I Have 3 Years to Get Into Law School (In Military)

[Jennings7]

OK. I have quite an odd situation. As the population of this forum seems to be quite knowledgable about all things law school, I figure I'd throw out my odd circumstances and see if I can't get some good guidance.

First, my vitals:
-26 year old male
-UG in Political Science and Public Admin from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (Dec-2009).
-3.18 UG GPA
-Will complete my Master of Science in Sports Administration from Western Kentucky University by early 2014.
-LSAT not taken or prepared for yet.
-I will be applying to law school while still Active Duty in the Army. I'm an infantryman.

It's July 2012 and I know beyong a shadow of a doubt that I want to go to Marquette University Law School. They have the exact program I'm looking for (Sports Law) and are located within 2 hours of where I'm from (Green Bay, WI). The only other schools I'd even consider are Kansas (Lawrence, KS) and Wayne State (Detroit, MI). Kansas because it's 45 minutes from where I currently live, and Wayne State because it's 30 minutes from where a large chunk of my family and friends live. All 3 schools have similar admissions standards.

My questions of you:

1) Knowing I have roughly 2 years before I even have to start working on admissions paperwork, how do I go about boosting my chances of acceptance at these 3 schools. Keep in mind that if I don't get into 1 of the 3, I simply won't be going to law school. Also keep in mind that I'm active duty Army infantryman until the day I attend law school in Fall 2015, so time restraints come into play.

2) How do I go about making sure I max out my potential on the LSAT. I took a practice LSAT I printed from the LSAC website under the worst possible conditions to establish a baseline. I took the test having exactly NO concept of what the questions were like, how to budget my time, or how long each section was question wise. All I knew is I had 35 minutes to complete each section. I also took it while sitting in bed with no writing surface while various soldiers were making noise within the building and distacting me throughout. Also, did I mention I'm in the middle of Afghanistan in a heavy combat zone? In these terrible conditions, I scored a 144. Median to get into Kansas, Wayne State, and Marquette is 157.

Please give me ANY advice you can on improving my LSAT and boosting my resume so I can maximize my chances of getting into 1 of these 3 schools. Thanks a lot.

[FalconJimmy]

First and foremost, thank you very much for your service to our country.  I can not imagine the set of big brassy ones it takes to volunteer to be an infantryman at a time when our nation is fighting two wars at once.  So, thank you.

Second, I really can't address the meat of your question, but just wanted to point out that you may wish to look at University of Toledo.  I think, in the scheme of things, it is considered a half-tick below Wayne, but pretty darned close.

The reason I say this is that we have internships with the University's sports department.  One recent grad went straight from law school to work for Ohio State's NCAA compliance department.

Just a thought.  Best of luck to you.  I think if you can get in to Marquette, that's worth it.  All things being equal, I'd probably pick Wayne over Toledo, but you may be able to get some big scholarship $$$ that would make Toledo more attractive.  If you come here, I'll be the first to buy a veteran a drink.

[Jennings7]

First and foremost, thank you very much for your service to our country.  I can not imagine the set of big brassy ones it takes to volunteer to be an infantryman at a time when our nation is fighting two wars at once.  So, thank you.

Second, I really can't address the meat of your question, but just wanted to point out that you may wish to look at University of Toledo.  I think, in the scheme of things, it is considered a half-tick below Wayne, but pretty darned close.

The reason I say this is that we have internships with the University's sports department.  One recent grad went straight from law school to work for Ohio State's NCAA compliance department.

Just a thought.  Best of luck to you.  I think if you can get in to Marquette, that's worth it.  All things being equal, I'd probably pick Wayne over Toledo, but you may be able to get some big scholarship $$$ that would make Toledo more attractive.  If you come here, I'll be the first to buy a veteran a drink.

Thanks for the great answer Jimmy. I'll definitely look into Toledo more. Wayne State is near the top of my list because it's within my regional comfort zone, tuition is reasonable, and it's about in my range of target schools statistically. Toledo may actually meet a lot of those same standards. I'll definitely take a look. That's the great thing about planning this in advance. I can sit here and make the best possibe decisions, get great advice, and set a long-term plan. The next step is obviously prepare for and then take the LSAT. Obviously that's going to clarify my situation MUCH further. Thanks again.

[jonlevy]

The colder the climate and further north, the easier it may be to get into law school.

[haus]

Jennings7,

I am in the process of kicking off my efforts to prep for the LSAT now.

Much like you I took a diagnostic test, although my test environment was more accommodating than your was. I ended up with a 153, but more important (in my mind) than the score was that I seemed to score fairly closely across the various sections.

With this in mind I have started off with two task. Going over the diagnostic test at a very leisurely rate, trying to  understand why the right answers are right and why the wrong answers are not right (or not the best answer...). Also I am starting to work on my skills related to the Logical Reasoning (LR) section. I picked this section because the test will have two LR sections, so improvements in this section will pay bigger dividends than that of the other sections. To help me in this effort I am reading the PowerScore LR Bible.

Once I have completed the LR Bible, I plan to try another practice exam to see where I stand and then evaluate from there. Given that I work full time (in a job that requires a considerable amount of additional training performed mostly on my own time), spend about three hours a day commuting and have a family, this process is going to take longer than I want it to. Currently I am aiming to take the LSAT either June or October of 2013, so I do have some time to work with.

Good luck with your test prep, please keep us informed of how things are progressing for you.

[Jennings7]

Jennings7,

Much like you I took a diagnostic test, although my test environment was more accommodating than your was. I ended up with a 153, but more important (in my mind) than the score was that I seemed to score fairly closely across the various sections.

With this in mind I have started off with two task. Going over the diagnostic test at a very leisurely rate, trying to  understand why the right answers are right and why the wrong answers are not right (or not the best answer...). Also I am starting to work on my skills related to the Logical Reasoning (LR) section. I picked this section because the test will have two LR sections, so improvements in this section will pay bigger dividends than that of the other sections. To help me in this effort I am reading the PowerScore LR Bible.

Once I have completed the LR Bible, I plan to try another practice exam to see where I stand and then evaluate from there. Given that I work full time (in a job that requires a considerable amount of additional training performed mostly on my own time), spend about three hours a day commuting and have a family, this process is going to take longer than I want it to. Currently I am aiming to take the LSAT either June or October of 2013, so I do have some time to work with.

Good luck with your test prep, please keep us informed of how things are progressing for you.

Thanks for the reply haus. I'm not putting to much stock in my pre-test. I couldn't have screwed myself any more than I did on it. I ended up guessing on the last 5 questions in at least 2 of the sections due to poor time management. I also found I was rushing through the first 20 questions because I had no idea how long to spend on each in relation to the whole. I also read the directions of the sections during the 35 minutes.

I did notice a trend on my sections though. In at least 3 out of the 4 sections I noticed I was getting something like 13/15 12/15 for the first 15 questions and then getting a ton wrong the last 10 or so questions when I started getting nervous about the time or just anxious to finished. I'm going to take another p-test when I get home from Afghanistan under optimal conditions to get a true baseline. It's comforting knowing 144 is my absolute worst baseline. I essentially couldn't score lower than that other than flat out guessing the whole test.

Keep me updated on what works for you study wise and I will do the same. I plan on taking the LSAT in early 2014, so I'll probably start prepping on a weekly basis around a year before that, and heavily 6 months prior. Have you found the studying you've done so far to be beneficial? Do you feel like it's noticably improved your ability to do better on the LSAT? I ask this because although I know I'm a fairly smart guy, and usually a far above average test taker when it comes to ability to do well with natural intelligence alone, the LSAT is somewhat intimidating to me. It's an odd feeling I haven't felt before in regards to any standardized test. I suppose it's self doubt.

[haus]

It is still early in my process, but a few things that I have found useful.

Seeing the common question format for the LR questions (as described in the LR Bible) helps me to be better prepared to disassemble the question in a timely manner. Learning that I have roughly 80 seconds per LR question, and trying to become familiar with that chunk of time so I have a better feeling for how I am doing on time.

Other areas of general comfort have come up. My diag exam was one of the few times I had used a wooden #2/HB pencil for more than a few seconds in many years. I discovered two things, one being that I did not like the pencil I used for the diag, and two, that spending several hours completing a test with a writting utensil you dislike can cause hand discomfort. Not the end of the world, but who needs another distraction?

So I decided to do a bit of research and try out pencils that seem to be highly recommended. To ensure I am getting plenty of exposure to these pencils I have started using wood pencils for all my general writting needs. I have gotten more comfortable, regained some lost skill in managing the edge of the lead as I write, and more fluid with sharpening when the need arises.

The other adjustment I have made, has been to acquire an analog watch. It had been a long time since I had last used one on a regular basis. By using it daily for the next year or so, I am hoping to lessen the chance for confusion/mistakes. I choose a Seiko automatic dive watch for the bezel to aide with tracking time on the exam, and while the automatics are not as accurate as the quartz watches, they are not dependent upon batteries. I would much rather be off by 3-5 seconds over the course of a 35 min exam (a variation that would be extremely unlikely w/ an automatic watch), then to face the (also extremely unlikely) battery failure during an exam.

 All small stuff, yes, but small stuff that is fairly easy to address, and can help with my comfort when it comes to test time. I liken it to a forced march, anything that rubs or irritates in the first few miles, runs the risk of being a bloody mess at 25+ miles if you do not deal with it (I sereved as a Marine in a infantry unit back in the early 90's). 

No need to feel doubt, this is a very structured exam. If you apporach it like any military instructor would apporach a process they were to develop a training class for. Identify the elements, break down their functions to the simplest instructions you can, then drill the troops on these instructions. As progress is made, then start combining the pieces and you will be ready to roll.  Even though you will be busy, you have enough time to perform a deep dive and get a really good look at how this is put together.

[alicia45]

I am new in this field, I want to know starting phrase of Military... I want to join next year, little bit confuse and feel hesitation, What type of things I need to clear before start or any guide..

[leo76]

bump....