Inevitability is for Raindrops (Ep. 134)

Nathan calls in from Georgia which touches off the episode with a review of the Georgian climate. The guys talk about the growing Thinking LSAT community—have you found us on Facebook or Patreon yet?—they review a kind donation to the show (thanks Christine!)—and Nathan talks about his most recent Movie Pass exploits. Plus a listener challenges Ben to eat some Halo Top ice cream and give a real time review on-air. Oh…and then they answer a bunch of listener mail. 

5:19 – Email 1—Here’s an update from Wicked. If you’ve been a longtime listener, you’ll know that Wicked smashed out a 179 on the LSAT and a 3.85 GPA, and is keeping us abreast of her 2018 admissions negotiations. So far she’s received offers from Columbia (50% tuition covered), a full ride plus $10,000 from Michigan, and she’s been admitted to University of Chicago. Still no word from Harvard, Stanford, Yale, or UVA. And she’s starting to lose hope about her prospects at those schools. The guys talk about the tendencies of these elite scorers to underestimate themselves and encourage Wicked to hold out hope. Still, making tens of thousands of dollars while earning a JD from an awesome school ain’t too shabby. The guys discuss Wicked’s options and offer some advice.

19:38 – Email 2—What happens when you’ve done all 83 practice tests, but you’re still eking out mid 170s and want to do better? How else can you practice?! That’s what Ed wants to know. Ed’s missing more RC questions than he’d like and he’s asking the guys what his next steps should be. Ben and Nathan recommend going back to practice tests that he hasn’t done in a while and practicing them again. Not for diagnostics, but for practice and review. Ben also suggests a few additional materials that are out there, and Nathan suggests working on Main Point and Must Be True questions from his LR Encyclopedia (which Ed owns). Good luck on the June LSAT, Ed!

26:55 – Email 3—Jordan writes in looking for some critical feedback for his personal statement, and the guys are happy to oblige. Ben and Nathan take a sentence-by-sentence look at Jordan’s statement and give feedback on nearly every word. Some pro tips? Write about YOU. You’re addressing an admissions officer whose task is to create a veritable Ocean’s 11 team out of their incoming class. What do you specifically offer? Next, keep it conversational. Make it direct and easy to read, and use YOUR voice; make your written statement like a speech you’re delivering, and then clean it up a bit. Tune in to get every pearl of wisdom the guys offer.

1:28:00 – Email 4—Anonymous has slowly moved his practice-test-score average from the mid 150s to the mid 170s. Pretty awesome. And now he wants to know how to squeeze out the last few points. He gets hung up on the most difficult LR and RC questions and is wondering if he can get his average up to -0 or -1. The guys explain that, hey, Anon is already in the 99th percentile. It’s possible that private tutoring will help. But it also just takes time, patience, and doing a lot of what you’re already doing to go the last mile.