ThefollowingLSATtipsarepresentedbyThomasO.White,theauthorofPeterson'sLSATSuccess.WhiteisformerpresidentofLawSchoolAdmissionServicesandaprincipaldesigneroftheLSAT.Hedrawsontwenty-fiveyearsofexperienceasalawyer,alawprofessoranddeanattheUniversityofPittsburghLawSchool,andVice1PresidentofEducationalTestingService.Whitehasmonitoredthetest'sdevelopmentandknowswhatittakestosucceedonthismostdifficultofallstandardized2tests.
★CanYouRelyUponAcademicProwess?
Academicsuccessisprobablyamajorcontributortoyourinterestinlawschoolandthelegalprofessionthathave,inturn,ledyoutothechallengeoftheLSAT.Youprobablyhavesomeconfidenceinyouracademicability.Youhavelearnedthatasuperioracademicperformancedependsuponsuperiorconditioningandstudyandtest-takingtechniques.Therefore,youreasonthattheconditioningandtechniquesthathaveproducedgoodacademicresultsforyouinthepastshouldalsoproduceasuperiorLSATscore.Foryourreasoningtobecorrect,theLSATshouldbeaformofacademicperformance--butthisisnotthecase.
★TheLSATIsNotAnAcademicExercise
Forthisreason,relyinguponacademicconditioningandtechniquesmayactuallyplacebarriersthatimpair3ratherthanenhanceyourLSATperformance.Bytrainingtocircumvent4thesebarriers,youcandramaticallyimproveyourscorepotential.
★AvoidingEffectiveAcademicTechniquesCanActuallyImproveYourLSATScore.
Skeptical5?
Sureyouare.Skepticismisoneofthosesuccessfulacademictechniques.Youhavebeenconditionedtoquestion,andyouinsistonbeingconvinced.AndunlessIcanconvinceyouthatyouracademicconditioningmustbeputaside,yourtesttrainingandLSATperformancewillsuffer,soherewego.
★Isn'ttheLSATaTestLikeAnyOtherTest?
No,itisnot--atleastnotthekindoftestwithwhichyouarefamiliar.
Youracademicconditioninghasprovidedyouwithaclearpictureofatest.Forexample,youaresupposetohaveacquiredcertaininformationinProfessorSmoot'scourse.Tomeasuretheextenttowhichyouhavesucceededinthis,Smootrequiresyoutoansweraseriesofquestionsshehasprepared.Youknowtheinformation,answerthequestions,anddowell.That'satest.
BecauseitiscalledLawSchoolAdmissionTest,youracademicconditioningleadsyoutoexpectittohavethecharacteristicsofthefamiliartest.Eventheformat6oftheLSAT/confirm/isthisexpectation--questionsandanswers,paperandpencils,timelimits.Butappearancesaredeceiving.ExactlywhatinformationismeasuredbytheLSAT?Whatareyouexpectedtoknow?Themeaningofcarmagnole?Theformulafordeterminingthesurfaceareaofabasketball?Everything?Nothing?
Aha!NowyouknowwhytheLSATisnotatestliketheacademictestwithwhichyouaresofamiliar.Yourknowledgeofvocabulary,grammar,mathematicalformulae,computation,facts,opinions,andothersuchinformationisnotmeasuredbytheLSAT.Inshort,preciouslittlesubstantive7knowledgeisrequiredbytheLSAT
Tofurtheraddtothepossibledeception8,theLSATisnotdesignedtomeasurewhatitappearstoask.Rather,itisdesignedtomeasureyourabilitytoselectthebestanswerfromtheoptionsprovidedbythetest-maker.Selectingthebestanswerfromprovidedchoicesisverydifferentinformandcontentfromansweringaquestionaboutasubjectthatyouareexpectedtoknow.AvoidingthebarrierthatassociatestheLawSchoolAdmissionTestwithafamiliarclassroomorlicensing9testisessentialtoyouscoringaswellasyoumightontheLSAT.Attheriskofoversimplification,donotthinkoftheLSATasatest.TheLSATisnotatest!
