Pre-law coordinator Nick LaRowe is offering a Law School Admission Test preparation course from May 8 to June 2. The four week course will include logic games, reading comprehension and practice exams, and the registration fee is $990. The Shield sat down with LaRowe to talk more about the course.

The Shield: When is the registration deadline?

Nick LaRowe: May 1 is the deadline. It’s a week before the class starts, which is on (May) 8.

The Shield: What are logic games?

LaRowe: Those would be like there are seven students that need to sit in these six chairs. Rebecca can never sit next to Steven, Steven will only sit in the third chair and Joe likes to sit in a chair between him and somebody else, and you have to tell what are all the possible orders they can be in. It’s about getting a set of rules and conditions and deducing the possible outcomes from that. We have class for four weeks, which is about 20 days, and eight or nine of the days will be devoted to logic games, which is one of the four sections of the LSAT. It’s usually the most difficult section of the test.

The Shield: What are logic games meant to test?

LaRowe: So, if you get a set of rules, if you can deduce possible outcomes that is a particular intellectual skill that you need in the law when you are dealing with legal codes, which often have a logical structure to how they work. The better you are able to comprehend and analyze those situations, the better you are going to be at understanding legal codes.

The Shield: Could you explain your reasoning behind offering this course?

LaRowe: Law school is a fairly straightforward application. It’s grades, LSAT scores and recommendation letters. I have heard from law school representatives that they have been complaining about the LSAT scores students are coming in with, and they believe the reasoning is they are just not doing the proper preparation. There is an area where we can do a lot to improve the quality of our students applications. Also, there is nothing like this in the region. I think the nearest one might be Louisville. It might be Indianapolis. I know for sure there is one in Chicago. Also, a lot of times these in-person courses will cost you about $3,000 to $3,500. We are offering it for about a third of the cost. So this is meant to lower financial barriers, which is good for a lot of our students, whether they are first generation college students. Maybe they aren’t at the top of socioeconomic ladder. This is something that can make law school entry a little bit easier for them.

The Shield: Do students also have to purchase textbooks?

LaRowe: They do. There are textbooks for this course like there would be for anything else. All together they are about $110.

The Shield: Is this offered to more than just USI students?

LaRowe: It’s primarily aimed at USI students, but it is intended to be an asset for the region. Because Chicago has something like this, we would like Evansville to have something like this as well. Even students that are from Evansville but are going to IU or Purdue; if they are home for the summer this could be good for them too.

The Shield: When is the LSAT?

LaRowe: Well, it’s offered about five times a year. Two of the most popular times are early-to-mid June and mid-September. The days vary a little bit every year, but it’s the same general times. We wanted to offer it at a time that would help students who are either taking the September or June LSAT, which is when most of them do.

The Shield: Is this the first time you have offered this?

LaRowe: Yes, I worked with Outreach and Engagement last spring to put this together and think it up, and then we will be offering it for the first time ever this summer. Also, there are five LSAT fee waivers that students can apply for if they want to be apart of this course. Taking the LSAT costs about $120. Students that take this course are eligible to apply for those, and they are awarded on a GPA basis.

The Shield: Is there a limit on how many people can take the course.

LaRowe: The course will be topped off at 25.

The Shield: How many applications do you have currently?

LaRowe: We have about seven or eight.

The Shield: What is the benefit of taking the course and what are some things students will learn and prepare them for the LSAT?

LaRowe: One thing is it will just help with the studying discipline. It’s one thing to have good intentions about having a studying schedule, and it’s another thing when you are forced to go. The typical class will be about half lecture and half practice problems and discussing the problems. They are going to get a lot of work looking at types of problems and learning how to diagnose and solve them. It’s just lots and lots of practice.