This weekend I moved. In the past, I moved perhaps twice a year for roughly five years in my twenties and had it down to a science. One U-haul, some hastily packed boxes that eventually gave way to drawers emptied into garbage bags, and voila! I was done.

Then I moved from a condo where I have been residing for approximately seven years. Using inductive reasoning, I thought the condo move would be the same as the numerous apartment moves I had experienced in my (relative) youth. Right? Wrong. Three days, one very sore back, and two workers who weren’t amused that an 8 hour work day stretched into 12 hours later, I learned my lesson.

Where is the LSAT in all this, you may wonder. Don’t worry; it’s tied to the lesson. Here’s the deal. The LSAT is the condo. You are me. The lesson is that I should have paid movers to move all of my stuff. I should have realized the enormity of the task and realized that this was not the moment to be pinching pennies. The days of shoving my three boxes of books and crappy desk lamp into a car are over. It was time to get serious, lay down some dough, and not risk a herniated disk to move couches, a stove, and a cherry wood palanquin. (Just kidding – the palanquin is at my mom’s house).

You may know this already but if you don’t, the LSAT is an incredibly important test. It’s hugely weighted in law school applications, can compensate for a low GPA, and help you get scholarships to law school. In today’s flagging legal market, it’s important to go to the best law school you can to maximize your options, from being able to land a high-paying job, to parlaying an offer at a marquis school to money at a lower ranked school.

To that end, don’t sabotage yourself by not preparing for the LSAT. There are essentially two ways to prepare: on your own and with a course. Now, I know that self study can work because I’ve seen students do it. The primary benefit is that it’s extremely cheap. But the downside is that it can be a very difficult road. Some students can’t intuit from practice tests or the books that are our there the best methodologies for each section. Still others don’t have the discipline to adhere to a consistent calendar of study on their own.

Prep classes, on the other hand, such as, oh say Blueprint LSAT Prep’s, give you the methodologies, scheduling, and resources you need. The downside is that they’re expensive, but the upside is that they can result in a better score with far less headache.

Because the LSAT is so important, if at all humanly possible, I’d go with a prep class. If you don’t think you have the money, think again. Is it really true you don’t, or are you just not having the conversation you should have with yourself about the importance of the LSAT and your ability to study on your own effectively?

Do what my back, my sanity, and my dinged kitchen table wish I had done. Call for professional movers, and splurge on the king-sized Malm in black/brown. You’ll be glad you did.

If you have been searching for “LSAT prep course near me”, check out our LSAT Live Online course for online live class instruction with expert instructors or if you are up to study on your own time, try our self-paced course. Connect with us if you have further questions.