A Love Letter to the LSAT (Ep. 126)
A new week and a new batch of listener mail. But first the guys talk about the current craziness of world events and the political climate here in the states. They agree, it’s probably valuable to focus less on the news, and more on the things we can control – like hanging out with friends, or getting your best LSAT score. With a new LSAT added this July, the guys wonder about why LSAC may have added a new test. Nathan shares an example of how this news is affecting students IRL. Plus, the guys get a lesson in southern grammar.
5:39 – Email 1—Are you guys getting tired of hearing updates from Wicked? We’re not. This 179 / 3-point-really-high GPA law school applicant let’s us know that she’s been accepted to Columbia (with a half-tuition scholarship), and to Michigan with a full ride PLUS stipend. It looks like the couple of typos from her Michigan scholarship app didn’t hold her back. That’s pretty effing great. Congrats, Wicked, and thanks for the update.
7:22 – Email 2—Remember back in episode 122 when the guys shared information from a study that showed students who wrote expressively about their feelings on the LSAT tended to perform better on the test? Well. Kyle took that shit to heart. He wrote a letter to the LSAT to dish his feelings about the test. The LSAT, he says, has made him a better man. But it’s not always been easy. Tune in to hear his tender words, and the guys discussion thereof.
13:24 – Email 3—Another follow-up email with correspondent Ravinder. You may recall from episode 124 that Ravinder wanted to know how much the Thinking LSAT community would need to donate in order to have the guys cover some fresh LSAT material from more recent tests. Since then, Ravinder’s taken to Ben’s free resources online and Nathan’s free resources online and has found them exceptionally helpful. You should check them out, too, dear listeners. Ravinder goes on to question the integrity of Splitty’s scientific-paper publications (from episode 123); he cites a recent NPR article that reports certain scientific journals will publish any ol’ paper for a fee. With the mention of Splitty, the guys jump into a discussion of impressive people. Like astronauts who are concert pianists. Or dudes who blast cars into space just because they can.
19:29 – Email 4—Michael recently found Thinking LSAT. He started listening this year after receiving a disappointing 141 on the June ’07 prep test. Since, he’s been working his way through Ben’s free online course. He notes that Ben occasionally talks about question choices being strong vs. weak, and asks the guys to elaborate, or point him in the direction of additional resources on the topic. Ben and Nathan are quick to let Michael know this pro tip: answer strength is a last resort—understand the passage first, and you’ll be in a much better spot to spot the correct answer.
24:21 – Email 5—After listening to Thinking LSAT and taking Nathan’s free online course, Laura saw her 161 jump to a 165 between the September and December LSAT last year. Congrats Laura! Now she wants to know…should she take it again? Or stick by this pretty sweet score? Nathan and Ben agree—it never hurts to take the test again. And even though Laura’s exhausted many of the recent practice tests, the guys point out that even if you trend upward because you’ve taken a test more than once, you can still glean valuable info by learning from where you’ve made mistakes.
31:21 – Email 6—Alec opens their email by wondering how best to donate money to the show. Great question, A! Thinking LSAT just started a Patreon account. So now you can give to the show to your heart’s content. There are contribution levels starting at $1 a month. So if you find value in the show, consider supporting! OK. Brass tacks. Alec’s in an accelerated undergrad program for pre-law students. His school has offered to accept students in this program to their law school if the students score over a 153 on the LSAT. How generous of them to accept your money with such a low hurdle to cross! But here’s the tricky part. Alec already scored a 156 on a practice exam. So he’s wondering if he should just cruise in to his university’s law school or what? The guys weigh in.
43:11 – Email 7—Annalisa writes in to share the story of winning her first case. Against her dad. Like any parent, Annalisa’s dad had a mandate for her and her brother to attend law school—for their own future financial security of course. But after listening to Thinking LSAT, Annalisa sat her dad down to school him on the realities of becoming a lawyer and practicing law. Tune in to hear her plans for next steps.
47:21 – Email 8—“They” Pronoun Enthusiast writes in to share their thoughts on a few previous episodes. How should the guys end the show? How should the guys deal with singular pronouns if the subject’s gender isn’t specified? And hilarity ensues when They suggests that Nathan is misguided apropos his position on Halo Top “ice cream.” But They doesn’t just have tips. They has a question. Did they guys always score higher on test day than during their practice tests? And if so, by how much. Nathan and Ben recount their practice vs. test-day outcomes.