All Things LSAT- A Practical Guide on Preparing for the LSAT

Reading Time: 4 minutes Are you confused about all things LSAT? Do you feel unprepared and overwhelmed? Well, you’re not alone and we want to help. The next LSAT test date is fast approaching, and here are some study tips to make sure that you are successfully preparing. Most law school applications open any time between the end of August to the beginning of October. With this in mind, it’s safe to say that it’s time to start preparing, and Write Track Admissions has some tips to help you out.

When to take the LSAT

It is best to get the test-taking done ASAP, for peace of mind and for the optimal admissions decision. Also, the longer you hold off on taking your LSAT, the later you finish your application. Law school has rolling admissions, so if you wait to apply to your top choices, your chances of admission will have diminished. Taking the LSAT early, allows you to retake it, so that you can improve your score with time to spare. There are several more LSAT testing dates available in 2021. Be sure to keep track of when you need to register.

Hacks to Help you Prepare

To prepare yourself for the harsh reality of standardized testing, here are some LSAT prep tips from Write Track’s founder, Hamada:

TAKE PRACTICE EXAMS: Note the common mistakes you make in each set of questions and keep practicing them until you feel confident.
REAL EXAMPLES: Don’t use anything but REAL past exam questions (also known as LSAT Direct Questions), because once you see and understand the patterns in real questions, you will be able to master anything they give you.
TESTING CONDITIONS: Make sure to simulate real exam conditions and timing. For example, do three sections back-to-back with a minute break. Then, take a 15 mins break and do two sections back-to-back. Also, use the same pencil, timer, and chair you will use/find in the exam. If they don’t allow ear plugs then don’t use them in the practice exams.

The Digital LSAT

The digital LSAT is being universally administered electronically on Microsoft Surface Go tablets. They have been pre-loaded with LSAC patented software that features a timer with 5-minute warnings, and interactive options such as answer elimination, text highlighting, and question flagging (so you can revisit those tough ones later). The digital LSAT is comprised of Logical Reasoning, Analytical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, and Writing Sections.

Here are some hacks that can help during the LSAT:

Figure out the question type to help you narrow down the answers.
The digital LSAT test allows you to flag questions. Skip ones that take you a long time to answer, and come back to them questions later.
Use the text highlighting feature to flag the root of each question. The question is often hidden amongst a lot of other extraneous information.
Read all the answers before selecting one to help you identify potential test, tricks, and red herrings.
Practice for speed, because often the exam comes down to technique, practice, and timing.
If all else fails, just skip hard logical reasoning questions, then come back to it at them at end.

If you follow this methodology, you will already be ahead of the game. And if for some reason you don’t score where you want to, keep a cool head and try again! Write Track’s Founder, Hamada, took the LSAT 3 times and still did not do great. However, by using storycrafting he managed to get into Berkeley Law. It is important to stay strong in the face of adversity, even when that face is the LSAT staring you down. A strong application can help balance out test score weaknesses!

LSAT Scoring

While on the subject of test scores, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page regarding how, exactly, the LSAT is scored. Your LSAT score is comprised of a raw total of the number of questions you answered correctly. There are then converted into a score in the range of 120-180. The average LSAT score is 150… but if you have your sights set on attending a top law school, your score should be in the “well above 160” range. If you are not meeting your LSAT score goals, contact Write Track for help with rounding out your application. We will use your story to craft a winning application, ensuring that you have the best chance at getting admitted to your dream law school, just like our founder, Hamada. Aly Hartman | Write Track Communication Officer Write Track Admissions

How to ACE the Strengths and Weaknesses Essay

Reading Time: 5 mins The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted countless lives across the globe. From financial troubles, unstable home lives, and unchartered school plans, students, in particular, have been disrupted greatly by the pandemic. Given the difficulties that students have faced this past year, the Common Application for example as well as many other schools, have placed a new question asking students about the impacts of COVID-19 on their lives: Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces. For more information, check out our COVID-19 FAQ. Students are asked to check “yes” or “no”, and if they choose to share (i.e. press “yes”) then students are given up to 250 words to address the prompt. However, many students are unsure as to what is suitable information to put in this section. A few reasons students might want to respond to the prompt include: Grading changes: If your school decided to change the grading system or standards, then this would be a great place to let your colleges know about what was changed! Unique circumstances: If you experienced significant changes to your daily life (such as the loss of a parent, forced evacuation from home, etc), then this would be the perfect spot to inform your colleges about the circumstances. Keep in mind, however, that most applicants faced some type of hardship during this time, so make sure you’re specific! Testing: If you were unable to take required tests (IB, SAT, ACT, TOEFL, etc.), then be sure to make your colleges aware that your tests were cancelled. Although most colleges are being lenient with their testing requirements due to the pandemic! The COVID-19 pandemic hit the world quite hard, and it continues to impact and change most of our everyday lives. The aforementioned ideas are just a few of the things that you might like to include for the COVID-19 prompt; include what you see fit. If you have been impacted by the pandemic, in any significant, unique way, then you should be sure to make your colleges aware. The better you explain your circumstances and your story, the better your chances. Remember, the college application is like a little film about YOU; all you have to do is tell your story! ~ Sam Saba Write Track Admissions — College Expert

Tackling the COVID Essay on your College Application

Reading Time: 5 mins

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted countless lives across the globe. From financial troubles, unstable home lives, and unchartered school plans, students, in particular, have been disrupted greatly by the pandemic. Given the difficulties that students have faced this past year, the Common Application for example as well as many other schools, have placed a new question asking students about the impacts of COVID-19 on their lives: Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces. For more information, check out our COVID-19 FAQ. Students are asked to check “yes” or “no”, and if they choose to share (i.e. press “yes”) then students are given up to 250 words to address the prompt. However, many students are unsure as to what is suitable information to put in this section. A few reasons students might want to respond to the prompt include: Grading changes: If your school decided to change the grading system or standards, then this would be a great place to let your colleges know about what was changed! Unique circumstances: If you experienced significant changes to your daily life (such as the loss of a parent, forced evacuation from home, etc), then this would be the perfect spot to inform your colleges about the circumstances. Keep in mind, however, that most applicants faced some type of hardship during this time, so make sure you’re specific! Testing: If you were unable to take required tests (IB, SAT, ACT, TOEFL, etc.), then be sure to make your colleges aware that your tests were cancelled. Although most colleges are being lenient with their testing requirements due to the pandemic! The COVID-19 pandemic hit the world quite hard, and it continues to impact and change most of our everyday lives. The aforementioned ideas are just a few of the things that you might like to include for the COVID-19 prompt; include what you see fit. If you have been impacted by the pandemic, in any significant, unique way, then you should be sure to make your colleges aware. The better you explain your circumstances and your story, the better your chances. Remember, the college application is like a little film about YOU; all you have to do is tell your story! ~ Sam Saba Write Track Admissions — College Expert

How to Live Your College Admissions Story

Episode 2: How to Live Your College Admissions Story

Listen now!

What happens if you apply early decision to a university, get accepted, and don’t go?

Reading Time: 5 minutes Early Decision, Early Action and Regular Admissions can be very confusing and stressful when making the decision to choose which path to take for which schools. So I will break it down in simple parts to help you with the decision and outcome.

Difference Between Early Decision & Early Action

In brief, ED is binding while EA is Not. It is said that ED gives you a better chance of admissions. I read that some legacy and influential parents encourage their children to apply ED since acceptance rates can be as high as 50%+. For example at Duke, ED acceptance is 20% where normally its closer to 6%. On the other, EA acceptance rates may only be slightly better than regular admissions, but require that you submit your application early, which requires better time management to submit in time. Also some schools offer ED and others don’t, and others will allow you to ONLY apply ED to their schools but not others. Here is an example from Vanderbilt:

Consequences for Reneging on Early Decisions: ED is binding but not legally binding. From my readings and knowledge it seems that the worst that can happen (which actually would really suck!) would be if the student applied to several schools through ED, and selected one over the others. Then the rejected school(s) can call the one you accepted and inform them prompting a withdrawal of the acceptance (this may be tricker for AdComms to do if you accept a decision for a university abroad like in England or even Canada). In the end, many put it at honor and say if you pull-out of a ED then it would tarnish your reputation at your high school and likely with that college. So its not something you want to do! But there are reasons to justify why you would not be able to uphold a ED acceptance. Here are some examples from a great U.S. News Article on the topic: Most colleges will release students from early decision offers without penalty if applicants receive a financial aid package that doesn’t make it feasible economically for the student to attend. There may be other compelling reasons that would sway an admissions officer to release an accepted student from an early decision offer without consequence – a sick parent, for instance – admissions officers say.

Considerations & Next Steps

So when deciding whether to apply ED v. EA or Regular Admissions you should ask yourself these questions (some questions derived from a U.S. News Article on the topic):

Is there a significant statistical advantage to applying ED?

Make sure to look at historical acceptance rates of ED v. EA v. Regular admissions from the school you are applying to so you can figure out the advantage.

Would a midyear addition to your application such as a completed internship or first semester grades enhance your overall profile?

If you expect to have an advantage in your application (better grades, retaken SAT, completed internship, personal feat etc.) by December/January, then applying regular admissions may be better so that can be included in your application.

Have you thoroughly vetted the school, including sitting in on a class and staying on campus overnight?

Basically are you 100% sure this is your top choice no matter what? If not then you should check it out, do all your due diligence and then make that final decision so you don’t reverse course and reject the ED acceptance.

Are you willing to part with financial aid options?

If you accept at an ED school and the financial aid package is not great, then you may not be able to compare the package with other schools as you have to accept the aid they give you. This would not be the case with EA or regular admissions. So think hard about this process and don’t jump the gun unless you have financial backing and know the ED school is your TOP choice (no matter what)! Hope this helps! Read more helpful tips on our Quora account and stay tuned to other blogs on our Write Track Admissions Page. ~ Hamada | Write Track Founder

How do I pick the “Right” College Major?

Read Time – 3 minutes Many people ask us, how to choose the ideal college major. There is no one way of making this all-important selection. Each person’s motives, goals, interests are different. That said, here are some things to consider when making this decision: Here is what I would avoid:

Do not pick a major that is SUPER hard for because you think it will land you a job. If you do poorly in your studies this will actually have the inverse effect and likely hinder your chances of landing that first job, getting into graduate school and/or in securing scholarships.
Do not pick a major that historically fails (weeds out) the bottom performers since this will add undue pressure on you, and likely will jeopardize your long-term academic performance.
Do not pick a major because you are 50/50 on whether you will pursue it in the future and only doing it to satisfy your parent’s desires (i.e. medical school).

Here is what I would recommend to do:

Select a major that aligns with what you did in high school so it shows that you are moving in the direction of your interests (e.g. if you took quite a few AP science classes in high school then it makes little sense to then select Sociology as a major when applying to college since this will seem like you are trying to get in from the backdoor as an easier, less impacted major).
Select a major where you are naturally inclined to excel, which matches your passions, character, experiences, and goals. To this end, you should consider maybe taking Gallups’s CliftonStrengths Finder to help you figure out what are your strengths.
Select a major where you can get a high GPA especially if you are not sure what you want to do or if you are considering non-science graduate schools (i.e. law, education, business grad school that may weigh GPA higher than your college major). Obviously, if you are interested in engineering, medical school, accounting, science/research etc related fields then you will need to major in those speciality fields.

In sum, ultimately chose a major that you will enjoy, that you will excel in, and that will give you time to enjoy the total college experience (often employers, graduate schools etc want a well-rounded student (leadership, volunteer, sports, high EQ) not just a book smart candidate (high IQ)). Hope this helps. Read more helpful tips on our Quora account and stay tuned to other blogs on our Write Track Admissions Page. ~ Hamada | Write Track Founder

Tag: application

When to take the LSAT

Hacks to Help you Prepare

The Digital LSAT

Here are some hacks that can help during the LSAT:

LSAT Scoring

Reading Time: 5 mins

Listen now!

Difference Between Early Decision & Early Action

Considerations & Next Steps

Contact Us

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