Friends, we live in Gmail now. I’m so excited you’re here.  

Thanks so much for subscribing to my newsletter! I can’t wait for regular chats 🙏

But first, let’s kick off our inaugural voyage with a reality check:

The LSAT humbles everyone. 

(Even me 😶)

Back in 2012, I was young and naïve. I’d just started teaching LSAT, but I was convinced somehow that I “just got it” in a way no one else did. I had just deferred Harvard Law for the first of three notorious times. 

I was 24 and thought I knew all the world’s mysteries of people, logic, and teaching. In reality, I’d only ever taught the LSAT to two people. (Hey 24-year-olds, you’re guilty too – don’t lie; we’re friends 🤗)

A few students later, I was tutoring Brittany. She’d already taken two prep courses, gotten other tutors, and read a bunch of books. She’d done all the stuff all her friends said she was supposed to do to “be done” in three months. But she was stuck in the high 140s at -14 LR. 

We were doing some LR at the picnic table that used to occupy my living room, and Brittany broke down sobbing. She kept repeating: “What are you doing that I'm not doing? I don't care what it is. I’ll do it. Tell me.” 

I didn’t know how to respond. At the time, I did not actually know that much about the LSAT. I didn’t know how to unstick anyone else's problems. I sat in abject panic until I blurted out: “Just come up with a necessary assumption on every question!” 

This is not something I knew would work. This is not even something that 10 minutes prior I knew at all. But somehow, in that moment of not knowing, I sensed an answer (or at least the start of an answer). 

Brittany immediately stopped crying. She said, “ok” like I hadn’t just met the edge of my own intelligence before being exposed as an impostor, but cool, all good. She actually did design a necessary assumption on every question in her homework. And when she came back, her score went up. This worked in days to fix the tears that took years to build. I was hooked. 

(Sidenote: This approach doesn’t completely work! Many stimuli don't have necessary assumptions at all! 😬😂 But this rudimentary system is what became the CLIR. Stuff like this is why it took SIX YEARS to write The Loophole.)  

Now, I’ve taught a lot of Brittanys. 

One student told me he’d cut off his right arm for a 175. He got a 176 and went to Georgetown Law (with both arms). 

Another couldn’t break out of the 150s and was convinced she was the one person my tutoring would fail. (She got a 174 and went to UChicago Law.)

Another student was a Fulbright scholar who told me, “The LSAT is the only thing that’s ever made me question my self-worth.” She got a 176 and went to Harvard Law.

If you’re feeling humbled by the LSAT, welcome to the club. 

A Math Test in a Foxhole 

The ways LSAT challenges us are as varied as we are who take it. But after 12 years of tutoring, one of the most consistent places people struggle is in how they think about their prep. 

Hard truth? You have to start planning your life around the LSAT, rather than planning the LSAT around your life. 

To get something you’ve never gotten, you have to do something you’ve never done. The score you want demands that you commit to your LSAT practice time before anything else. Everything else then filters around it. This is true when you’re doing well. This is also true when LSAT starts misbehaving and doing things you don't like (which it does, and it will). 

Make LSAT time consistent, and use a block schedule. Here’s what this looks like:

People tend to want to do LSAT as a checklist. If they know they need to do six sections by the time I see them next, many students will do nothing for six days, and then cram in all six sections the night before our session. Others might do LSAT daily, but they’ll slot it in when they “have time” at midnight.

This will not work. For your life. For your score. For anything. 

Do LSAT at the same time, every day. Be consistent:

• It steers you clear of the checklist mentality

• It helps you avoid the abyss

• It supports your LSAT muscle development

We are all sensitive to bad scores. But remember, Albert Einstein can’t do math in Mandarin. That doesn’t mean he’s not smart. You can’t do LSAT at 3 AM while you have COVID and are trying to update your insurance information over the phone. That doesn’t mean you’re dumb. 

It doesn’t mean you’re a victim. It doesn’t mean the LSAT is out to get you. It means you’re out to get you (sometimes). I don’t want you to be miserable. Or hate your life. Or hate the LSAT. 

If you want the 99th percentile, then you have to live the process of getting there.

Just use a block schedule, okay?  

This week, on TikTok

Yes, young starbeams. I’m on Tiktok. As of about 10 minutes ago. And I even bought a burner phone to do it 😎

Check out my very first video here (ahhhhhh!!)

@lsatellen

Hello hey hi!! #lsat #lsatprep #lawtok #lawtiktok

I’m so excited to write for you again, reader. I missed you. Thanks for being here. 

To relaxing thoughts,

Ellen