6 days left till the LSAT...

Well, I've been taking it easy a bit in the week leading up to the test. Cramming a ton this week will not improve my score by much and will likely only cause exhaustion and frustration. I took the October 2005 practice LSAT today and got a 161, my highest score ever. I interpret this with caution though, because the test seemed overly easy. I am not so optimistic about the actual test.

My last day of studying will be Thursday evening and that will only be taking a practice. Friday, I'm taking the day off to rest, relax, watch some Deep Space Nine and just not think too much. However I do on the test, I'll have tried my best, and that's the most I can ask from myself. I'd like to get at least a 156, but I'll just do as much as I'm able. It's a good thing I didn't choose med school. Then I'd have been stuck with tons of chemistry, biology, physics, and the MCAT to deal with.

Happy birthday to me!

Well, I hit 26 years old today. Surprising really, since my father used to tell me I'd never make it to 21. We're having a kickass corned beef roast with a dijon mustard and brown sugar glaze that makes it perfect. It's being served with boiled potatoes and a vegetable of my choice (probably spinach), and for desert, a delicious red-velvet cake (homemade) with homemade buttercream icing.

Studying for school and the LSAT is becoming stressful to say the least. I'm not very far from being completely burned out studying for this damn test. My practices all have me in the 159-160 range for the last 3 I've taken, but I know better than to trust those. At this rate, I think the best I can hope for is a 156 and even that might be pushing it.

I've sent out applications to Wayne State, University of Detroit Mercy, and Michigan State University. I was going to apply to those schools regardless of what score I got on my LSAT. After I get my results, I may apply to Cooley, Syracuse, University of Toledo, and maybe another out of state school or two. Wayne State remains my first choice, with MSU running very close behind, but my chances of getting accepted to MSU are damn near zero because though my application was submitted before the deadline, my LSAT scores won't be there until March 10th at the earliest. Still, one can always hope.

Rollercoaster goes up...

Took another practice LSAT last night and got a raw score of 73, which translated into a 160 on that test (the best I've ever had). I was so happy! It translates to a 158 on a more recent scoring scale. I was helped a bit by some lucky letter the of day guesses, but not that much. Truthfully, I think I could live with a 158 without complaining. I'm still going to work my butt off to get 160 on that test, but if I don't... at least I'll have done my best. I'm not going to get depressed over this anymore. I'm going to go in there and do my level best.

I can definitely get into U of D with no problems, and I found out tuition there is only $25k, not $35k. They rolled all their other cost estimates into their cost of attendance. Since I still live at home, most of those costs are irrelevant. Wayne is still my first choice and I'm going to do my damndest to get in there, but even if I don't, I still have a future, though it might be at a T4 law school. I may also apply to a couple out of state schools and maybe get a scholarship to one of them if I get lucky. That's the only way I could afford to go out of state.

Shouts to all the people at Law School Discussions who read this blog and especially to those who have helped me out on there. You guys/gals are the best!

Pain, pain, and more pain...

Well, in addition to my LSAT woes, I'm still having problems with my jaw and tooth ever since my dentist did this damn filling last week. I'm thinking that she screwed up and aggravated my TMJ, something that hasn't bothered me for over 10 years. Had I known this was going to happen I'd have told her to leave the cavity and pull the tooth when it became bad. Now I'm stuck in pain, glorious pain, and taking Ibuprofen 800mg tablets once daily for the last 4 days with no end in sight. I'm going back to that dentist this week and I'm praying to God she can fix what she broke, even if it means pulling the damn tooth out. Sadly though, I'm afraid that jaw surgery may be my only option this time. I was warned when I was younger that if my TMJ problems returned, I'd probably have to have surgery to fix it. WHY NOW??? WHY ME??? Oh yeah, and after doing more research, it seems most people perform on average 3-5 points lower on their real LSAT than on the practices. In short, I'm screwed!

... and a major setback

Ok, now I'm really starting to get depressed. I was doing really well using the Next 10 Actual Official... I was scoring between 159-160 and starting to feel more comfortable and confident. Then I took test 44 from LSAC and my whole world turned upside down. It seems the bar has been significantly raised over the last 2 years for every score. Furthermore, I got 7 wrong on the reading comprehension section. That's COMPLETELY unheard of for me. THe most I've EVER gotten wrong on that section is 3 before. The logical reasoning I did about the same on. The logic games section I did horrible as usual (I'm lucky if I can get half of them done, much less right). In the end, I scored a 156.

I feel like all the work I've done for the last 2 months has been for nothing. Granted a 156 is still in Wayne State's range (152-158), but I can't afford to go anywhere else, so if I don't get in there, my hopes are sunk. I've given up a lot in the last few months to pursue my goals of law school (a 4.5 year relationship, quite a bit of money, more sleep than I can even quantify, etc.) and now I feel like it's hopeless. Because I didn't apply early to Wayne, I need probably a 158 minimum to get in there. If I had applied early with a 156, I might have gotten in, but so much for that now. I've got 7 years of full-time work experience (not in a law-related field though, so it's worthless), a 3.89 GPA, glowing letters of recommendation from the chair of the economics department, and my econometrics professor, and quite a bit of knowledge about law in general, and I feel like it's not enough.

Because I'm not rich, I have to go to a state school, and the only one I had a chance of getting into, is seeming more and more remote now. I could easily get into U of D or Cooley, but U of D is $35k a year, which I couldn't even hope to get enough loans for, and Cooley is not even a law school in my opinion. I could get a 3/4 ride through there, but the degree is worthless because no one will hire you with it. This is just really frustrating and upsetting for me. I HATE rolling admissions, and I REALLY HATE the LSAT!

Some small measure of success...

Well, I finally broke 158 on the practice LSAT two nights ago and got a 159, however I don't know what to make of this, since the logic games portion seemed easier than it normally would. I found three professors to write me letters of recommendation. Two of the letters are going to Wayne State and one to U of D Mercy. All three of them are also going to write general LoRs that I can send to any school. I'm thinking if my scores hold up for the real LSAT that I'll be applying to Wayne State and U of D. I'm almost guaranteed admission at U of D, and my chances at Wayne State are greater than 90% with a 159 on the LSAT. With a score like 159, I could probably get a large scholarship to U of D. I know I could get a 3/4 ride at Cooley with that and my UGPA. Now I'm working hours a day between the LSAT and homework. I have very little free time, so I might not be able to post as much on here. I'll post when I can though to let you all know how things are going.

Happy New Year everyone!

Sorry it's taken me so long to post again. I've been busy lately. Well, my year ended on kind of a bad note all around. I lost my fiancée and also found out I'm just not compatible with another friend I've known for 6 years. Furthermore, I spent $1800 fixing the transmission on my car. Oh well. It wasn't all bad. I got seasons 2 and 3 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for Christmas.

I've been studying for the LSAT a lot lately. I still seem to have the biggest problems on the logic games portion. I find that if I take all the time I need, that I get usually all but one or two right, but all the time I need totals up to about 1.5 hours. I need to cut that by about 2/3 to make it work on the real LSAT. I seem to be fairly good at logical reasoning, but I could use some improvement. If I don't rush through it, but take my time, my scores are up in the 170s, but as soon as I start rushing it, they drop to about 156-158.

I need to get at least a 160 to be practically guaranteed admission to Wayne State. I figure if I can do well on the reading comprehension and logical reasoning sections on the actual LSAT, and if I can get a 50% on the logic games section that I'll pull it off.

On a side note, I bought 3 bottles of Rosemount Balmoral Syrah (2000 vintage). They were $50 a bottle, and I'm currently cellaring them. I will drink one bottle when I graduate law school, another bottle when I get my bar card, and the third bottle when I win my first case.

Well, school starts again this weekend. It's going to be hell this semester because I'll be so damn busy. I have 3 classes, plus studying for the LSAT. This is definitely NOT going to be a fun semester, but if I can survive it, I will have a lot more confidence in myself.