Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Recouping and regrouping
Where to begin? Obviously, Hurricane Katrina has caused some major disruptions to our lives. We're doing well, relatively speaking. Everything is still up in the air, however. We aren't sure when we'll be allowed back to New Orleans, or what we'll do once we can go. Life is going to be a mess in the city for a long time to come. My prediction is that the goal will be to be at some rudimentary level of functionality by Mardi Gras and it will be one of the most memorable, energetic Mardi Gras ever. Anyway, for now, we'll stay here in Minnesota until we have more information or a time table for returning. As a side note, we went to see "The Constant Gardener" last night... after seeing the mess in New Orleans, it's no great stretch of the imagination to believe everything shown in the movie is just the tip of the iceberg of what happens in reality. If you find yourself feeling too good about the world as a caring and just place, I would recommend seeing it...
On the LSAT front.... I was able to continue my prep class by transfering to another class offered by the same company in Minneapolis. The only problem is that this class is held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Saturdays and it's an hour and a half drive. With the cost of gas recently, that means an additional $200 (at least) just to get to the class on top of the $1000+ we origionally paid. However, I still feel it is worth the cost. We had our final two practice tests these past two weekends and I scored a 170 (even after arriving 15 minutes into the first section) and a 172. Previous to the class, I was averaging closer to 165. These next two weeks will be extemely busy. I have class on Tuesday and Thursday and and then, there is a Law School Forum in Chicago this weekend that I am driving down to. After that, it will be all studying and timed take-home practice tests. I do feel like I'm ready to take the test now, but the outcome will hinge on the Logic Games section. If I can get all four set-up correctly and efficiently, I know I can duplicate my practice scores. I guess that makes sense and would again be obvious to anyone else preparing for the LSAT.
Finally, I have narrowed down my list of schools that I'm planning on applying to to twelve schools. Following this Forum this weekend, that list may change and depending on how the test goes, it may change again. For now, I'm pretty comfortable with the list and feel I will have a legitimate shot at all the schools on it. I followed the advise of picking two "reach" schools, five "target" schools, and three "safety" schools". Since I'm expecting to be a "splitter" (lower GPA and higher LSAT), I'm applying to more schools than most people usually do. Also, I've asked for letters of recommendation from one of my previous employers and plan on speaking with the second previous employer tomorrow. I won't be able to get a true academic LOR since I've been out of school for 7+ years already and I'm pretty sure none of my professors would be able to add anything useful to my application even if they did remember me. Well, time to do some Logically Reasoning.... hopefully I can squeeze one or two more correct anwers out of these sections as well!
On the LSAT front.... I was able to continue my prep class by transfering to another class offered by the same company in Minneapolis. The only problem is that this class is held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Saturdays and it's an hour and a half drive. With the cost of gas recently, that means an additional $200 (at least) just to get to the class on top of the $1000+ we origionally paid. However, I still feel it is worth the cost. We had our final two practice tests these past two weekends and I scored a 170 (even after arriving 15 minutes into the first section) and a 172. Previous to the class, I was averaging closer to 165. These next two weeks will be extemely busy. I have class on Tuesday and Thursday and and then, there is a Law School Forum in Chicago this weekend that I am driving down to. After that, it will be all studying and timed take-home practice tests. I do feel like I'm ready to take the test now, but the outcome will hinge on the Logic Games section. If I can get all four set-up correctly and efficiently, I know I can duplicate my practice scores. I guess that makes sense and would again be obvious to anyone else preparing for the LSAT.
Finally, I have narrowed down my list of schools that I'm planning on applying to to twelve schools. Following this Forum this weekend, that list may change and depending on how the test goes, it may change again. For now, I'm pretty comfortable with the list and feel I will have a legitimate shot at all the schools on it. I followed the advise of picking two "reach" schools, five "target" schools, and three "safety" schools". Since I'm expecting to be a "splitter" (lower GPA and higher LSAT), I'm applying to more schools than most people usually do. Also, I've asked for letters of recommendation from one of my previous employers and plan on speaking with the second previous employer tomorrow. I won't be able to get a true academic LOR since I've been out of school for 7+ years already and I'm pretty sure none of my professors would be able to add anything useful to my application even if they did remember me. Well, time to do some Logically Reasoning.... hopefully I can squeeze one or two more correct anwers out of these sections as well!
