From Wellesley College to Columbia Law: My Former LSAT Student Shares What She Wishes She Knew

Before You Take the LSAT

IG: @BeforeYouTaketheLSAT

How do I study for the LSAT while working full time?

Does mindset really matter when I'm studying for the LSAT?

Is being first generation an advantage?

My former student Liza is a first generation college student, professional and American. English is her second language. Liza, who served as a Fulbright in Taiwan, is trilingual, speaking both Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. She received her B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Wellesley College, where she focused primarily on counterinsurgency tactics and U.S. military strategy during the Iraq war.

In this episode, Liza shares how she overcame obstacles to increase her score. She conquered a plateau and ultimately fulfilled her dream of attending Columbia Law School.

Episode time stamps:

2:00 Role of luck vs hard work (Talking about Liza's family history)

4:45 Perspective on being first generation (Is being ESL a strength?)

7:37 Liza's outlook & mindset

8:27 Turning dream of attending Columbia Law into a reality (how to tackle large, overwhelming goals)

9:35 Methodical approach to applying to law school

11:17 What was the skillset that you wanted to improve and develop? How did you know you want to pursue a legal career?

14:15 Coming from an immigrant family, did your parents have strong opinions about which career path they wanted you to pursue?

14:45 Figuring out your own career path ("Why do you work so hard?")

16:00 Liza's response to those who doubted her abilities (How "Dreams from My Father" by Barack Obama inspired Liza)

19:18 Liza's LSAT journey

20:45 How was Liza able to balance working full time and studying? (Liza talks about how many hours she studied per day, how she scheduled her day, and how she ultimately decided to take one day off per week to avoid burnout)

22:05 How long did Liza study? (Liza shares how she would have approached the LSAT differently knowing what she knows now.)

22:40 How did Liza decide she wanted to do tutoring?

23:43 Why did Liza decide to work with Doreen? (The role of ambition in achieving your goals.)

25:15 What are some of the tools Liza learned in tutoring that allowed her to overcome stagnation and see an improvement in her score? highly recommend listening to this portion

27:22 Audience question: Any tips for first generation applicants feeling demoralized about the application process? (Keeping sight of your why, not just for the process and also for the application)

29:07 Motivation is a myth. ("I'm not just doing this for myself, but for my community at large")

29:57 Audience question: Liza's diagnostic score

30:05 Audience question: How long did it take for you to see progress?

30:22 Liza shares an hour by hour breakdown of her day in the life when she was studying for the LSAT and working full time!

31:58 The mindset required to do well on the LSAT and on Liza's legal journey so far. ("Mindset is everything")

33:29 How you talk about the LSAT matters. ("I've never said anything bad about the LSAT, ever.)

34:02 Studying during covid.

35:07 Applying to Columbia; why Columbia?

38:40 Liza's LSAT tutoring testimonial

39:50 Where to study

41:11 What do you wish you knew before you took the LSAT?

42:18 Navigating not having prelaw experiences on application

43-50 Audience Q&A (activities that helped Liza on her application; Fulbright; 46:00 approaching professors about LOR, Letters of Recommendation; 47:53 practice area; 48:24 how many years out of undergrad; 48:57 does age matter when applying to law school?)

50:15 Well-rounded applicant vs well-rounded class

50:55 How Liza approached her personal statement

52:52 Any resources or practical tips for prelaw students?

55:05 How would you have approached the LSAT differently knowing what you know now? Law school application?

56:15 What advice would you share with someone who's earlier on in their journey? (including book recommendations)

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beforeyoutakethelsat/support