Advice: LSAT and Law Schools?

From today's mailbag:

Hi—I’m M———, and I’m an AI reader. You must be getting loads of email about how best to prepare for the LSAT. I’m a 1L, and I did fairly well on that thing last year. My recommendation is going in as loose as possible—I improved by a half-dozen points between my practice tests and my actual score. I didn’t do any prep—just OD’ed on practice tests for a week, took a couple days off playing video games to loosen up, then went into the test with nothing to lose.

I was considering graduate school—I thankfully had a bunch of options after school, so law school wasn’t a huge deal to me. But I’ve been at school for two weeks, and I’m loving it—we’ll see how long the luster lasts, and I’m learning as I go—I certainly didn’t have as much information as you seem to have.

Thanks for the tip on the LSAT, M———. I'm hoping to take several more practice tests, but I'm also going to use some of the review materials I've already made the mistake of paying for. And honestly, just so you know, I haven't been overwhelmed with LSAT study tips, so if anyone has related advice, I'm always open to suggestions.

Better still, what about advice for applying to law school? Anyone have any suggestions? As I was taking that practice test yesterday I was struck with a bit o panic at the thought that I've done almost no research about schools, application procedures, etc. So here's the thing: I'm looking for good public interest programs where I'll have a good shot at getting financial aid, or at least where the program has a debt-repayment program. If you're a lawyer or current law student, you've obviously been through this, so... Won't you take pity on those fools who follow in your footsteps?

P.S. to M———: I hope you'll let me know how long the "luster lasts" in law school. Can we all look forward to a new 1L "blawg" soon?

Posted September 15, 2002 10:44 AM | law school