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Law School Admission/LSAT

 
Old 07-28-2011 at 01:12 AM   #1
Ruggedman
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Hi there, just had some questions regarding the LSAT and was hoping someone would be able to help, and also if there is someone who has gone through this process the advice would be great as well.

I am entering my final year at mac this fall and should complete my undergrad by April 2012 (this coming school year). I want to apply for law school for next fall (Sept 2012) but just had some questions regarding the process.

1) First off i am taking an LSAT prep course through oxford seminars...good idea or are these courses just a waste of time? Iv heard 50/50 about taking prep courses.

2) I know there are 4 LSATs per year...June, October, December and February. My question with this is, i am applying for law school for next fall - Sept. 2012 - and was going to write the LSAT this coming December...does the LSAT that is being written in February of 2012 count towards admission of that fall or if i choose to write it after the new year (feb 2012 exam) will that be too late for next falls admission.

If the feb LSAT counts towards 2012 i would prefer that one, however i am applying for law school that starts in the fall of 2012 so im not sure if the feb one counts for that year or the year after....advice and info on this would be greatly appreciated.

Also, whats the best prep course anyone has taken. For anyone who is undergoing this same process thoughts questions concerns or even advice would be greatly appreciated.!!

Also...where and when do you have to sign up for the LSAT if you are planning on taking it this coming winter, thanks!

Last edited by jhan523 : 07-28-2011 at 01:50 AM.
Old 07-28-2011 at 09:54 AM   #2
JesterRace
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Hey there,

When I wrote my LSAT, I took a prep course just as a way to keep my studying moving along and to get the resources that they offer. It so turns out that they did offer a few helpful strategies that made questions much easier to approach, so for me I guess you could say it was worth it (I did the Princeton course).

Getting to your questions about the LSAT, the February LSAT tends to be too late to write the LSAT if you don't already have an LSAT test on file for the ad comms to take a look at, so your only option would be the December or October test writes and, if worse comes to worse, writing again in February if you didn't like the results of your first write. The risk of writing in December is that your application will remain incomplete until you write and receive your LSAT score (which will typically push you into late January). Offers for law schools begin to come out immediately after the application deadline, one of the many frustrating joys of rolling admission. You may want to try and get into an October write date, but writing in December won't be the end of the world. I didn't even hear from any law schools until April rolled by!

To sign up for the LSAT go to LSAC.org and select book a test date. I would get on this now as desirable test centres fill up INCREDIBLY quickly. I lost my first choice test centre and I signed up nearly 3 months in advance. You'll have to make an account with LSAC as they are also responsible for administering and releasing your LSAT test scores to Canadian Law Schools.

Hopefully this has been helpful, if you have any more questions, fire away.

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Old 07-28-2011 at 12:53 PM   #3
Ruggedman
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Thanks again for that, that was extremely helpful.

With regards to that iv signed for the oxford seminar LSAT prep course for September, hopefully that helps me out going forward. With regards to the LSAT, is it as hard as people say? and how much did you study for it? The reason i ask because i will be doing the prep course/studying for it/last year of undergrad at the same time so im not sure exactly how much time to devote to it.

If i dont have a high enough gpa is it even worth writing or do they weight the LSAT more or less than your academic GPA because to be honest mine is really not that great...

Also on a side note, did you get accepted anywhere



PPS: What are the grade requirements to enroll into a masters program here at McMaster, no luck finding that info so far, just looking at alternative backup plans in the worst case scenario, thanks again for all your help!
Old 07-28-2011 at 01:25 PM   #4
Biochem47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruggedman View Post
Also on a side note, did you get accepted anywhere
This.

Also...if you don't mind sharing what was your GPA and LSAT score?

Thanks!!!
Old 07-28-2011 at 01:48 PM   #5
~*Sara*~
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Here's where you sign up for the LSAT: http://www.lsac.org/default.asp
It also has a lot of info about prep if you go to the "Future JD students" tab.
Also, here are the test dates and if you click on the writing dates, it gives you the deadline for registration: http://www.lsac.org/jd/LSAT/test-dates-deadlines.asp

The website also has a checklist and a whole bunch of things, so definitely check it out!
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Old 07-29-2011 at 01:18 AM   #6
JesterRace
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I was accepted to 3 schools...Queen's, Western, and Dalhousie. My LSAT was a 159...GPA was around a 3.7 with extensive extra-curriculars.

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Old 07-29-2011 at 01:21 AM   #7
JesterRace
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Honestly, the LSAT varies so much in difficulty from person to person...I know people who picked up the test and on cold diagnostics were writing scores that would get them in right away. The only way to know is to sit down and write a practice test with zero practice and replicating test conditions perfectly. It's the only way to really see where you stand. I was able to raise my score significantly with 1 month of hard practice. Weighting of the GPA to LSAT I'm sure varies from school to school, but take it at 50/50. Law admission is a tough one to guess...not the most transparent of procedures.
Old 07-29-2011 at 06:25 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JesterRace View Post
I was accepted to 3 schools...Queen's, Western, and Dalhousie. My LSAT was a 159...GPA was around a 3.7 with extensive extra-curriculars.
Congrats!!!! Where are you headed?
Old 07-29-2011 at 08:55 AM   #9
ghumanm
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was your program at mac honors or regular ?
and congrats !
Old 07-29-2011 at 04:06 PM   #10
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I'm headed to Western, and yes my program was honours. Very rarely will a law school accept you out of a 3 year program (unless you have knockout stats). Any other questions about applications or whatnot, feel free to throw them up here.

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Old 08-02-2011 at 01:42 AM   #11
Ruggedman
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JesterRace...i was looking at signing up for the LSAT this coming fall however all the October dates are full and the closest one available is Lakehead....not happening.

You said its ok to write the December exam however you wouldn't recommend it. Well, looks like if i want to write it it will have to be in December...is that a bad thing? Will it hinder any of my chances of getting into law school or should i be ok...i just dont wanna **** myself over by having to write it in December.

Also...i know Canada is extremely tough to get into law schools, however what are some of the easier, if thats even the appropriate word when it comes to law school, or more lenient schools when it comes to admissions?

PLEASE HELP!
Old 08-02-2011 at 11:44 AM   #12
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I wouldn't worry about it too much...but it may also conflict with your winter exams. It all comes down to how well do you think you can manage your time. If you kill the LSAT, but it comes at the cost of you nuking your GPA, then it wasn't very worthwhile. In terms of admissions, I believe the December write date would be adequate to getting an acceptance to schools, like I said, I didn't get my first offer of admission until the beginning of April. Sign up for one of the December dates when it becomes available, the worse that happens is you cancel the test date, but you should be fine in terms of timing to get an acceptance. A lot of the action doesn't heat up until mid-February anyways and your LSAT score will be out and sent to schools the end of January. Admissions to law schools are still slowly coming out, and will continue to come out until the end of August. Basically, sign up for the December, it shouldn't hurt your chances too badly.

Easier may not be the right word...unconventional may be the better word. Windsor tends to be fairly holistic in their admission process, in that they will look much more at your references, stats, extra-curriculars, etc. to make a decision. Therefore, stats are not as important to them, but that being said, you can't bomb the LSAT (i.e. sub-150 score) and expect to get an offer at Windsor because you built 400 villages in Africa (just an example). You can also look at the newer law school in Canada, TRU (Thompson Rivers) which is out in BC. Being a newer school, they don't have the luxury of attracting large numbers of applicants and as a result, is much easier to get in. I think they had around 300 apply for around 70 positions. Compare that to Western, Queen's, Toronto, etc. which all had 2500 apply for 150 positions (at each school). Ottawa is also known to be a rather holistic school, and to an extent Osgoode, but stellar stats are more needed at Osgoode.

U of T is a pure numbers school. If you're under their recommended guidelines (3.7GPA over 3 years, >90th percentile LSAT) don't waste your money applying. If you have numbers that are close to their recommended, you can give it a shot, but don't hold your breath. They will send you quickly to the garbage bin if you have any number that slips far under either category (as they did with my application). Hopefully this has been helpful...let me know if you have any other questions.

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Old 08-02-2011 at 11:54 AM   #13
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For anyone who is interested: Lakehead is opening up a new law school for September 2013...
http://www.theglobeandmail.c om/new...rticle2087762/
Old 08-02-2011 at 03:57 PM   #14
JesterRace
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The Lakehead school will be servicing mainly Aboriginal applicants and under serviced communities (i.e. it will be very hard to make a case for them to accept you if you live in the GTA or SW Ontario).
Old 08-02-2011 at 05:51 PM   #15
xphat
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Helloo!
What program were you in at Mac? Political Science?
I'll be a first year come September, and many of the people that I've talked to have said that you don't necessarily even need to be in Poli Sci in order to get into Law School or excel while writing the LSAT. I'm studying English and History but I've got a keen interest in law as well and that's probably where I'm headed.



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