I have a confession.
When I'm bored, I like to lurk around some LSAT message boards/forums. I know what my non-LSAT friends are thinking: "What kind of sick freak spends his time reading posts by stressed out standardized test takers?" But perhaps you're one of the many participants on these message boards - trying to gain some insight into the LSAT. If you are, I'd like to give you a little warning.
Despite the attitudes of some "veterans" of those LSAT forums, most of the drivel that gets spilled out is pure speculation. And much of what is said on there is just plain, dead wrong. But as soon as you try to point out some mistaken ideas on there, you'll get a lot of these know-it-alls challenging you with flawed arguments. I shudder at the thought of these people becoming lawyers. And as tempting as it may be to heed the advice of these "geniuses," DON'T.
Here's one fallacy that makes its rounds around the LSAT forums quite regularly: "The LSAT is an IQ test."
You'll see this topic pop up every quarter as exasperated students studying for the LSAT try to come to terms with why they're not scoring as high as others. Some on these boards willfully encourage this fallacy knowing the truth to be the opposite. Machiavellians hope that the misguidedly hopeless will set the curve a little lower.
Here's the truth: The LSAT is NOT an IQ test. How high you score on the test is not based on how high your "IQ" is. (BTW, the IQ test is highly overrated and inaccurate depending on which exact test and scoring methods are used...but that's for another post some other day...)
I'll tell you what the LSAT really is. The LSAT tests three (3) things:
1) Logic - LSAT logic
2) Reading - fast and accurate reading skills necessary
3) Focus - psychological focus
The beauty of this test is that you can be the dumbest blockhead on the planet and still score quite high because these three skills can be acquired by anybody. All it requires is proper training and proper practice. Some may be able to study on their own and have no problem achieving the score they want. Others may require the helpful hand of a knowledgeable teacher who can how to properly guide the student to get the score they desire.
If you do decide to use a teacher/tutor, make sure that your teacher is qualified and knows how to teach. Just because I scored 180 on the LSAT does not mean that I know how to get you to score 180 as well. Make sure you check my references and proven results in boosting students' LSAT scores.
I firmly believe that with the proper training and enough time to practice to perfection, Forrest Gump can score in the 99th percentile. Let this thought be encouraging to the hopeful and humbling to the boastful.
