Uh oh.

[dashrashi]

Wow, this is really getting contentious! Guess I should have known that mentioning specific scores as cutoffs would provoke some controversy. I just don't see why the majority here appears to be vehemently opposed to so much as looking at a sample test to see what it's like during HS. Doing so certainly helped me feel more confident about my college choice, since I figured that I stood a decent chance of being able to work my way up to a pretty solid score and thus wouldn't need to go into massive debt for a super-expensive prestige undergrad in order to bolster my chances of LS admission. So I still think that checking out the exam could be beneficial for the OP.

But seriously, jman888, you don't need to set up a study regimen NOW for the LSAT or anything. I just thought that checking out one practice exam to find your current base score might help you figure out your college plans. You really don't want to run out of PrepTests before you're even in college!

And dashrashi, it's awesome that you were able to manage such a large score jump. I just don't think that the average taker manages more than a 20-point jump from initial diagnostic to actual score, even with prepping. Otherwise, how come more people who put in a decent effort and don't have major testing anxiety don't wind up scoring 170+? Do you think it's because they simply didn't work hard enough on prep work?

No, of course not. I think people get what they get and not what other people get for a myriad of factors, which boil down to: everyone is different. I'll say it again: this person is a SOPHOMORE in HIGH SCHOOL. How one may or may not do on the LSAT more than FOUR YEARS from the present time is, or at least should be, of no importance while muddling through high school, or choosing a college, given that there are and will be so, so, so many unimaginable factors at play, not least of which is: do you still want to go to law school by then?

I have to put in my plug for college here: don't choose for career reasons. Please don't. If you choose for career reasons, it's got to be so much easier to put on your blinders and not get any smarter while you're there. And when you get out at the end, and you realize what a f-ing dumbass you were September of freshman year, and how you are no longer such a dumbass (or at least not in precisely the same way) it's really a lovely feeling. Getting smarter and doing weird *&^% are the absolute best parts about college, and really, the source of its value. I tell this to everyone: take classes in a discipline your high school doesn't teach. Take some really f-ing hard classes where just doing the reading makes your brain ache. Do not worry about the LSAT until it's time to worry about the LSAT. (I'll call the absolute earliest one should do that, assuming a June of junior year/fall of senior year test date, as the beginning of your junior year. Any earlier and you'll run out of preptests.)

Also, while we're here, wtf, "Poetry is my great love so of course I decided to go into law"?

The world of poetry seems to be almost as competitive/prestige-driven as the legal world.  Try to get a poem published in a halfway decent journal and then we'll talk about why it's mostly not worth it.

So, the...worst parts of the poetry world are what drew you to the...worst parts of the legal world? Wouldn't "Poetry is my great love [but I had trouble getting published] so of course I decided to go into English teaching/academia/editing/publishing" make more sense? Rather than, "I can't do the thing that I love so I'm going to go into a different field where I can do the worst parts of the thing I love, and not the parts that I love"? I'm still confused.

[dashrashi]

This is TERRIBLE advice.

I'm so terribly glad you think so. Your opinion is valuable to me, and I want to assure you that I'm taking it seriously.

Wanker.

[Eveman in Ingmarland]

wow i'm sort of late to this disaster. wtf?

it probably doesn't even make sense to think about the lsat when you're a sophomore in college. this is stupid. it's a learnable test that requires a lot of preperation, for sure, but not years and years of studying... anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong and probably stupid.

also, how the hell does anyone know what they what career they want to go into at 15 or whatever? only third world countries encourage kids to do that.

look, it doesn't much matter where you go to school as far as law admissions is concerned. do some research, and try to find a school in a place you like with programs you're interested in... that will do way more productive than spending the rest of your childhood worrying about getting into law school.

[Eveman in Ingmarland]

Oh, man.  Dash pwned me again.

I'll be back!

damnit wally, stop stalking dash.

[goaliechica]

wow i'm sort of late to this disaster. wtf?

it probably doesn't even make sense to think about the lsat when you're a sophomore in college. this is stupid. it's a learnable test that requires a lot of preperation, for sure, but not years and years of studying... anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong and probably stupid.

also, how the hell does anyone know what they what career they want to go into at 15 or whatever? only third world countries encourage kids to do that.

look, it doesn't much matter where you go to school as far as law admissions is concerned. do some research, and try to find a school in a place you like with programs you're interested in... that will do way more productive than spending the rest of your childhood worrying about getting into law school.

Excellent anti-Brit trolling!

I love the high school board. lol.

[Eveman in Ingmarland]

wow i'm sort of late to this disaster. wtf?

it probably doesn't even make sense to think about the lsat when you're a sophomore in college. this is stupid. it's a learnable test that requires a lot of preperation, for sure, but not years and years of studying... anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong and probably stupid.

also, how the hell does anyone know what they what career they want to go into at 15 or whatever? only third world countries encourage kids to do that.

look, it doesn't much matter where you go to school as far as law admissions is concerned. do some research, and try to find a school in a place you like with programs you're interested in... that will do way more productive than spending the rest of your childhood worrying about getting into law school.

Excellent anti-Brit trolling!

I love the high school board. lol.

britain is a C- colonial-era fossil.

[dashrashi]

Aside from the fact that you're incorrect because I have used the term and am not a middle-class Brit, I think it's delightful that you're such a snob. Way to be.

[Eveman in Ingmarland]

Aside from the fact that you're incorrect because I have used the term and am not a middle-class Brit, I think it's delightful that you're such a snob. Way to be.

I think you gave terrible advice about what the meaning of college is.  I feel bad if thats truly what you think it is about.

can't it be about different things to different people? this is awfully hegemonic.

also i really do think you are deeply and tragically wrong.

[dashrashi]

Aside from the fact that you're incorrect because I have used the term and am not a middle-class Brit, I think it's delightful that you're such a snob. Way to be.

I think you gave terrible advice about what the meaning of college is.  I feel bad if thats truly what you think it is about.

Feel bad all you want. I couldn't be happier with my college experience. Since I liked it so much, I'd like to recommend pursuing a similar one to other people. I'm sorry you didn't have any fun in college, though, and you feel like you didn't learn anything. That's a shame.

[Ender Wiggin]

Aside from the fact that you're incorrect because I have used the term and am not a middle-class Brit, I think it's delightful that you're such a snob. Way to be.

I think you gave terrible advice about what the meaning of college is.  I feel bad if thats truly what you think it is about.

Feel bad all you want. I couldn't be happier with my college experience. Since I liked it so much, I'd like to recommend pursuing a similar one to other people. I'm sorry you didn't have any fun in college, though, and you feel like you didn't learn anything. That's a shame.

Maybe I read the wrong post, but I agree with your suggestion to actually learn something and improve yourself in college.  I wish I could stay here for a few more years, because not only do I realize how much of a dumbass I was as a freshman, I realize that I am still a dumbass!