On two different occasions I have communicated with people who were deeply interested in attending law school, but were not being accepted because their applications were not strong enough. In both instances their LSAT score was the major reason they were not accepted. One of people emailed me the following message:

"I did not give it my all for many reasons primarily finances. My undergrad along with law school is my own burden to bear and at the time of taking the test I was employed and hardly had any time to study for it [the LSAT]. I believe I did good, but good wasn't my best."

I could feel her frustration and pain even though I had never met her in person. You do not want to be in this position. Remember the old saying, "haste makes waste". Receiving an LSAT score that does not get you into law school is a waste of time if you did not give it your all.

There are students who can give it less than their all and still get accepted to their first-choice law school, but if you are not one of those students make sure that when you take the LSAT you are in the position to give it your all.

Think about this, admission committees do not care what caused you to get a low LSAT score. Remember, every year every law school in the country reviews several hundred applications, if not more than one thousand applications. For every excuse you can provide for not doing well on the exam, admission committees have come across another student's application who endured similar or worse conditions and still did what was necessary to get accepted to law school.

In preparing for the LSAT make the time to study properly, save the money needed to prepare properly, and if necessary, wait another year until you are in the right frame of mind for the exam. A few thousand dollars may seem like a lot for test prep, but it is not when you consider how much you will get in return when you become a successful attorney. Waiting an extra year to take the exam may feel like a long time today, but it is not when you consider that your career may last 30-40 years.

If even after giving it your all you do not get accepted, you are not a failure. In fact your lack of success in the law will open another door of success simply because you are motivated. It is people like the person quoted above who sadly go through life wondering what-if they would have given the LSAT their all. Do not be like them; give the LSAT your all!

Other related articles on this website include Low GPA, Goal 160 and LSAT-Best Course.

Good luck on the LSAT!

Michael Santana
michael.santana@lawboost.com

If you have any questions or comments about this article, or want to write your own article about the pre-law or law school process, feel free to contact me.