Speaker 1 (00:00): Hey guys, welcome back.
If you're new to my channel, I'm Angela Vorpahl of angelavorpahl.com And the law school network
Facebook group. And on this channel, I help law students learn the strategies
to take control of your law school career so that you can build a lawyering life on your own
terms. You guys, if you've been around here for a while, know that we focus a lot on how
to be a successful law student and how to be a successful lawyer, but one of the steps that
you have to take before that journey begins is to study for intake, the L set. And yes,
there are a lot of different ways to approach the test. A lot of different ways to study,
but across the board, there are also a lot of cognitive mistakes that students make. So in
today's video, we're going to be diving in to the most common areas that studying mistakes and what
to do instead, and to help us walk through it is Steve Schwartz. Steve is the CEO and founder of
L set unplugged. He is a long time professional L set coach and the author of several L set guides.
You guys may know him from the Elsa unplugged YouTube channel or the L set unplugged podcast.
So please help me welcome Steve. Steve, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (01:06): Thanks so much for having me on Angela.
It's great to speak with you again. Speaker 1 (01:09):
Oh my gosh. I'm so excited to dive in to this. So we're talking biggest L set,
studying mistakes that you see people consistently make and what to do instead. So let's go through
and walk through them Speaker 2 (01:21):
One by one. Yeah, sure thing, Angela, thanks so much. So I've prepared the eight most common LSAT
prep mistakes. I typically see from students the first and probably the biggest one is only
allowing two to three months to study. A lot of people underestimate just how difficult the LSAT
is. In reality, it typically takes at least five to six months to reach your fullest potential. And
it's worth it. Given that the Elsa is the biggest factor in the law school admissions process.
Number two biggest mistake is taking an L sat diagnostic test without studying. A lot of
folks recommend this. In my experience, a lot of students actually find it's discouraging and it
burns through valuable practice material. Instead, I recommend that you build a strong foundation
first before taking practice tests to later get a sense of where you truly stand mistaken. Number
three, studying out of random books. Speaker 2 (02:18):
You borrowed from a friend like Alice had for dummies. Don't do that. Those books are full of
mistakes and they're unrealistic. Instead use real actual official El sat, prep, prep tests,
and well-reviewed quality resources. Now those, some of those might seem pretty expensive, but
recently with the rise of low cost online courses, they can actually be a lot more affordable than
you might think. Mistake number four is doing all your prep out of books. The Ellis that has changed
it's now online. You take it from home and the best place to do actual L set practice test is
through El Sachs law hub. This gets used to the exact look and feel you'll experience on test day
mistake, number five, a lot of law students and future law students are gunners,
and they want to take practice tests every single day. But this unfortunately leads to burnout
and prevents you from allowing the time that you need to review in depth.
Speaker 2 (03:14): So I instead recommend that
you take a practice test only once or twice a week. And then on the day days in between,
you can review those practice tests in depth, everything you had trouble with everything you
got wrong, but we're not sure why. And you could also take a day off here or there.
Mistake number six, taking the actual official El sat before you're ready just to see how you'll do
instead. I recommend you only take it when you're feeling fully ready and likely to achieve your
fullest potential mistake. Number seven, getting stressed about or stuck on a previous question or
section when you've already moved on, don't get bogged down and think it's the end of the world.
Every question is worth the same and no one particular question
will make or break you. Instead. Practice mindfulness, learn to let go and move on.
Speaker 2 (04:06): All questions are worth the same amount. Finally,
mistake number eight, thinking that on test day, it's all about this one test. I know the Elsa is
important and a lot's riding on it, but the yells that's offered nearly every month now. So you can
always retake it. Then you have the future tests that you have on the horizon. If you're taking it
in November, you also have January available to you. If you're taking it in January,
you also have February available to you and law schools. Don't average, multiple ALS at scores.
They only take the highest, so there's really no downside to retaking. And so those are my eight
Speaker 1 (04:42): Is so incredibly helpful.
Thank you so much. And just hearing you walk through those, I realized that I made several
of those mistakes when I was studying for the L set. So one of them was not realizing how long
the study process takes. And thank goodness. I found a program that backed it up six months,
but I would not have known that you were supposed to start studying in January for a July test. That
was news to me. I think the other mistake that I personally made too, was not factoring in,
like you said, the possibility of taking it a second time. So luckily I started early enough
so that I could take the LSAT a second time, but yeah, at the time I didn't factor in like
that extra studying time. And then the ability to take it again in September, October. And that was
a total game changer for me as well. Speaker 1 (05:23):
And the other thing that you brought up that really resonated with me
is sort of the trap that people fall into with wanting to take practice exams over and over
and over to kind of get that high of your, of your score and seeing it go up and up and
how that really sacrifices a lot of the heavy lifting that happens in between taking practice
exams. Cause I see that a lot with law students as well. And so I know you've been doing this
a long time. You've been an LSAC coach for many, many years. Is there anything about students that
are particularly successful other than not making these mistakes that you can kind of just see
inherently in them or in their attitude or their approach to the test that you think really helps
them kind of break out of the pack? Speaker 2 (06:08):
That is a fantastic question. Angela. I think that a lot of the students who are most successful,
they actually learn to love the process rather than seeing the LSAT as something unfair that
doesn't test anything important, trying to highlight the similarities between what you
see on the LSAT and what you'll actually be doing in law school drawing those parallels can actually
make the process weirdly kind of fun, even though obviously nobody wants to, nobody wants to be
doing this, but in reality, interpreting these arguments that you see on the LSAT,
seeing the fact patterns that you see in a logical reasoning question versus in law school,
it actually isn't that different. And if you can respect the exam for just how complex it actually
is, you'll end up doing a lot better. Speaker 1 (06:51):
Oh my gosh. I love that. I love, I love that energy and I love that approach. And if you had to
leave students who are about to start studying for the LSAT and begin that process with one piece of
advice, one takeaway, what would you tell them? Speaker 2 (07:07):
I would say what, well, the L set's important. It does not define you. It does not say anything
about what kind of lawyer you'll be, does not say anything about who you are as a person.
It's important. It does relate to law school, but it's simply a means to the end. It means to
an end. And so I hope that you take it rocket and move on with life. Not like me where I'm
still doing this. Speaker 1 (07:29):
Well, I just have to say that your students are so incredibly lucky to have you. You're an amazing
resource guys. I'm going to drop all of Steve's links in the description below. You can find
him on literally every social media platform. So definitely check out his stuff. And he's just so
full of amazing advice. Steve, thank you so much for being with us today. This was fantastic.
Speaker 2 (07:49): Thanks Angela. Pleasure to be with you.
Speaker 1 (07:50): And with that, that's it for this
week's video. If you haven't joined law school network, Facebook group, make sure to do that in
the link in the description and we will see you in the next video next week. All right guys. Bye.