Obviously, you must study for the LSAT.  It’s one of the most difficult tests you will ever encounter, and shouldn’t be taken without thorough preparation.  But just how much time do you need to study?  Is there enough time to study for the June LSAT?  The answer to those questions are it’s a bit complicated, of course.

People often say that you should study for x number of weeks or months, but that’s somewhat missing the point.  Sure, there is a minimum – in my opinion, six weeks is the absolute shortest amount of time in which you can thoroughly study (but that’s only for people who for whatever reason are forced into that situation, and can study long hours during that time frame).  The reason six weeks is the minimum is that that’s just about the fastest you can get through 300 hours of work, and that’s how long it takes to study for the LSAT.  You should be doing really every released LSAT problem (there are thousands and thousands of them), and this will take around 300 hours to do.  It could be more, it could be less, but it’s a good ballpark figure.  So whether you cram those 300 hours into six weeks, or spread them across five months, you’ll still be studying for roughly the same amount of time, literally speaking.

So when to start for the June 2011 LSAT?  Well, you could start right now.  That would give you something of a more leisurely pace.  But it actually might be better to start in a few weeks.  That way, your study will be a bit more concentrated.  This might not sound like a good thing, but it really can be.  The LSAT is, among other things, a test of endurance.  Getting used to doing lots of work for hours at a time, day in and day out, can really build the stamina that you need for the test.  That’s why most of our classes at Blueprint start somewhere around mid-March.

If you’re starting right now, and going very intensely, just make sure you don’t run out of material.  You need to save some virgin tests for the final weeks before the June LSAT, so don’t use up everything right away.  If you do use it all up you can redo material, but it’s not the best option.

No matter how you divvy it up, those 300 or so hours are going to be extremely intense.  So regardless of the exact schedule you choose, get ready for a lot of work.