Matt Shinners, Author at LSAT Blog

Matt Shinners

Matt one time concussed himself by falling off of a goal post. Well, technically, the concrete concussed him, but many say it knocked some sense into him. He just thinks it was the right way to celebrate Boston College's victory over Notre Dame.
Matt was accepted to Harvard Law School despite a non-pre-med Biochemistry GPA mostly thanks to his 180 LSAT score. Have you seen the recent U.S. News and World Report rankings? You can thank Matt for that +.0001 bump in prestige.
When teaching a class, Matt likes to relate the LSAT to real life. Since his real life consists of amassing Transformer action figures and playing far too much Final Fantasy, we imagine that means you'll be discussing a lot of revenge motifs and searching for the Allspark. Matt assures us this will result in a solid understanding of the material and better human beings with +3 crystarium points.
After a heated office debate involving a hamster and a pint of grape kool-aid, dictionary.com confirmed that ''concussed'' is actually a word. Sorry, Riley.

Author Archive:

BPPshinners-lsat-blog-misconceptions-applying-law-school-veteran

Misconceptions About Applying to Law School as a Veteran

Happy Veterans Day to those of you who have spent time in the military. We here at Blueprint LSAT Prep cannot thank you enough for your service and dedication to keeping the rest of us safe. We have nothing but respect for you and the work you do.

It’s a small thing we can do here on the LSAT blog, but we’d like to take this opportunity to provide advice to those servicemen and women who will pursue a career in the legal field after their time in the military.

So let’s clear up some misconceptions about which I’ve been asked:

1) “My service might say something about my personal politics, so I should downplay that.”

BPPshinners-lsat-blog-october-lsat-test-takers-down-what-does-it-all-mean

blueprint / blueprint lsat / blueprint lsat prep / law school / law school admissions / lsac / LSAT / LSAT prep / lsat test / lsat test-taker / October LSAT

October LSAT Test-Takers Down 11%: What Does it all Mean?

We here at Blueprint LSAT Prep are shocked (SHOCKED!) to find that, yet again, the number of LSAT test-takers is down. Way down: 11% since last year, and 45% since the high of 2009. According to Law.com (and this handy chart provided by LSAC), this makes it 13 straight administrations with a decline in LSAT test-takers.

To put some numbers on it (and not just percents), 60,746 people took the 2009 October LSAT. That’s more than twice as many students as there were legal positions available (2.28 times as many, to be exact). This year, that number is down to 33,673 – or only 1.4 times as many LSAT test-takers as available legal positions! We call that progress, readers.

But what does it mean?

BPPshinners-lsat-blog-tricks-treats-2013-october-lsat

2013 october lsat / blueprint / blueprint lsat / blueprint lsat prep / lsac / LSAT / lsat curve / LSAT logic games / LSAT prep / lsat reading comprehension / LSAT Recap / most strongly supported / October LSAT

Unwrapping the Tricks and Treats of the 2013 October LSAT

The 2013 October LSAT was another one for the ages, dear readers.

Yesterday, LSAC released October LSAT scores, not mention the test itself. So now we can check our LSAT blog predictions and our 2013 October LSAT Instant Recap to see how well they captured the feel of the test.

First off, the 2013 October LSAT curve:

170 = -12
160 = -27
152 = -41

A pretty standard LSAT curve for a pretty standard LSAT.

BPPshinners-lsat-blog-caps-lock-law-school-personal-statement-advice

law school / law school admissions / law school personal statement

Law School Personal Statement Advice: CAPS LOCK EDITION

Today is NATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY, so go to town in the comments section. After all, how are people going to know that you are YELLING AT THEM THROUGH THE INTERNET if you haven’t utilized that oblong button sitting just next to your left pinky?

In reality, there are only four reasons to use the caps lock key:

1) Someone is WRONG ON THE INTERNET! And you have to set them straight.

2) You recognize that you are AN IDIOT AND WANT THE WORLD TO KNOW IT THROUGH YOUR TYPING.

3) You’re writing out the lyrics to Kenny Loggins’ DANGER ZONE.

4) You’re writing your law school personal statement.

BPPshinners-lsat-blog-tips-dating-interacting-lsat-prep

LSAT / LSAT advice / LSAT blog / LSAT prep / Study for the LSAT

Tips on Dating and General Interacting During LSAT Prep

We spend so much time focused on LSAT prep that we sometimes forget the people in our lives who suffer along with us. Not our classmates and study partners, but friends, family, and potential lovers.

That’s why reading this post on Yahoo! Answers is as enlightening as it is tragic. This young Romeo just wants to find his LSAT Juliet, but her study habits are keeping them apart. Hopefully hemlock isn’t involved.

So today, this post is for those of you out there who are dealing with someone prepping for the LSAT. It’s still going to be addressed to test takers, since if you’re not prepping for the exam, you probably aren’t reading this LSAT blog (and I don’t know why I’m still talking to you).

BPPshinners-lsat-blog-what-to-do-now-october-lsat-out-way

december lsat / law school / law school admission / law school application / letters of recommendation / LSAT / LSAT blog / lsat score / October LSAT / personal statement

What to Do Now That the October LSAT is Out of the Way

It’s time for everyone to take a collective sigh of relieve: The October LSAT is over. By most reports, it wasn’t particularly easy (though it was also pretty standard), so congrats on not passing out in the middle of it and cancelling your LSAT score (yes, there were reports of that happening).

For those of you prepping on the East Coast, you’ll be surprised to go outside and see the leaves changing colors. Yes, summer ended while you were buried under conditional statements, and fall is under way.

For those of you prepping on the West Coast, you’ll be completely unsurprised to go outside and see that it’s still perpetual summer. Enjoy your November tans while the rest of us start packing on that winter weight.

BPPshinners-lsat-blog-2013-october-lsat-predictions

blueprint / blueprint lsat / blueprint lsat prep / june lsat / LSAT advice / LSAT logic games / lsat logical reasoning / lsat predictions / LSAT prep / lsat reading comprehension / October LSAT / october lsat predictions

Matt Shinners’s 2013 October LSAT Predictions

October. The month of terrifying things. Ghosts. Zombies. Sparkly vampires. And the LSAT.

Whereas we know what to expect from those monsters, the LSAT is an unknown quantity, and thus most terrifying of all. Luckily, I’m here with my Ouija board and a bottle of Scotch to look into the future and see what awaits you all this weekend on the October LSAT.

2013 October LSAT Prediction I: Logic Games

The June LSAT Logic Games were fairly straightforward, except for one killer game. Even our mystery instructor who sat for the June LSAT was momentarily tripped up by it.

So what to expect after an average section with a hard game? A slightly harder than average section without any particularly hard game!

BPPshinners-lsat-blog-what-law-schools-look-for-lsat-writing-sample

law school / Lawyer / LSAT / LSAT advice / lsat test / LSAT writing sample

What Law Schools Look For in Your LSAT Writing Sample

Ah, the LSAT writing sample. You will never find a more wretched collection of half-formed arguments and poor writing. You should be careful.

Or not.

Because, in all honesty, it doesn’t matter very much.

The writing sample on the LSAT always evokes a feeling of dread from first-time LSAT test-takers. You’ve sat in a room for over three hours, nerves shot and caffeine headache pounding, with dozens of other students, many of whom haven’t showered in the past few days in order to maximize their study time. The last thing anyone wants to do is write an essay.

lsac / LSAT

LSAC Ofrece el LSAT en Español (en Puerto Rico)

¡Hola, amigos!

LSAC va a ofrecer el LSAT en español por la primera vez en el 8 de febrero, 2014. Si quiere tomar el LSAT en español, necesita viajar a Puerto Rico, porque es el único lugar donde se lo ofrece. Los resultados del exámen van a ser diferente que el LSAT inglés, pero el LSAC no ha revelado la escala. También, sus resultados solamente pueden ser usado para aplicar a las escuelas en Puerto Rico.

¿Por qué lo ofrece en español? Hay tres escuelas adentro Puerto Rico que actualmente usen el LSAT, pero estas escuelas enseñan las clases en español. LSAC cree que la versión española podría pronosticar grados del primer año mejor que el exámen en inglés. Si esa predicción se hace realidad, es posible que LSAC ofreciere el exámen en español más en el futuro.

aba / law school / law school admissions / law school applicants / LSAT

Despite Fewer Law School Applicants, Some Enrollments Up

The ABA Journal recently ran an article featuring a few law schools that have seen an increase in enrollments despite a decline in the overall number of applicants. That sounds like a Resolve question, so let’s take a look at some of the purported explanations.

First up comes the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Idaho, both of which attribute their increased enrollments to their relatively low tuition — $18K and $16K, respectively. However, the article doesn’t say if their tuition declined since last year, which would bolster the claim that they did something different this year to cause the increased enrollments. They also only cite in-state tuition, suggesting that it would only lead to an increase in enrollments of native Missourians/Idahoans rather than attracting new applicants from out of state.