John Bennett

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Following Blogs: 13

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LSAT Statistics: How many people take the LSAT?

John Bennett posted an article on - Feb 9, 2012, 1:03 pm
In case you want to know more about the numbers behind the LSAT, Zen of 180 has a whole section devoted to analyzing LSAT statistics. In today's post, we'll take a quick look at the changes in the number of people who sit for an LSAT. The graph pretty much speaks for itself, but it's interesting to...
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Week before February 2012 LSAT

John Bennett posted an article on - Feb 3, 2012, 11:47 am
In case you haven't already planned out the week before you take the LSAT, I wanted to repost my suggestions for what worked for me to stay calm and focused. Such a personal goal will obviously be subject to personal preference, so take these as a friendly-suggested checklist. If you've already star...
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New Online LSAT Tutor and Rates

John Bennett posted an article on - Jan 30, 2012, 7:23 pm
We're very excited to announce that Zen of 180 has added a new tutor to increase the choices you have in utilizing the Zen system while you prepare for the LSAT! Mr. Robinson is current Harvard Law school student who also happened to score a perfect 180 on his only LSAT test date in 2009. Just lik...
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LSAT Analyzer updated with PrepTest 65

John Bennett posted an article on - Jan 27, 2012, 5:02 pm
In case you haven't tried our free, online LSAT self study tracker, we've updated to a version where you can input your answer data from all of the official LSAT PrepTests 19-65. The analyzer will then track your performance (no need for a complicated Excel document) and prioritize the Zen task s...
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June 2012 LSAT: Time to Start Prep

John Bennett posted an article on - Jan 23, 2012, 9:00 am
If you're preparing for the June 2012 LSAT and haven't yet tried out our free online LSAT tracker, now is a great time to start.  We've also updated our LSAT prep calendar--the Google Calendar gadget towards the top of the right side-bar--for the June 2012 test takers, which you'll see has our clie...
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Post October 2011 LSAT: PrepTest 64 Scale Score Graphs

John Bennett posted an article on - Oct 26, 2011, 2:16 pm
The October 2011 LSAT scores were emailed earlier this week, so we hope that you end up with the score you wanted (what should you do now?)! If you didn't, read up on our advice for retaking the LSAT. Also, if you've somehow managed to get your hands on the PrepTest, you can already analyze your acc...
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Post-October 2011 LSAT (What now?!)

John Bennett posted an article on - Oct 4, 2011, 9:00 am
Two days ago, I took the October LSAT for the last time ever. * Cue celebratory jig * The week before the test, my body decided to throw a little coup d’état on me. At the beginning of the week, I had many different and conflicting symptoms, which was confusing and upsetting, to say the least. I...
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LSAT PrepTest Score Analyzer Live!

John Bennett posted an article on - Sep 28, 2011, 2:30 pm
In case you haven't tried our free, online LSAT self study tracker, we've updated to a version where you can input your answer data from all of the official LSAT PrepTests 40-63. The analyzer will then track your performance (no need for a complicated Excel document) and prioritize the Zen task sta...
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Analyzer will be Down (and Updated) this Evening

John Bennett posted an article on - Sep 26, 2011, 9:00 am
For those of you who haven't yet seen our free LSAT score analyzer, today is your last chance to do so. By Tuesday morning, we should have the new version up and running, with the ability to time, categorize, analyze, and track your LSAT performance for any real LSAT from PrepTests 40 to 63. We'll ...
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Week before October 1, 2011 LSAT

John Bennett posted an article on - Sep 20, 2011, 3:50 pm
In case you haven't already planned out the week before you take the LSAT, I wanted to repost my suggestions for what worked for me to stay calm and focused. Such a personal goal will obviously be subject to personal preference, so take these as a friendly-suggested checklist. If you've already star...
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T-minus 1.5 months to October 2011 LSAT

John Bennett posted an article on - Aug 24, 2011, 4:48 pm
A lot of people who self-study for the LSAT prepare the same way throughout their training regimen. While they may vary the amount of their practice—as evidenced by people bragging on forums about how in their LSAT prep schedule, they took one real test a day for a month leading up to the test—m...
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Halfway Point to October 2011 LSAT

John Bennett posted an article on - Jul 29, 2011, 12:45 pm
The following post is part of a series from one of our LSAT tutoring clients. You can read about their experiences by clicking on the "Zen Journal" label above.For those of us who are preparing to take the October test, we are almost to the half way point. Those few days at the end of every month th...
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Focus on Logical Reasoning in LSAT Prep

John Bennett posted an article on - Jul 15, 2011, 9:54 am
The following post is part of a series from one of our LSAT tutoring clients. You can read about their experiences by clicking on the "Zen Journal" label above.The time has come for a full onslaught of logical reasoning. I’ve always had mixed feelings about this section. On the one hand, LR is not...
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October LSAT Grind

John Bennett posted an article on - Jul 8, 2011, 9:41 am
The following post is part of a series from one of our LSAT tutoring clients. You can read about their experiences by clicking on the "Zen Journal" label above.The good news is that I haven’t had another LSAT nightmare since the first one I wrote about. The bad news is that last week, while I was ...
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Three Months Until October 2011 LSAT

John Bennett posted an article on - Jul 5, 2011, 7:18 am
The following post is part of a series from one of our LSAT tutoring clients. You can read about their experiences by clicking on the "Zen Journal" label above.There’s less than 3 months to the actual LSAT in October and the anxiety is starting to creep into my daily routine. My partner is in feve...
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June 2011 LSAT, PrepTest 63 Raw Score to Scale Score Conversion

John Bennett posted an article on - Jul 1, 2011, 12:56 pm
The June 2011 LSAT scores were emailed earlier this week, so we hope that you end up with the score you wanted! For everyone else, you can still benefit from the graphs we've got showing how the raw score translates into the 120-180 scale score, and what people mean when they ask "Was it a hard or e...
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Post-June: Should You Retake the LSAT in October?

John Bennett posted an article on - Jun 28, 2011, 5:52 pm
It's that time of year.  It comes around in early March and July and again in late October and December.  Thousands of people around the world start asking themselves "Should I retake the LSAT?" What people rarely realize, though, is that many thousands more are asking themselves another question,...
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Settling into an LSAT Routine

John Bennett posted an article on - Jun 24, 2011, 1:22 pm
The following post is part of a series from one of our LSAT tutoring clients. You can read about their experiences by clicking on the "Zen Journal" label above.The doldrums of summer rains has come to Boston; cold and rainy weather, combined with too much florescent lighting at my workplace, has aff...
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Getting over LSAT Mental Roadblocks (and Nightmares)

John Bennett posted an article on - Jun 18, 2011, 10:25 am
The following post is part of a series from one of our LSAT tutoring clients. You can read about their experiences by clicking on the "Zen Journal" label above.My second week of tutoring started off with a BANG (hey - I’m trying my best to make LSAT prep sound dramatic and exciting)! I met Mr. Ben...
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Mobile Version from Blogger

John Bennett posted an article on - Jun 10, 2011, 11:11 am
Blogger finally got on the ball and updated its services to point mobile devices to a mobile version of Blogger created material; I've been pining over Wordpress' beautiful mobile iterations for almost a year. It's a good first crack at a universal transfer, and for the pricetag, it's hard to compla...
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Choosing the LSAT because of the Law

John Bennett posted an article on - Jun 3, 2011, 4:31 pm
The following is the first blog post from one of our Zen students who is preparing for the October 1, 2011 LSAT. You'll be able to read about their experiences throughout the summer. You can also contact us if you'd like to sign up for online or in-person Boston LSAT tutoring.This is my first blog p...
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Week before June 6, 2011 LSAT

John Bennett posted an article on - Jun 1, 2011, 2:26 pm
In case you haven't already planned out the week before you take the LSAT, I wanted to repost my suggestions for what worked for me to stay calm and focused. Such a personal goal will obviously be subject to personal preference, so take these as a friendly-suggested checklist. If you're prepping for...
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Time to Start Thinking About October, 1 2011 LSAT

John Bennett posted an article on - May 23, 2011, 1:18 pm
While the June test takers should be getting ready to be getting ready for the week before their LSAT date (...!) it's time for those thinking about taking the October 1, 2011 LSAT to get cracking. We still have the larger Zen calendars floating around the blog, but we're phasing it out for the simp...
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Time to Change Study Mode for June 6, 2011 LSAT

John Bennett posted an article on - May 7, 2011, 9:46 am
If you're following the Zen Self-Prep Calendar for the June 2011 LSAT, you know to start endurance practice this upcoming week. Merging your personal Google calendar to our public one is the first step to making your you’re on track for the LSAT, and that you’re differentiating your practice to...
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LSAT, Taxes, and Zen Data Visualization

John Bennett posted an article on - Apr 27, 2011, 10:43 am
In case you couldn't tell, I'm a pretty big geek. As a more-verbal-acuity-inclined person, I have a healthy respect for those who are fluent in manipulating numbers and a love for well-designed graphical presentation. In the process of updating the online LSAT analyzer to track your accuracy and ...
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Update on Flowcharts for Law School Outlines

John Bennett posted an article on - Apr 23, 2011, 12:21 pm
One of our readers thankfully pointed out another free online tool for creating flowcharts. Although gliffy.com still holds a place in my heart for its more professional look, lucidchart.com takes my (free) business because its offers a much larger capacity and some key, simple features. Quick compa...
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Game 4: September 2009 LSAT, PrepTest 58 Section 3

John Bennett posted an article on - Apr 21, 2011, 4:32 pm
If you're looking for free interactive explanations for LSAT logic games, you've come to the right place. This game is from PrepTest 58, which was administered in September 2009. The pencast form is pretty good for showing how a 180 LSAT test-taker attacks the logic games section and has 15 minutes ...
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Law School Outlines or Flowcharts?

John Bennett posted an article on - Apr 18, 2011, 9:00 am
It's that time of year when many of us law students are creating outlines, forming study groups, and answering practice exam questions. Oh yes, if you're preparing for the June 2011 LSAT, don't think you're off the hook once you get in. I just wanted to share a quick and free online tool that I've f...
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Game 3: September 2009 LSAT, PrepTest 58 Section 3

John Bennett posted an article on - Apr 11, 2011, 8:57 am
If you're looking for free interactive explanations for LSAT logic games, you've come to the right place. This game is from PrepTest 58, which was administered in September 2009. The pencast form is pretty good for showing how a 180 LSAT test-taker attacks the logic games section and has 15 minutes ...
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Time to Change Tactics for June 2011 LSAT

John Bennett posted an article on - Apr 9, 2011, 9:30 am
If you're following the Zen Calendar for the June 6, 2011 LSAT or are thinking ahead to the September 2011 LSAT, this post will help answer your questions--maybe before you even know to ask them! Merging your personal calendar to our public one is the first step to making your you’re on track for ...
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Updating the Zen Blog and LSAT Analyzer

John Bennett posted an article on - Apr 6, 2011, 12:43 pm
These are exciting times at Zen of 180! We only have a few LSAT tutoring spots left open for the June 2011 LSAT, we'll be expanding the analyzer to including timing and all the PrepTests with the help of JG Visual, and we're working on a new logo/header with le petite elefant. Also, we should have ...
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Game 2: September 2009 LSAT, PrepTest 58 Section 3

John Bennett posted an article on - Apr 1, 2011, 9:00 am
If you're looking for free interactive explanations to LSAT logic games, you've come to the right place. This game is from PrepTest 58, which was administered in September 2009. The pencast form is pretty good for showing how a 180 LSAT test-taker attacks the logic games section and has 15 minutes t...
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Contrapositive: Fair Use of Rastafarians?

John Bennett posted an article on - Mar 25, 2011, 12:51 pm
If you aren't at all interested in fair use doctrine for copyrights... On left is Patrick Cariou's original photograph, one in a series of Rastafarians. On right is Richard Prince's appropriation art and his justification for the transformative prong of the fair use doctrine.Should a well-known app...
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Game 1: September 2009 LSAT, PrepTest 58 Section 3

John Bennett posted an article on - Mar 23, 2011, 12:47 pm
If you're looking for free interactive explanations to LSAT logic games, you've come to the right place. This game is from PrepTest 58, which was administered in September 2009. The pencast form is pretty good for showing how a 180 LSAT test-taker attacks the logic games section and has 15 minutes t...
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HLS Spring Break Video Challenge

John Bennett posted an article on - Mar 15, 2011, 1:28 pm
HLS is on spring break! Nothing like the Boston sun in March... To spice up the only post for this week, anyone who leaves a comment describing the import of each video below will receive a free hour of online LSAT tutoring. We offer free tools for LSAT self-study and the law school admissions pro...
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Game 4: June 2009 LSAT, PrepTest 57 Section 1

John Bennett posted an article on - Mar 9, 2011, 9:00 am
If you're looking for free interactive explanations to LSAT logic games, you've come to the right place. This game is from PrepTest 57, which was administered in June 2009. The pencast form is pretty good for showing how a 180 LSAT test-taker attacks the logic games section and has 15 minutes to spa...
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2011-2012 Law School Application Cycle

John Bennett posted an article on - Mar 7, 2011, 9:00 am
If you're thinking about taking the June 2011 LSAT and want some tutoring help, we have some open spots left! Today we'll outline all the steps you should be taking for the June 6 test date, as well as for the 2011-2012 application cycle. If you haven't already done so, you should definitely be taki...
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Dinosaur Game: June 2009 LSAT, PrepTest 57 Section 1

John Bennett posted an article on - Mar 2, 2011, 9:00 am
If you're looking for free interactive explanations to LSAT logic games, you've come to the right place. This game is from PrepTest 57, which was administered in June 2009. The pencast form is pretty good for showing how a 180 LSAT test-taker attacks the logic games section and has 15 minutes to spa...
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Understand your LSAT Raw Score to Scale Score Conversion

John Bennett posted an article on - Feb 28, 2011, 9:00 am
The February 2011 LSAT scores should be emailed sometime this week, so we hope that you end up with the score you wanted! For everyone else, you can still benefit from the graphs we've got showing how the raw score translates into the 120-180 scale score, and what people mean when they ask "Was it a...
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Logic Game 2: June 2009 LSAT, PrepTest 57 Section 1

John Bennett posted an article on - Feb 21, 2011, 9:00 am
If you're looking for free interactive explanations to LSAT logic games, you've come to the right place. This game is from PrepTest 57, which was administered in June 2009. The pencast form is pretty good for showing how a 180 LSAT test-taker attacks the logic games section and has 15 minutes to sp...
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What should I be doing for the June 2011 LSAT?

John Bennett posted an article on - Feb 19, 2011, 10:06 am
We've already discussed the Zen of 180 overarching approach to LSAT self-prep, including the distinct phases of pre-study, diagnosing, self-correcting, practice, and endurance. If you're self-prepping for the June 2011 LSAT, we suggest you should have started your calendar last week. If not, don't w...
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June 2009 LSAT, PrepTest 57 Section 1, Logic Game 1

John Bennett posted an article on - Feb 15, 2011, 8:12 pm
If you're looking for free interactive explanations to LSAT logic games, you've come to the right place. This game is from PrepTest 57, which was administered in June 2009. The pencast form is pretty good for showing how a 180 LSAT test-taker attacks the logic games section and has 15 minutes to sp...
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Zen Student Journal - Why Online LSAT Tutoring?

John Bennett posted an article on - Feb 9, 2011, 5:36 pm
The following is the first journal entry from an online tutoring client for the February 2011 LSAT. She's currently in Pakistan, working for democratic reform. The Internet is pretty darn cool. You can also read all the previous entries in the full Zen Student Journal.Towards the very end of my LSAT...
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Week before February 12, 2011 LSAT

John Bennett posted an article on - Feb 7, 2011, 9:46 am
In case you haven't already planned out the week before you take the LSAT, I wanted to repost my suggestions for what worked for me to stay calm and focused. Such a personal goal will obviously be subject to personal preference, so take these as a friendly checklist. If you're prepping for the June ...
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Next Step in LSAT Data Analysis

John Bennett posted an article on - Feb 4, 2011, 9:00 am
In case you haven't heard, we also have an LSAT analyzer that will tell you what parts of the test you need to focus on in order to improve your score. If you've used it before, we're conducting a survey to guide the next stage of the website development. We're planning to add a feature to collect ...
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Planning for the June 2011 LSAT

John Bennett posted an article on - Jan 31, 2011, 7:00 am
It's that time of year again, when the winter snows start to make anything look better than walking outside. That's no LSAT book... is it?Hopefully that means you're ready to gear up for the June 2011 LSAT, which means you also need to take the two sample PrepTests, June 2007 and October 1996, inpu...
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December 2010 LSAT Logical Reasoning, PrepTest 62 Analysis

John Bennett posted an article on - Jan 24, 2011, 11:27 am
This is the last of the analysis for the December 11, 2010 LSAT, which will become PrepTest 62. I'm most interested in making sure that the Zen of 180 algorithms correctly predicted the point distribution for each task strand so that the data in our free analyzer is accurate. For today, here's the l...
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December 2010 LSAT Reading Comprehension, PrepTest 62 Analysis

John Bennett posted an article on - Jan 19, 2011, 9:00 am
I'm still analyzing the LSAT administered on December 11, 2010 to see how generous the curve was, but more importantly, to make sure that the Zen of 180 algorithms correctly predicted the point distribution for each task strand. For today, here's the reading comprehension data. The first number a...
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December 2010 LSAT Logic Games, PrepTest 62 Analysis

John Bennett posted an article on - Jan 17, 2011, 9:00 am
I've just about finished analyzing the December 2010 LSAT, which will become PrepTest 62. For today, here's the logic games data. I've broken down the games by their rule type and overall classification so you can figure out why you excelled (or had trouble with) a particular rule combination. Th...
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About to Breakdown the December 2010 LSAT

John Bennett posted an article on - Jan 14, 2011, 5:52 pm
It has been about a week since the LSAT scores and sections have been released for the December 2010 LSAT. What did you think of the stained glass game?I'm sure many of you would have liked to have broken down some of your own stained glass, and I'm looking forward to analyzing the sections to see h...
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About Me

I'm currently serving my second year as part of the 2008 Teach For America - NYC Corps. I applied the standards-based curriculum skills I learned as a teacher to LSAT tutoring, and thus far have some really great results with my students. Since I went from a 172 to a 180 in about 7 weeks of self-study, I feel very comfortable helping people develop and maintain their own training regimen. I also briefly applied (i.e. two weeks of intermittent effort) my self-study methods to the GMAT, and walked out of my first try with a 760 overall and a perfect on the verbal section. My first client will be attending Harvard Law starting in the fall of 2009 (she turned down Yale, before you ask), and three more students are climbing steadily towards the 99th percentile. The blog is part of a promotional effort for a soon-to-be-released self-study guide to the LSAT, The Zen of 180.

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