LSAT & Law School Application
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Background
Law school is something I was always mulling over, and this year, I figured I’d give it a shot. I was aiming for CUNY Law for a variety of reasons (I was tempted to post my personal statement, because I think it was rather well written and very accurate as to why I applied, however, I’m going to avoid posting it, simply because I may (spoiler alert) reapply with a similar one), and I was low on time to apply. From when I started looking and the deadline to apply, I had 86 days in between. This conveniently meant there was only one possible session I could sign up for (in April) to take the test with a shot at applying before the deadline in May. This pressure and limited time window worked in my mental favor as I could focus and “blitz” the process.
The Median CUNY Law score is 154. My goal was 160, that would put me in the 75th percentile which felt solid. And my stretch goal was 166, which would be 90th percentile. Here are those goals and all my practice test scores. Keep in mind none of these practice tests were actually done with all four sections in 35 minutes each.
Schedule / Journey
On February 18th I signed up for LawHub and started exploring the platform and resources. Two days later I took my first practice test. I got a 155, but it was untimed (I estimated I took about 10-15 minutes extra per section). I figured this was a good enough starting point and by Monday decided to sign up for the test. I struggled most with Techniques, Roles, & Principles, Conclusions & Disputes and Strengthen or Weaken questions. I told Mattos about it later that week and promptly got ill in New Orleans… That combined with my first Mardi Gras meant there was little to no studying, but I did meet a bunch of lawyers who offered advice. Mostly on Logic Games which were amusingly axed last year.
I grabbed a highly rated book on Amazon (time crunch, sorry), and then we were off to Medellin, Colombia for a wedding of some dear friends. Here’s a picture of all of my classmates from my Sustainability degree. Basically a 3/4 year reunion of sorts! Also, quick shoutout, maybe don’t do the Amazon inspired tasting menu at La Chagra… Then we then went north to Cartagena, where we took a private boat (was supposed to be the normal group shuttle but we were the only ones on it) to our hotel to do our best White Lotus impression (we loved Parker Posey in season 3, also shout out to Jason, Walton, and Carrie!). I finished the majority of it on a beach in Baru. Shoutout to the lovely Sofitel Baru Calablanca and its many cabanas that I spent three days under. Taking breaks with quick swims and naps. Not a bad way to study.
My main study playlist? See below.
Not a bad way to study. Upon my return to New York I took the second of the free practice tests and got a 158. It was underwhelming improvement, but I did the sections in 40 minutes each (closer to that 35 minute limit). I signed up for a Friday morning test, basing it on the age old adage that you’re fresher in the morning (even though I had been taking the practice tests mostly in the evenings after work). I realized I only had two free practice tests left online, so I needed to get some more. I didn’t want to pay for the whole $120 for LawHub Advantage (full official online resource) at this point with just a few weeks remaining. I would regret the decision to buy an official prep book with three tests though, but it was the most cost efficient way to get some more tests ($28). It occurred to me to make sure I didn’t buy a physical three pack version including any of the free tests, so I avoided those. However, I didn’t do enough research to make sure that the questions I had already been doing in Mike Lim’s book were sourced from the book. I bought Volume 13 with Tests 122-124, and of course Test 123 was basically entirely used in the previous study book. So that was a waste. The other downside with the test book was that it was paper. It felt very different than the online versions. Much easier to notate, scribble, comment whilst taking the test, but no available analytics afterwards. I appreciated reviewing my performances and identifying weak areas to try and focus on.
I got through all the practice tests with my scores hovering around 160, but I never quite got the time down. Always ending around 35-38 minutes per section.
The test was at a Prometrics site in midtown Manhattan, adjacent to Herald Square / Ktown. Easy to get to. I took it on Friday the 11th with an 8:30 am start time. I arrived around 8, and it turned out it’s a bit of a rolling start. They take security pretty seriously. So you have to go through multiple identity and inspections heading in and out. I brought some granola and ate a banana beforehand. I brought a can of Dr. Pepper for some caffeine and sugar and a water bottle. You’re allowed to bring water into the testing area, but I just left everything in the locker. They have these noise cancelling headphones which are sort of helpful, but honestly pinched my head and were uncomfortable for more than 10 minutes, so I took them on and off throughout. Everyone in my room was taking the LSAT, but it was maybe a quarter full, which was nice. Didn’t feel to busy, crowded, or loud. With the rolling start, your timing is your own, so people are constantly getting up, but I kinda liked that. I finished sections 2 and 4 with minutes to spare, but had to toss a guess on the final 2 questions in sections 1 and 3 since I ran out of time. So that’s likely four wrong right off the bat! My theory here is knowing that there was a break between 2 and 3 and being able to leave after 4 gave me a mental push to improve my concentration. I was done before 11 am and felt pretty relieved it was over.
We celebrated the next weekend with a party, hosting an idea that we’ve percolated for awhile. Blood and Body. A sort of potluck where people brought a food and drink that best represented themselves. I did dino nuggets and dark and stormies. Mattos was dumplings and espresso martinis. Our friends did an excellent job, as you can see and we had a great time! But back to LSAT talk…
I pushed the unscored writing attempt off until I realized that my score would be withheld unless I submitted it. I took the one practice writing assessment on 4/25, and did the official one on 4/28. However it got denied around 24 hours later due to an annoying error in the recording process. I took it again and within 24 hours I got my final score of 161. Perfectly adequate.
Then came the next decision. I spent a day contemplating it, and figured I might as well apply since I had gotten this far. Reached out to 4 recommenders despite only needing 2, figured I would get some insurance. I had to sign up and pay for this LSAC Credential Assembly Service… Which is definitely expensive and an unforeseen cost. Plus you have to pay per application as well… Finished my application and wrote my personal statement. A few iterations and edit rounds later I felt pretty good about it. It’s the exact version I posted above. Transcripts were all completed nearly instantaneously or within 24 hours. Columbia’s was free, but they have specific hours of operation. The other two cost a nominal fee, but were automatic and could be done immediately. I got all four recommendations back within just over a week, and sent my application in, via my phone since I was in Big Bend National Park and didn’t have access to a computer, but it was all set up to be submitted virtually.
For transparency, here are my “stats”:
University of Massachusetts Amherst: Bachelor of Arts in Political Science - 3.23 GPA
Columbia University: Master of Science in Sustainability Management - 3.83 GPA
161 LSAT
Asian, Male, 33 Years Old
New York resident
Cost
I recorded everything I spent, to be fair it wasn’t many different items. Totaling $678.82 ($784.68 with thank you gifts). Here’s the breakout (it would be so much easier if SquareSpace supported spreadsheets…).
LSAT - $269.12
$259.12 LSAT Test Fees
Studying - $82.88
$55.08 The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim
$27.80 The New Official LSAT TriplePrep Volume 13
Application - $336.82
$225.38 LSAC's Credential Assembly Service
$60.00 CUNY Law's Application Fee
$45.00 LSAC's Credential Assembly Service Report Fee?
$3.54 Transcript Fee - UMass
$2.90 Transcript Fee - NYU
$0.00 Transcript Fee - Columbia
Gifts - $105.86
A little thank you to my four recommenders (I now have their addresses):
$28.71 a book
$25 a gift card to a local favorite restaurant
$30.15 a custom wine glass
$22 a local municipality partnership gift card
Final Thoughts on the Process
The LSAT was much more about learning a style of thinking and testing your skills as a test taker than intelligence or even legal expertise. With more time, I found that I scored much better, but concentrating for that long with little reprieve and lots of questions, I couldn’t quite do it well. I never quite got the hang of the Logical Reasoning questions. Maybe with more practice I probably could have gotten better. But I’m not sure. I found them often to either be easy or just vague and unconvincing (shoutout Alan Tudyk). Additionally, I believe that my mind often wandered given the vast array of topics they touch on. I did like the Reading Comprehension sections more. Fewer topics and more in depth reading fit my more natural practice of reading in general.
A good skill I could have developed with more online and timed practice tests would be to know when to cut my losses and move on and try and return to them later. Certainly could have studied more and practiced more. I had a 53 days, but only studied 25 of them (procrastination). I was also working, traveling, and kept a pretty fully social calendar. The narrow calendar and schedule was more of a pro than a con in my view. It helped me concentrate and see light at the end of the tunnel. Momentum built and I was registered to take the test pretty quickly, making it concrete instead of abstract.
Result
I applied May 14th, the day before the application deadline of May 15th. On June 20th, I received noticed that I had been added to the unranked waitlist. So around 5 weeks before a response. The next week on June 25th, I added a Letter of Continued Interest, but on August 5th, I received notice that they were not able to offer me admission in the Fall 2025 entering class. It’s unfortunate, but fair. I attribute the outcome to a few theories:
Given rolling admissions started accepting students in January, applying one day before the deadline was always going to be an uphill venture.
Last year’s class was only 64 people, so there are just not that many spots.
My undergraduate GPA is lower than their average, and that is more impactful than graduate GPA, because they report on it.
I have no direct legal or advocacy experience.
I have time to think about whether I want to apply again. I certainly don’t want to take the LSAT again. That was an unpleasant experience. I should reach out to the admissions officer and see what I can do to strengthen the application for next year.
Reviews
★★★☆☆
This was a fine introductory book. It’s a lot of filler that doesn’t help. But it is definitely helpful to have a book that walks you through everything and explains some of the answers. I was constantly disagreeing with some of the logic, but alas, I’m not good at the LSAT, so what do I know. He repeated questions quite often which was annoying too. I would try a different book next time, but if you can’t decide, this will certainly suffice to kickstart your studying.
The New Official LSAT TriplePrep Volume 13
★★★★☆
Be careful which version you buy. You don’t want to repeat tests or questions from other books. It’s good value, with just lots of practice at the end of the day, which doesn’t hurt. In hindsight, I would highly recommend just buying the full $120 LawHub online version if you’re preparing. It’s much better to get the full analytics and experience that you’ll have on test day.
Analytics
Here’s a sample of the template I would review after each practice test to see what I should focus on. Most helpfully, which questions show up the most often, and which types I should focus on. I would also review it after each test to see how I did. Unfortunately because the paper tests don’t provide this level insight, only the difficulty, I couldn’t track most of it. Regardless, it was interesting to see.
The difficulties were pretty consistent, LSAC gives them a score between 1-4. Just much stronger at Levels 1 and 2. And in general I saw general improvement across the practice tests. Unfortunately, I don’t get visibility into the real test I took… I’d really like to know how I actually did…
I even tried to predict a bit of when and where difficult questions would pop up, but would need more practice and thought to go into this to be effective. To adjust for the different numbers of questions, the central column is if they all started at 1 and the far right column is if you counted from the back (27 being the last question regardless). I was hoping to glean an insight into where the hard questions would come up and how I could best manage my time (and when to maybe just guess, given my record at Level 4 questions. But unfortunately, I only could only compare this data with the 4 free online practice tests I had access to, and I didn’t have enough time to utilize the information since I was just focused on completing it.
