avocados at law school

currently a 1L at a T14 law school

[avocadosatlawschool]

in case anyone still follows this blog: I graduated! I’m taking the bar next week, which is terrifying, and I have a fellowship to do medical legal partnership work for the next two years, which I guess means I did the whole law school thing correctly.

I have $110,000+ in debt, and so much more grey hair than when I started. I’m not entirely sure I would recommend the experience, and honestly don’t think I can even give advice on what to do during law school, since I went to a top 3 school without grades and really took advantage of that--I got by without any journal positions, RA jobs, or even a good grade in a black letter class. if this ringing endorsement doesn’t deter you, I am still on tumblr on my main blog and will see questions here. happy to listen to law school woes and/or commiserate over bar prep hell.

[avocadosatlawschool]

I’m worried about my softs I haven’t done anything extraordinary how much will that hurt me with admissions?

that depends partly on where you’re applying and what your stats are, as well as whether you are K-JD, but in most cases soft factors aren’t that important, simply because most people who go to law school haven’t done anything extraordinary! having something really unique or extraordinary might help distinguish you from applicants with similar stats, but having average softs shouldn’t hurt you overall. it’s also not something you can change that easily, so I’d focus on the LSAT, keeping your grades up if you’re still in undergrad, and writing your personal statement.

[avocadosatlawschool]

Congrats on finishing your first semester. We’re rooting for you

thank you! it was always going to be stressful, but because of the pandemic we had a condensed semester with no breaks, which certainly didn’t make anything easier.

and I’m not quite done--I still have to get through exams. luckily everything is Credit/No Credit so that takes some of the pressure off.

[avocadosatlawschool]

hi! I don’t know if anyone who follows this blog is still active or not, but I’m about to finish my first semester of law school! it’s been pretty stressful and at times overwhelming, and certainly unlike a non-pandemic semester. but I am still more than happy to discuss law school applications, decisions, or law school itself now that I can speak more directly about the 1L (pandemic) first semester.

[avocadosatlawschool]

I realized that I never gave an update about law school decisions here. I got waitlisted at two schools and withdrew before receiving a final decision from a third. (I got rejected from all the PhD programs, so those didn’t end up factoring into my decision). of the seven law schools I got into, I ended up interviewing for and being offered a highly selective programmed full tuition scholarship to a T20 school that I absolutely loved, with sizable scholarships everywhere else. I spent an agonizing several weeks going back and forth between my top choice (T3) and the T20. due to a variety of factors I decided deferring a year was necessary, so I went with the T3 school and turned down the full tuition scholarship. I made that decision in March and I’m still only 95% sure it was the right one; no one told me that choosing one law school would be more difficult than applying to 10. 

if you have questions about the decision-making process or want more details (including my LSN name), feel free to send me an ask! 

[avocadosatlawschool]

update on law school acceptances: All the schools I have heard back from have been acceptances, still waiting to hear back from three more. I got into my top choice today though so I’m not worried about the rest! that makes 4 T14 acceptances (send me an ask if you want more details.) I’m still waiting to hear back from the PhD programs but in terms of law school my cycle is basically over. feel free to message me with questions about any aspect of the application process!

[avocadosatlawschool]

In American law schools you have to be interview to get in??

it depends on the school. for some law schools an interview is a prerequisite to admission, while many law schools do not do interviews at all, or only do interviews selectively. some schools do in person interviews or alumni interviews, while others do Skype, phone, or video (Kira Talent). the school for which I have an interview tomorrow does a small number of interviews, but many people are admitted there without an interview. so it just depends on the individual school.

[avocadosatlawschool]

application update: accepted at 2 more schools, and I have an interview with another scheduled for tomorrow and got the interview invite for a fourth school this afternoon. (all four are T14, message me if you want more details)

so far I’ve heard from three schools and been accepted to all three. I’m hoping the rest of the application cycle goes this well!

[avocadosatlawschool]

also, as a general update I’ve applied to 8 schools and will apply to a 9th once the application opens (you know which one). I am not going to retake the LSAT because it is the same day as the GRE. I’m not sure I want to actually apply to PhD programs, but I’ve paid for the GRE and the scores are good for a while so I’m going to at least take it. I am super glad this law school cycle has started off with an acceptance to one of my top choices, and it makes waiting to hear back from other schools much less stressful. 

[avocadosatlawschool]

first law school acceptance!!! I had an interview with this school last Friday that went really well, and it was heavily implied that I had a spot, but I got the official word this afternoon. 

[avocadosatlawschool]

first law school application is in!

[avocadosatlawschool]

check your LSAC accounts--I just got my score

[avocadosatlawschool]

we’re grey! the wait is almost over!

[avocadosatlawschool]

scores are coming out soon and all i can think about is shit shit shit domesticated horses shit shit

the solution is to decide two days after taking the LSAT that you’re also going to apply to PhD programs and do a senior thesis, and then you’ll be too busy to think about horses or worry about your score, because now you’ve got 86 things to do and half of them should have been done last semester. 

[avocadosatlawschool]

How far in advanced did you start studying for the LSAT? I'm a sophomore in college right now and am wanting to get ahead. Also, when did you decide you were ready for the actual exam?

So I was originally going to take the June exam, and started studying in February, but quickly realized that I was too busy to really devote much time to it. I tried to study after classes ended, but then I was taking some accelerated online courses and didn’t get very far. So I registered for the September exam and only really started studying seriously in July, after my last online class ended. However, I also had a 159 as a diagnostic score, and even though my goal score was a 170+ (we’ll see next week how I actually did), that’s only an 11 point jump. I stopped studying completely about a week before the exam. I had been getting practice scores about or above 170 (though they still varied quite a bit) and did not think anything I did in the last week was really going to make a difference. Also, fall classes had started and I had other things to focus on. If I could do it over again, I would study differently and better though. So before you start studying I would research study methods and schedules, and figure out what types of materials you think would be helpful. (For instance, one method, blind review, I didn’t hear about until like 2 weeks before I took the test, but I think could have been really helpful).

I would recommend studying 3-6 months in advance of the test you want to take, though it also depends on your diagnostic score and goal score. You could do a diagnostic now, and based on your goals, decide to take the LSAT next June, for instance, and then start studying in January. You might also find that as you take practice tests your scores increase faster or slower than you had planned, and then you either have to adjust your goal score or adjust your practice schedule. 

You should also consider the fact that some law schools are now accepting GRE scores instead of LSAT scores, and more will likely follow suit. So if you are not going to law school for at least another 2-3 years, it is worth looking at the GRE instead. One advantage of the GRE that has nothing to do with the actual test is the fact that it is held at a ton of locations practically every day. However, it does test some things, such as geometry and algebra, that the LSAT does not. (I am also applying to PhD programs and now have to study for the GRE as well).

I hope that was helpful!

[avocadosatlawschool]

congrats to everyone who took the LSAT today, even if you don’t feel like you did as well as you had hoped. Check out r/lsat for commiseration and memes and to find out which sections were experimental.

#teamsoybean

[avocadosatlawschool]

What are some advices, (or books you recommend) on getting better at identifying the flaw in LR/what strengthens the flaw or weakens the flaw? (Could be any!)

I used the Logical Reasoning Bible, but I didn’t get all the way through it. It does explain each question type, and what the answers for each type look like though. You can also sign up for Khan Academy for free and watch their LR videos, which includes detailed analysis of various question types (note: I don’t suggest using KA for actual practice questions/tests, at least until they start identifying which PT their questions come from, or you don’t plan on using any other test prep materials).

The main thing to keep in mind is that the flaw will almost certainly be in the conclusion. So take the premise(s) as stated, and think about what the conclusion relies on. Often the author either misinterprets their premise(s) (they could generalize a study beyond its sample, for instance, so pay attention to words like “all” “none” “always” “some” “most” “never” etc; if these type of words don’t match in the premise and conclusion, they might be making an error of scope), relies on something other than logic (they reject a claim based on who said it, not the details of the claim), confuses cause and effect (this can sometimes be a temporal error where they assume that because something came before something else, it caused the second thing), or makes an error with conditional reasoning. Find one of these mistakes, and that’s the flaw. If you can do this before reading the answer choices, you already know what you’re looking for. If not, the answer choice that weakens the argument (points out the flaw) will be correct. 

For stimuli with conditional reasoning, it can be really helpful to diagram. This is especially true for parallel reasoning/parallel flaw questions, where you need to understand the relationship in the stimulus and find the answer with the same relationship, even if all the details are different. 

PowerScore has an article on how to approach flaw questions, and includes other examples of types of flawed reasoning here:  https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/153631/How-to-Attack-Flaw-in-the-Reasoning-Questions-on-the-LSAT