What to do After Taking the LSAT

Today's post is going to be about what to do after taking the LSAT.

Five hours later you exit the testing room. You think to yourself, "I'm free, I'm done with the LSAT!" then the horrible realization comes crashing down on you. "HOLY  &*#@?!## #$$$%^ how did I do? Did I mess up that logic game section? What section was the experimental section? Why the eff was there a circular logic game question? You frantically go to your car and grab your phone and check all the discussion posts from other test takers like yourself who frantically post how they think the test went. You constantly think about this on the drive home and late at night before you go to sleep only to wake up and think about your performance on the LSAT all over again. Taking the LSAT is the best, right??!!! After a couple days you finally feel like yourself. The anxiety and nausea have temporarily subsided. Now, what do you do?

I don't think that there is anything worse than waiting for your LSAT score. I hope that LSAC will have something in the future where you can get your score instantly. It's really a bunch of bull*&$# that we have to wait for three weeks for that stupid icon to go grey. UGH. Grey day, am I right? If you are anything like me you are constantly refreshing your LSAC LSAT page hoping that the icon changes to grey. I have noticed that LSAC has been emailing scores either at 11 PM or even midnight or later on the day that the scores are supposed to come out. So what should you be doing while you are waiting for your scores to come out?

1) TAKE A BREAK!! You are probably super burnt out from studying for the LSAT. That extra week off is not going to make a difference in your score and your score probably won't even increase if you study for that extra week. I have heard from different people that a significant amount of time off actually will do wonders for your score. That was the case for me as well. Sometimes, your brain needs a rest. Make sure you take a break and do something fun. Binge watch The Bachelor/Bachelorette, go hiking, go to the beach, read a good book or take a cooking class. Do something that is unrelated to the LSAT. Ladies, get your nails done. I don't know about you but I feel so pampered and so wonderful after getting my nails done. For myself, it is the perfect post LSAT treat. Start studying for the LSAT again only when you feel well rested and you are motivated to start studying again.

2) Keep taking practice tests- After you are well rested from your break, make sure you continuously keep doing practice tests. It would be a shame if you end up having to retake the LSAT again and then come to find out that your logic game skills have atrophied. Make sure you do at least one practice test a week to keep your skills sharp until you get your LSAT score back.

3) Touch up your application/ write your personal statement- For me, this is the perfect time to polish my application and perfect my personal statement. For starters, you are not worried about taking the LSAT and can dedicate your full attention to your application. Besides your GPA and your LSAT score, your personal statement is the most important aspect in your application.

4) Narrow Down Which Schools to Apply to- Since you have been taking practice tests you should have a general range/idea on what your LSAT score will probably be. If you haven't already you should be thinking about what schools you will be accepted to and what ones to apply to. On the LSAC website, there is a link where you can input your LSAT score and your GPA and it will give you your chances of being accepted to that particular school. You should have already done this, but if not now is the perfect chance to go ahead and do so. Once you narrow done your choices you should start an application for that school and fill out your biographical information and choose what letters of recommendation you would like to use. Do this now, so that you don't have to do this later.

5) Last Minute Annoyances- What I mean by this is to tie up any loose ends you might have. Make sure that you submit all transcripts from every college you have ever attended. You know that one summer where you took a community college class and goofed off the whole time and ended up getting a D. Yeah, your school is going to want that transcript- even if it was one class or even if you didn't graduate from the institution.

Take a look at your credit score, do you have anything in collections? Have you been making your credit card payments on time or late? What about any arrests, traffic tickets, honor code violations you might have made? Depending on the law school, you might have to disclose everything. Now is the perfect time to work on your character. When you apply for the bar, you need to pass the Character and Fitness part of the application or you can't sit for the bar. If you can't sit for the bar that means, three years of law school down the drain. What a waste that would be. If you have been making late credit card payments, now is the time to pay it on time. If you have something in collections, contact them and start a repayment plan as soon as possible. Even if it is a couple dollars a week, you are still repaying that debt and showing that you can be trusted financially.

This actually happened to me, I signed up with Credit Karma to check my credit score and saw that I had something in collections. I was really weirded out by that and started to investigate it. Turns out this was from 2013 when I lived with a roommate. She didn't return our cable equipment and my name was the primary one on the account. I got charged $673 and it is sitting pretty in collections. Oops. As soon as I saw that I started a repayment plan. I do have to pay this back because it was under my name. Even if it was not my fault. If you do this, make sure you keep copies of your bank statements that details what you repaid each month.

Something that I have learned the hard way is to be very careful about who you share a lease with. Or any financial responsibility that you share with someone. Something to remember is: if you live with a roommate, make sure their name is on the lease. I had the worst experience with a roommate and my credit was affected. I moved out of an apartment that I shared with my friend and moved back in with my parents. My name was still on the lease at this time. I was weirded out by my living situation because of my roommate. She wasn't able to pay rent on time and unfortunately, we got an eviction notice. I was not able to cover her half of the rent, because it was a significant amount of money. Eventually, my landlord did get the full amount and the eviction went away. I thought it would be best to move out of the apartment and back into my parent's house. My roommate found another roommate to live with, but the new roommate refused to put her name on the lease, so my name was still on the lease even though I wasn't living there at the time. So you guys guessed it, my old roommate couldn't afford to pay her half of the rent and the new roommate completely moved out. She technically didn't have any financial responsibility because her name wasn't on the lease. So my old roommate got an eviction notice and moved out of the apartment. This is the same roommate who did not return our cable equipment. So imagine my surprise when I got a court summons in the mail at my parent's house for our apartment complex. Seriously, you guys biggest mistake I have ever made!!! I contacted my old roommate and she said that she was working on a payment plan, but I have not heard anything from her since then. Our apartment complex totally shut down and the collection agency is nonexistent. I need to find out if any payment has been paid and what I need to do..... Learn from my mistakes and make sure that who you are living with is legit.****

Because I was not responsible or careful with who I lived with I have an eviction on my record and something in collections. Beware you guys!

 If you have something worse on your record *cough criminal then make sure you do volunteer work, have a stable job, anything that you can do to show that you are a morally fit person. There are other resources for problems like this online. Also, make sure that what you put on your law school application is 100% truthful. Remember that shoplifting incident you had when you were 15? Yes, you need to disclose that even if you were a minor and your case was sealed and destroyed. If the law school application says to only disclose incidents that happened once you turned 18, I don't think you need to disclose that unless they specify. (Make sure you double check this)

 Lastly, if you are accepted to a school make sure that you give your employer at least a thirty-day notice or longer. You are going to be needing them for a reference. You can not afford to burn any bridges right now. Who knows they may come in handy when you need a summer internship or maybe a part-time job when you have a break from law school.

Well, that's it for now. Hope it is grey day soon! ✊