There is an article today on MSN about taking the LSAT and advantages/disadvantages of each of the different administration dates.
I personally took the December test. There is an Air Force program where they choose about 7 or 8 people a year to go to law school on the AF's dime, and I decided at the very last minute to apply for it, meaning it was November or so, and I had to have LSAT scores and the application process completed by March 1. So, I marched right into the LSAT with absolutely no prep at all seeing as how (a) it was right after Sept 11th and I was working 12+ hours a day, EVERY day, including most weekends, and (b) I was in the middle of writing my thesis for my Master's degree and was trying desperately to get that done so I could hurry up and graduate and spend even MORE time at work. I don't even remember registering for the LSAT but I looked at an LSAT book I got from the library perhaps twice between that date and the date of the test. During the test I sat next to a girl with no less than 15 sharpened, yellow #2 pencils who told me before we started that it was her fourth time taking it. Everyone there was extremely tense and I felt totally incompetent for not having taken the preparation more seriously. At the end, when they tell you that you can elect not to have your test graded the girl with the pencils started crying and left. I guess the fourth time wasn't a charm for her, and I've always wondered why it was so important to her to keep taking it and if she ended up in law school somewhere. I did fine and even though I ended up deferring a year due to the fact that I didn't make it into the AF program, here I sit in the law school of my choice :)
I'm not sure what the point of this is, except that the same attitude I accidentally had towards the LSAT has actually served me pretty well in law school. I'm definitely a last-minute studying type person and I tend not to be stressed out about exams until roughly a day or two before when I realize I am wholly unprepared to write more than one sentence on the topic at hand. That's not to say that this is a good attitude, but it works for me. I also think the LSAT story (now that I ponder on it a bit) is sort of telling in terms of the few nagging issues I've had with law school. I have almost no tolerance for people who are stressed out all the time...I'm incredulous at some of the lengths people will go to in order to spin themselves up into an ever-increasing frenzy of anxiety...it is almost impossible for me to believe that the level of stress some people maintain is anything other than a conscious decision on their part. Anyhow, take this all with the usual grain of salt I guess, and good luck to at least one reader who I know has the LSAT upcoming!
