Picking the right law school is tough. You need to match your grades, LSAT score, geographic preferences, budget, etc. and even then… the law school may not be the right choice for you.
Law School Transparency has transformed the whole experience of finding the right law school. It is something that should have been created years ago. LST Reports Pro is a central hub that is designed to make one of the most important choices in your life, that much easier.
In case you haven’t heard of Law School Transparency, they are an organization that was started in 2009 to create greater transparency with law schools, as well as making it more affordable and fair. Kyle McEntee, one of the Co-Founders can also often be found writing about the latest trends in the Law School environment on AbovetheLaw.
They recently launched the LST Reports Pro module, which contains three tools to help you succeed in getting into the right law school:
- LST Wizard is a tool that creates a ranking of all ABA law schools “based on your personal career ambitions, debt aversion, and more”
- The Legal Career Compass is a psychological evaluation to assess your legal career fit (What practice areas you should think about pursuing, strengths, etc.).
- The “Ultimate LSAT Guide” powered by PowerScore – is a guide to preparing for the LSAT including a comprehensive FAQ covering the basics, Methods of Preparation and Advice.
Below, I’ve put a walkthrough in each module, if you’re interested in the program it costs $109 and well worth the money. They’ve even included a discount. Just use the promo code barexamstats and receive $20 off your order.
LST Wizard:
The LST wizard is your central location to find the right law school for you based off your job location, job preferences, LSAC profile, and financial expectations. They have compiled a ton of information from around the web, as well as requested job data directly from law schools to assist with the match. Below is a sample of what you would see on step 1. Notice the question of whether it is really important for you to work at a high prestige job is right at the top.
As you fill out your profile including things like how much you’re willing to pay each month on student loans, what sector you want to work, etc., the LST Wizard starts filtering out schools that are likely to not meet your goals. Once you’ve completed your profile you’re left with a truncated list of schools that you are likely to get into:
From there, you can dive into one of the profiles to see more in-depth data about that law school. In addition, you can turn over to the Finances tab, which will show how much debt you are likely to come out with, along with what your entry level salary must be to make your debt payments:
Note, you can revise with your personal projections to figure out how much it would cost you to attend that school.
The Legal Career Compass
The Legal Career Compass is one of the most fascinating products I’ve ever come across. Psychological self-
evaluations are very helpful to better understand yourself, including identifying tendencies, study habits, and more. LST has put together a comprehensive evaluation that is designed for anyone thinking of law school, in law school and trying to find a focus, or has just graduated and is still trying to figure out career paths.
The LCC maps out your legal career fit, and tells you what your learning style is, what you bring to the table as far as a cognitive superpower, along with identifying practice areas that may be of interest to you.
The Home Page:
The Legal Career Compass takes roughly 45 minutes to complete, and asks a series of non-law-related questions that are designed to pull out your learning style & tendencies. It is divided into two sections. The first section (taking roughly 30-35 minutes to complete) asks a series of non-law related questions, with no right answer. The goal is to pull out your subconscious tendencies and to learn more about who you are.
Sample Question:
The second portion of the test looks to measure your cognitive thinking ability, response time, etc., with a series of fun games (identify the next number in the sequence, pick the word in red, etc.). Overall the whole assessment was extremely fun and enjoyable, and I’m excited to share the results of my test.
My Results:
After going through the assessment, I couldn’t wait to see what the results were. I’ve made available my assessment results for anyone who wants to see what the final product looks like. The report is broken down into the following sections:
- Report Overview
- Distinctive Qualities (Taken from the Sheffield Legal Assessment)
- Cognitive Superpower
- Visual type & Go-To Behaviors
- Legal Trait Analysis
- Legal Career Fit & Detailed Fit Analysis
I do want to let everyone know, that over the last few years, I’ve taken a few similar assessments (due to leadership trainings, teambuilding etc.), of those, the legal compass by LST presents the information in one of the clearest I’ve seen.
The first thing that I loved was seeing my cognitive superpower. Amongst my colleagues I’m known as the mad scientist due to my creative solving problem powers and seeing me labeled as a Creative Storm definitely hits home.
Also, examining the area titled “Similarity by Practice Areas” benchmarks my traits against thousands of attorneys to see what practice areas I would likely be a good fit in. I found this area specifically hitting close to home. Even though I don’t actively practice in big-law anymore, I operate within PE and Corporate.
This assessment is definitely beneficial for anyone thinking of law school, already in law school, or a recent grad.
LSAT Preparation – by PowerScore
The LSAT Preparation module, is a complete guide and walkthrough of the LSAT (note, it isn’t a full LSAT prep course). It provides you with the basics, Methods of Preparation, and Advice. Think of it almost like an eBook, built into the website.
One of the top articles in my opinion was a section on what the gold standard features of any LSAT prep course (with no link back to their website). Overall, it was well written and provided some great insight into how to prepare for the LSAT.
Wrap-Up
If you are thinking about law school, you need LST Reports Pro. Although the website itself hosts a wealth of information, this service will save you time when you are trying to figure out what law schools give you the best chance of getting in, whether the school meets your financial goals, and more importantly whether there are any practice areas you should think about focusing on (the LSAT guide is just a bonus).
On the other hand, if you are in law school, or have recently graduated and are looking for guidance in your professional career, sign up and take the Legal Compass.
You can sign up here: (Use the promo code “barexamstats” and receive $20 off your order). Note, we do not receive any commission or compensation for this writeup.
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