aurelius85 (2014-2015)

At the moment, I'm an Executive Assistant at an Intellectual Property law firm in Orange County. Before I worked in the Payroll industry and in the Hospitality industry (at a hotel). I have solid work experience, and I can attain letters of recommendation from my current boss (George Mason alum), a family friend (Notre Dame alum), all my internships, and a professor from my paralegal studies.

Although who knows how this may be interpreted on my law school application, I currently maintain a 3.96 GPA on my BSAD and Paralegal Certificate studies.

Internships:
1) Los Angeles Department of Consumer of Affairs
2) Los Angeles Superior Court
3) Los Angeles City Controller's Office
4) Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
5) United States Attorney's Office (I'm hoping, but it's still up in the air, this internship would be golden)

Volunteer work:
1) Grade School Library Tutor
2) Orange County Rescue Mission Tutor
3) Big Brother at Big Brothers Big Sisters
4) Catholic Charities of Orange County

Honestly, I wasn't prepared nor disciplined to succeed as an undergrad. I blame myself for not focusing, seeking help, working, and applying myself to my academics. But being the first one in my entire extended family to go to college, I slightly blame my high school and college counselors/teachers/professors for not showing me the fallacy of my ways. Nevertheless, I curse myself every day for my stupidity, and only hope I can get a chance to prove I can succeed in law school. Needless to say, I need to work my tail off to get into a decent school (Pepperdine, Loyola, Santa Clara are my target schools). Any and all help would be tremendously appreciated.

*The 160 is not my actual score, I just entered it because without it I couldn't register. I haven't taken the exam yet. The GPA however is accurate, I know...horrible.

10/12/13: I've begun preparing for the exam, actually I began in July. Right now, I've reviewed and completed the LSAT SuperPrep. I haven't taken any practice tests yet, but I will once I've completed the Logical Reasoning, Logic Games, and Reading Comprehension Bible's. Then I will proceed to Manhattan's LSAT Strategy Guides and hopefully finish those before summer of 2014. During the time I'm going through the Manhattan Strategy Guides, I'll be taking as many practice tests as possible. Finally, 2 months before I take the exam (whether that's in July or September/October 2014), I'll take a PowerScore class and hopefully that'll help me score in the low to mid 160s. Any tips?

03/24/14: So I've completed the LR and RC Powerscore Bibles and I'm working on LG. Although my timing is way off (3-5mins off what it should be), I feel very comfortable with RC. I usually do 1-3 problems a day and I read at least three articles from The Economist, Science Mag, and the New Yorker each day in order to sharpen my skills. The LR section is really challenging me though, even though I spent months on the Powerscore Bible, I feel very intimidated and lost on some of the LR questions I'm doing. As a result, I'm using Mike Kim's LSAT Trainer to break everything down for me. Hopefully within the next few months, I get a good handle on LR and I can begin to take prep tests. As far as LG is concerned, I'm 1/3 into the Powerscore Bible and I feel that although it's challenging, it's not impossible. All it requires is practice and dedication. At the moment I'm usually spending about 3-5 hours each day studying, 5-6 days a week. I don't feel burned out, but I do need way more sleep. Given my progress, I plan on finishing the learning phase of my prep by May or June, and then I'll begin taking Prep tests. In the fall, I plan on taking a Testmasters course that will definitely help me get into the 160s range, and next year I plan on hiring a tutor to get me into the 170s. Wish me all the best...

09/06/14: Well, it's taking me longer than I expected to really get the gist of LR and LG. I'm less than 200 pages away from finishing the Powerscore LG Bible. I think what's slowed me down has been working on LR and LG at the same time. That and all my other extracurricular activities: my internship with the DA and my volunteering. The good thing is that my year long internship with the DA ends this month and for the next year I plan on just studying, volunteering, and working. Nevertheless, my confidence is still not where I want it to be. I'm having trouble with my timing on the RC. So far I'm practicing with the Cambridge RC bundles and my timing fluctuates from the 9min to 13mins. Unacceptable! The good thing is that I'm understanding the structure and purposes of most of the passages I read. I guess my issue is trying to understand the passage too much at the expense of my time. I need to work on reading the passage efficiently, proceeding with confidence, and tackling the questions. Interestingly, the questions that trip me up usually involve inferring an author's position or finding an analogous match. I feel confident that with the Manhattan RC Guide and some more practice I'll be improving within the next 3-5 months. Hopefully by next year I've got it down cold. As I mentioned before, I'm still working on LG and although I'm behind, I feel pretty good about my understanding. I just completed Advanced Linear and Grouping Games and I found them straightforward and obvious. Granted, I haven't done a game under time constraints, but with more practice and exposure to games, I feel I can truly understand and get the hang of it. I purposefully left LR for last, not because it's the longest, but rather because it's going to be my Mt. Everest. However, after putting in lots of work and reading, I feel like I'm making progress. Not only am I understanding all the different flaws but I'm also improving on identifying the premises and conclusions. I definitely still need more practice but now I don't feel lost or frustrated. Well, that's my update...all the best to those still studying and drop me a line if you're interested in my trek to law school. Til next time.