There's no straight-forward way to prepare for a test like the LSAT, according to senior Anisha Yadav.
"You can't just study a bunch of material," Yadav said. "You have to know strategies."
Yadav, a communications and political science double major, took the Law School Aptitude Test, or LSAT, last Saturday at DePauw. But prior to walking into the Julian Science and Mathematics Center testing room, she spent three months studying.
"For me, that meant doing something literally every day, if I could," Yadav said.
Since a lot of students spend six months studying for the LSAT, Yadav, who plans to pursue a law degree in land usage or property rights, met with a one-on-one tutor from Kaplan every week. She also attended courses at Butler University.
The LSAT consists of two logic-reasoning sections, one logic games section, one reading comprehension section, one writing section and an ungraded experimental section. Since students have 35 minutes to complete each portion, Yadav worked with Kaplan to learn how to best approach the test.
"A typical question is, 'What is the underlying assumption, based on the author's conclusion from the passage,'" Yadav said of the test's logic-reasoning and reading comprehension sections.
Other questions normally found in those portions include what the author would most likely agree with, the main point of the passage and flaws of reasoning. The logic games section mainly focuses on hypothetical scenarios and if-then statements.
Yadav said that taking the LSAT was different from taking other standardized tests, since she felt like she had a shorter amount of time to answer.
Even so, Yadav enjoyed taking the test at DePauw since she had a lot of friends around her and the proctor made all the students feel comfortable.
"It's not as scary as people make it out to be," Yadav said.
Kate Hendrickson, a senior who also took the LSAT Saturday, agreed.
"Don't be scared. Just do it and see what happens," Hendrickson said of students interested in taking the exam. "My teacher said, 'Don't ever forget that you will be a lawyer. The LSAT won't be the end of the world.'"
Hendrickson, a double major in communication and English literature, said she found her class sponsored by Kaplan to be very helpful for preparation. She began preparing heavily in June and started the Kaplan class in July. The Law School Admission Council, or LSAC, said that students shouldn't even try to take the LSAT without at least 300 hours of studying.
"I would say that I exceeded that," Hendrickson said.
Hendrickson had to sacrifice some things, such as seeing her friends sometimes, in order to prepare for the LSAT.
However, studying helped her know what questions to expect on the exam. She said the LSAT is more predictable than other standardized tests.
"I was not surprised by any question I saw on Saturday," Hendrickson said.
Hendrickson was happy to be able to take the test at DePauw. She said she went into the room paying attention only to the test, and compared it to how she approaches softball.
"Being an athlete helped," Hendrickson said. "It's high pressure, but kudos to DePauw for getting me ready for that."
Erin Mahoney, the assistant director for professional opportunities, said that a lot of material goes into LSAT preparation, and the LSAT's content is specific in terms of what law schools are looking for.
Some students choose to self-prepare by purchasing test books. Others take advantage of free practice Kaplan exams, while others take classes over the summer.
"Those courses are fairly costly," Mahoney said of a factor that students consider while preparing.
Mahoney, who has been a room supervisor for the LSAT, thinks it is an individual decision on the student's part how much time they take to prepare for the LSAT.
"I don't know that there's a specific magic time for that," she said.
Ultimately, it's up to the students to decide how they will prepare, but the DePauw pre-advisors role is to supporting pre-law students as they pursue further education.