Studying for the LSAT while in School: Would I Recommend It?

By RJ Edrolin

If you are Pre-Law or considering going to law school or just watched Legally Blonde, you 100% have heard about the LSAT. In the USA, everyone who wants to apply to an ABA-accredited law school must take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). The score you get, which is based on a scale of 120-180 (don’t ask me why it’s like that, I don’t know either), is a part of the application that you ultimately send to various law schools.

For those who don’t know, the LSAT is broken up into 35 minutes for each of the 4 sections, for a total of 2 hours and 20 minutes (excluding breaks) and 50 minutes for a Writing section. Each section of the test will either be Logical Reasoning or Reading Comprehension. Logical Reasoning sections usually have around 25 questions, each with a short passage to read. Reading Comprehension sections have 4 longer passages, each passage with a set of their own questions. Additionally, you have to submit a writing sample. This writing sample presents you with some sort of issue and you are tasked to write an argumentative essay about it in 50 minutes. So to put it lightly – it’s a lot. 

To start off, I began my LSAT journey back in June of 2024. During this time, I was a full-time intern and I quickly realized there was no way I would be able to study with a full-time job. On weekdays, I only had the capacity to study for a maximum of 2.5hrs before getting too tired to continue. Most of my studying would occur on the weekends and would consume at least 5 hours of my day. I not only felt physically and mentally burnt out, but I also felt like I wasn’t able to fully dedicate myself to this test as much as I wanted to.

This meant I would have to study during school. This went against almost all the advice on r/lawschooladmissions (which by the way, if you’re on that, please do your mental health a favor and get off). I was nervous for what my senior year would look like with this test constantly in the back of my mind. I wanted to have a fun senior year but at the same time balance this test and school. 

To cut to the chase: studying for the LSAT and doing school is hard. Especially if you are like me and have jobs, and extracurriculars, on top of prep, studying for the LSAT can be extremely stressful and overwhelming. Around August I hit a plateau with my score and sought out a tutor. If you are financially capable, I highly recommend getting a tutor. Not only do you get 1:1 help with your highest priority LSAT concerns, but you also have someone to keep you consistently accountable while you study. I also highly recommend my tutor, so please reach out if you are looking for one!

I finally took the test recently and looking back at it, if I have to be completely honest, I would not recommend studying for the LSAT during school. There are numerous reasons for why I wouldn’t recommend it. In a practical sense, your college GPA is considered when you apply to law school and I wouldn’t recommend risking your grades while simultaneously studying for this test. In a more sentimental sense, you only get to experience undergrad once – use this time to make memories with your friends, take those fun electives, etc. The LSAT will still be there after you graduate. 

However, everyone’s case is completely different. For example, my full-time internship during the Summer was about a 2-hour round-trip commute. If my commute was a lot shorter, I would’ve had more time to study for it. So, if you are someone who can manage it, then I 100% say go for it. Even though I wouldn’t recommend studying for it while in school, there are numerous unique and personal factors for why I wouldn’t recommend it that probably wouldn’t be applicable to you.

And even so, I still studied for the test during school and it wasn’t all too bad! However, if you have the option to not do it during school, I would highly recommend that you don’t. I know people who’ve taken time off after grad to study for the test for a few months, and some people who study for an entire year while working full-time. Regardless of how you approach your LSAT prep, it’s important to ask yourself how much you can really handle at the moment and create realistic expectations for yourself.