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Studying with Rod: LSAT Students and the World of Sports

Studying with Rod...8 weeks until the LSAT

Hello out there to all of you under-rested, over-caffeinated LSAT students. And hello Norway. We are about half-way there — 8 weeks until “gameday” — in other words, 8 weeks until you cram into a room with hundreds of anxiety-ridden students and take a 4 hour standardized test, armed with nothing more than a #2 pencil and a ziplock bag of granola that has been pre-weighed and measured with NASA-like precision to coincide with LSAC regulations. This so called “gameday” doesn’t seem to have a very fitting name, does it? However, we all love good metaphors and analogies, especially when it comes to pop-culture and sports. (Side note: you still can’t “give 110%”. It’s impossible and it’s my least favorite sports cliche. Give about 95% and you’ll do great.). Anyway, that brings me to this week’s blog topic:

Now that we are about half-way through our LSAT course, think about how your studying is going and how it might finish up. There is still plenty of time to improve your score (seriously, there is. So suck it up and give 110%). Pretty much all LSAT students fall into 5 categories when their LSAT studying is all said and done and I have provided sports/pop-culture references to help you get the idea. It’s not too late to change course…

1) 2001 Los Angeles Lakers / Jack Nicholson: These students are the “creme de la creme” of LSAT students, and the LSAT is their proverbial bitch. Like the Lakers and “Jack”, these students focus in relentlessly from start to finish and simply smash the competition. This is an easy group to hate because they make it look easy, even though reaching this level of excellence took a lot of very hard work that other teams/actors/LSAT students simply are not willing to do. You can deny it, but you want to be in this group. The bad news is that no matter what you do you will never throw an ally-oop to Shaq to win Game 7, and odds are you are not as cool as Jack Nicholson, but you can get an awesome LSAT score. The LSAT tests the same concepts over and over, and with enough active practice, you’re all good. (For the East Coasters who were hoping for some Yankees love, the LSAC does not allow you to purchase points on the LSAT. Zing.)

2) Ryan Leaf / Lindsay Lohan: Nobody wants to be among this self-destructive group. The LSAT students in this group showed nothing but promise early on. Maybe they had a great undergraduate GPA, or they breezed through Practice Test #1 with a 168. They then take the next 2 months off, doing a practice problem here and there. These students could have been great, but as the LSAT will teach you, just because someone has performed well in the past, there is no guarantee that they will have success in the future. Fast forward to test day and these students are likely passed out on the bathroom floor, or blaming the test proctor for their woes in a fit of rage. It can get ugly — avoid group #2.

3) Lance Armstrong / Robert Downey Jr.: These LSAT students are bicycling actors. No, wait. These students started their LSAT studying strong. Lessons 1 through 4 go off without a hitch. Then they hit some major obstacles — maybe they have to miss class for a couple of weeks, maybe their girlfriend/boyfriend breaks up with them (waaa!). They get back to class and have no idea that ordering games could have tiers (oh no!). Rather than slip tragically into group #2, they work twice as hard to catch up, and end up leaving everyone in the dust when test day rolls around. (Honorable mention: Chuck Sheen, Michael Jordan comeback #1).

4) Butler Bulldogs / Gabourey Sidibe: This group of LSAT students gives us hope. These are the students you see all over the Blueprint website with signs that read +21, +19, +24. These underdogs started off their LSAT studying with less than impressive baseline scores. Rather than accepting their fate as mediocre test-takers and being discouraged by the unlikely possibility that they could improve 20 points, they worked twice as hard in class and proved everyone wrong. …And they got an Oscar nomination and made it to the National Championship game. What a group…

5) Los Angeles Clippers / Keanu Reeves: This is an uninspired bunch. These LSAT students show up to most of their classes and they go through the motions, but they don’t really know why they’re there. You see them casually show up to every practice exam, yet they never get better. They don’t put in any effort to improving their performance, yet sure enough you will see them in class again and again, as though their history degree demands they study for the LSAT even though they don’t want to go to law school. Just because you made Speed doesn’t mean you have to make Speed 2. Write that down. Important note: unlike being an uninspired actor, being an uninspired LSAT student will not get you a $15 million check every year — AND, the guy made Point Break, which was pretty damn sweet. Moving on…

As always, I hope everyone is doing well, and we would all like to hear how it’s going out there. See you next week.

– Rod Taynes