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The LSAT is Coming…dun dun dun

BPPPhilip-LSAT-Blog-The-LSAT-is-Coming

We’re just a few months away from the October LSAT, which means that our courses are ABOUT TO GO DOWN. If you’ve made the (right) decision to sign up with us, we’ve listed some tips to help you get the most out of your course and also some vital life-saving tips that’ll prevent you from totally sh*tting on yourself on that first day. We get it. It happens.

First, a bit about myself. Two years ago, I was gearing up to take an LSAT prep class with Blueprint. I was lucky enough to have Matt Riley as my instructor (he’s one of the founders of Blueprint—he is a fantastic teacher and a great guy). After completing the class and taking the LSAT, I landed a job as an instructor for Blueprint. I taught for a little while before accepting an offer of admission from Columbia. I am now gearing up to begin my second year there! All of that to say, I know the Blueprint course method from both the perspective of a student and the perspective of an instructor. Consider yourself a lucky reader.

Let’s start with the things you SHOULD do to get the most out of the first few weeks of the course:

1. Do the damn homework. The course materials are designed to both introduce you to the concepts and to ensure that you have the opportunity to develop your methods thoroughly. The homework will help you get comfortable with everything. Trust me, you want to be comfortable.

2. Go to class. That should go without saying—the LSAT is the most important part of your law school application, I’m going to play Captain Obvious and state that LSAT is pretty much the most important part of your law school application, not to mention the other fact that prep classes are NOT cheap. Don’t be a fool – you’re short-changing yourself if you don’t go to class and gain the benefit of learning from someone who can undoubtedly help you succeed.

3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Odds are that if you’re confused, everyone is confused. And even if everyone else gets the concepts, be selfish. This is your future we’re talking about – make sure it’s clear to you.

Now, things to avoid:

1. Do not focus on your results. When you’re learning new concepts, it doesn’t matter if you miss every single question. The key is to make sure that you understand why you were right (or why you were wrong). You don’t get gold stars for acing your homework sets, and you won’t fail if you get every question wrong in your homework. You will learn the most by reviewing the explanations, and I would absolutely recommend reviewing the explanations regardless of whether you got the question wrong or right.

2. Don’t focus too much on the time. If you take half an hour to answer a single logical reasoning question at the beginning, you’re fine. In fact, I would absolutely take as much time as you need to make sure that you practice the methods thoroughly and effectively.

One last thing—preparing for the LSAT is a marathon, not a sprint…slow down, and find your groove. Breathe a little and stay sane, please. Stress really is a disservice when preparing for the LSAT. Remember why you’re here, and keep yourself engaged as much as you can.