Now that the December LSAT is behind us, the LSAT circle of life continues as we turn our attention to the February LSAT. In fact, here at Blueprint LSAT Prep, many of our winter classes are beginning this week. To our young grasshoppers: welcome to the next couple months of your life! Regardless of what method you’re using for your LSAT prep, if you’re just beginning now, here’s what you should know:

1. Studying for the LSAT is probably a bigger time commitment than you think.
I tell my students that studying for the LSAT is essentially a part-time job unto itself. Once your studying is in full swing, you’ll be spending easily 15 hours a week (and likely more than that) just on studying for the LSAT. It’s a lot of work, but devoting that much time and effort is really the only way to see a significant improvement in your LSAT score. So clear your calendars for the next couple months – but know that it will be worth your while.

2. For the love of God, score your practice exams.
I get it – scoring a practice exam can be nerve-wracking. However, knowing your practice exam scores provides important information about your progress and the areas you most need to focus on. So although there may be a part of you that doesn’t want to know what you got on that first diagnostic practice exam, fight that urge and score your practice exam on your MyBlueprint account (assuming you’re a Blueprint student) so that you can make use of the information revealed by your score report.

3. Don’t stress if you fall behind a little.
As we discussed in item #1, studying for the LSAT is a lot of work and takes a lot of time. Occasionally, stuff will happen and you’ll fall a little behind on your study schedule for the week. It happens to the best of us, so don’t worry about it too much – just get as much done as you can, and complete whatever you missed at the earliest opportunity. (That’s not to say that you can slack off all the time and just make up the work later; but for truly unavoidable things that might interfere with your studying, it’s really not a big deal.)

4. Review your wrong answers the right way.
You should be spending a significant amount of time reviewing questions after you’ve checked your answers – your goal is not only to understand why the right answer was right, but also why the answer you chose was wrong and why you were tricked by that wrong answer in the first place. Don’t rush this part of your studying, because it’s the only way to ensure that you won’t commit the same mistakes in the future.

You’re in for a wild ride over the next couple months – welcome aboard and we’re happy to have you with us. And as always, feel free to shoot us a comment if you have any questions.