New ABA 509 WTF (Ep. 119)

This week the guys take a look at the recently revised ABA 509 reports and discuss the shortcomings of its updated design. It’s like, a big wtf. Where are the bar passage rates? Where’s the information about your part time programs? Why is the all-important scholarship information moved down the page? Nathan and Ben cover the changes and give you a call to action to encourage a return to sanity. Plus, Nathan talks about his golfing habits, and of course, the guys answer some emails.

14:34 – Email 1—Josh wants to point out that accommodated testing isn’t just for would-be lawyers. In pharmacy school, several of Josh’s classmates didn’t fare so well in their first year. When said students would fail a course, they were allowed to meet with a school psychologist and all of them ended up with time and a half testing for their remaining graduate careers. Little bit scary maybe? Think about that the next time you’re having your cough syrup filled.

16:39 – Email 2—

Wes: I bought the Kaplan book.Nathan (cutting Wes off mid-sentence): Burn it.

So went the phone meeting between Wes and Nathan. Wes followed Nathan’s advice and has since been destroying LR sections. He writes in to describe and proselytize his new approach, and Ben and Nathan jump on board to discuss further.

22:50 – Email 3—Jas took the September LSAT with barely any prep and scored a 150. Not bad, Jas! Still, he was disappointed that he lost a few points on his prep-test average of 157. He wants to know how to best avoid another test-day drop. The guys oblige. Here’s the pro tip, Jas – don’t swing for the fences. Don’t try to annihilate the test on test day—just take the test as if it’s another practice run. Jas goes on to ask about whether to read the question stem or stimulus fir…

I’m not even going to finish that sentence. You know where it’s headed. And the guys talked alllll about it in episode 118.

Lastly, Jas unwittingly received some god-awful advice about LR and asks the guys if it’s a strategy he should implement. Nathan and Ben reveal the tactic for the turd of wisdom it is.

38:56 – Email 4—Should married couples apply to law school… together? That’s what Samantha and Will want to know. After doing some soul-searching, Samantha and Will independently decided they both. wanted. to be. lawyers. IN BIG LAW. Does that blow your minds, y’all? Because it sure did puzzle the guys. The married couple wants to know: are they crazy? And will their dreams of being a law-school duo cause problems during the admissions process? Ben and Nathan weigh in on the ups and downs of being in a relationship in law school and do their best to give some friendly advice to Samantha and Will.

54:46 – Email 5—Thomas has heard that a combo JD/MBA degree program can be a major asset if you want to go into corporate law. And with his sights set on being a patent attorney, he’s wondering if a JD/MBA program would be a good move for him. The guys talk about the merits of getting an MBA—like, are there any? Or is it just a world of cocktail parties and fancy Powerpoint presentations? Ben and Nathan agree that the JD trumps the shit out of an MBA, and they don’t see the value in getting an MBA in the first place. Plus, the guys weigh in on whether law schools will weigh Thomas’s GPA differently, given he is in a challenging engineering program.

Don’t forget Ben’s free online LSAT course, and Nathan’s free online LSAT course.