:32 – Email 7 TEASER—As a sneak peek at next week’s episode: an independent LSAT instructor based in New Orleans wrote the guys to ask why the Thinking LSAT duo advises against reading the question stem first. The email lays out a thoughtful—yet misguided—argument in favor of reading the question stem first. So if you’re wondering why the guys think this is a silly way to approach questions, stay tuned for a lengthy discussion next show.