Okay, we could have said “details,” but that’s kind of boring. “Ins and outs”? That’s a little better, but you are, after all, heading to law school, where you’ll be deluged with minutiae, or “small, minor details,” as it’s commonly defined, so why not? This section contains a combination of information and advice that answers common questions often asked by those new to the LSAT.

So who throws this LSAT shindig, anyway? It’s a group of people from Newtown, Pennsylvania, known as the Law School Admission Council, or LSAC. You can familiarize yourself with the entire LSAT universe at the LSAC website. We provide the essentials of the LSAT experience right here, but if you have additional issues just go to www.lsac.org and get your information right from the horse’s mouth. (That’s just an expression. The LSAT is not really written by horses.) If person-to-person communication is your thing, call LSAC with any questions at (215) 968-1001. You should also download a copy of the LSAT Information Book, which is chockablock with useful information. If your computer is on the fritz, you should be able to find a copy at any college career-counseling office.

The fastest way to register for the LSAT is to create an online account at www.lsac.org. The immediate advantage is that you can find out whether the testing center closest to you is available. Some testing centers fill up quickly, so you’ll want to register as early as you can to reserve a space in your testing center of choice. The last thing you need on test day is a three-hour journey into the unknown, so plan ahead. Other advantages of registering online include printing your LSAT ticket yourself instead of waiting for it in the mail, receiving your LSAT score early via e-mail, and quicker processing if you need to change your test date or test center. If you can’t register online, call LSAC at (215) 968-1001 to find out how to register by phone or mail.

Test dates and registration deadlines are listed on the LSAC website and printed in the LSAT Information Book. There’s a fee for late registration, and there is no walk-in registration on the day of the test. That is, you can’t just show up without a ticket and hope to sit for the exam. As of this publication, the LSAT registration fee is $123 in the United States, which is of course subject to change. Check the LSAC website for the most up-to-date information on test dates, fees, and registration policies.

There are hundreds of LSAT testing sites scattered throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia, not to mention many international locations, as well. However, not every test site is available for every LSAT administration. Go to www.lsac.org, click on “LSAT,” and check out the “Test Locations” and “Test Center Availability” links to find the location closest to you and to check whether it has space available on your preferred test date. If you sign up for a testing center, you may, for a fee, change it, provided you submit your request by the appropriate deadline and there is space in the center where you wish to take the test. If it is impossible for you to get to a test center and there are no available testing locations within 100 miles of where you live, you can request that LSAC create what they call a “nonpublished test center.” Information on this option can be found at the LSAC website and in the LSAT Information Book.

Beside the LSAT, LSAC’s other claim to fame is LSDAS, which stands for Law School Data Assembly Service. If you want to apply to American Bar Association–accredited law schools in the United States, you’ll need to register with LSDAS. LSDAS compiles all of the relevant application materials (your college transcripts, LSAT score, and letters of recommendation) into law school reports and sends them along to any law schools to which you apply. You don’t have to register for LSDAS at the same time that you register for the LSAT.

The LSAT is offered four times a year: February, June, October, and December. (The October exam occasionally falls in late September.) Most law school programs begin in the fall, so the best time to take the LSAT is usually the October before you wish to start. That gives you plenty of time to include your score in your applications, and even enough time to take the test again in December if need be and still start law school the following fall. But June or February may work best for you, depending on your timing. If you’re still in college, you can take it any time during your four-year undergrad experience, but most college students find the opportune time is June of their junior year or October of their senior year.

What if you’re unhappy with your score? You can take the test again if you think there is a significant chance that you’ll do better. Some schools average the scores of candidates who have taken the LSAT multiple times, and others simply take the highest score. If you’re concerned about how multiple scores will be handled by specific schools, contact them to find out their policies. You can also cancel your score immediately following the test or send a cancellation form to LSAC, which must be received within nine calendar days of the test. Canceling the day of the test is not recommended, considering that most test takers are in a bit of a daze following the ordeal and may not have the proper perspective to make that decision. Besides, you have more than a week to think about it, so you’re probably best off sleeping on it at least a couple of nights.

The LSAT universe is populated by “PrepTests”—actual LSATs sold by LSAC dating back to June of 1991. There are over 50 such tests, which means more than 5,000 real LSAT questions are available for practice. These tests are so important that we’ve gone and integrated actual questions from them into the content chapters of this book under the heading “The Real Deal.”

^{NOTE: The “Real Deal” practice questions are not included in the online version of this book.}

You’ll find them with Real Deal icons and citations telling you which PrepTests they’re from. This is to give you an appreciation of how the strategies and techniques we lay out in the book pertain to the actual kinds of questions you’ll see.

Of course, with such a mountain of practice materials available to you, it would be foolish not to make use of them. But there’s no reason to do 5,000 questions. Sure, if you have months to prepare and steadily work through every available PrepTest, you may get around to all that material. But simply getting through every available question won’t guarantee success on the test. Taking a practice test doesn’t mean anything unless you apply consistent strategies, reinforce solid approaches, and learn as much as you can from each correct and incorrect choice. This book was written to provide you with the framework you need to do just that. It will help you get as much as possible out of each PrepTest you take and reach your LSAT potential without having to burn through 50 or more practice tests. Because, let’s face it, you have better things to do.

The LSAT is an endurance test—a marathon, not a sprint. There are three and a half hours of actual testing, a 10-minute break in the middle, and plenty of administrative chores up front. Count on being at the test site for at least five hours; the LSAT Information Book advises budgeting up to seven hours for the entire experience. Many a promising test taker has been done in by fatigue, so keep in mind from the very beginning that stamina will be an issue. If you find yourself nodding off after two paragraphs of political analysis or current events, what do you think will happen when you’re faced with four paragraphs on Navajo weaving patterns, followed by three more reading passages equally as deadly, and five more entire sections on top of that? Do everything you can to increase your mental toughness and physical fortitude.

One thing you can do immediately is begin reading difficult text—often, and with intense concentration. Don’t sequester yourself in an air-tight, noise-free chamber to do this, because your testing center may be crowded and filled with distractions. Train yourself to concentrate on difficult material in difficult situations—on the bus, in crowded cafeterias, during loud gatherings, and so on. Read articles, editorials, and other analyses from the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, science magazines (for the dreaded Reading Comp science passage), and whatever other challenging prose you can find. Get your brain working, and keep it working throughout your preparation. Don’t neglect your physical being, either. Exercise helps the mind stay sharp and allows the necessary downtime for your brain to recover and process the information you’re learning. There’s no sugarcoating it: The LSAT dishes out some heavy-duty mental and physical punishment. You need to know that from the start so you can prepare for the battle.

No one can tell you what a “good” LSAT score might be—only you can decide that. But keep in mind that the only reason you take this test in the first place is to find yourself one day at a law school that will serve as a springboard to a satisfying legal career. Many schools and many scores are consistent with that goal. So while a 180 and a scholarship to Yale would be nice, that’s not your only ticket to future success and happiness. It’s a good idea to take a full practice test early on to see where you’re scoring at the beginning of your preparation and set realistic improvement goals from there. It’s fine to set your sights high, but setting them unrealistically high, especially in the beginning, could lead to frustration and impede your improvement. As Socrates implored thousands of years ago, “Know Thyself!” And he should know: Most law schools today employ the Socratic method, whereby professors grill students as mercilessly as Socrates grilled fellow citizens in the town square of Athens.