It’s easy to lose motivation when you spend hour after hour after hour struggling through LSAT test material that all seems to be the same, and only seeing a few points improvement for all your hard work. To keep motivated, consider the following:

Consider the LSAT a motivation test, not an IQ test.

By learning the basics of logical reasoning, learning strategies on how to take the LSAT test, and doing plenty of practice on real LSAT tests, you can improve. There are no shortage of people who have improved by ten to thirty points. As such, tell yourself that the LSAT is testing how much you truly want to attend law school — if you really want to attend, then you’ll stick through the process and improve your score.

Expect score improvements to occur practice

Once you have finished an LSAT class or book, you have much of the needed information to complete LSAT questions. However, you likely do not have the mental endurance and/or timing/pacing skills to do well on the LSAT. As such, don’t be surprised if you finish an LSAT class or book, take a practice test, and discover that your score actually decreased from a practice test that you had taken before the LSAT book or class. Although this is highly frustrating and can hurt your motivation, recognize that before you complete a class or book, you likely completed a large number, perhaps all, of the questions but with a relatively low percentage of those that you attempted correct. Now that you have LSAT skills, you have slowed down and are taking significantly more time per question, and thus actually attempted much fewer questions, but, of these questions that you actually attempted, you likely have a much higher percentage correct than you did previously. Now, you need to build up your mental endurance and adjust your timing/pacing to maximize your score.

Appreciate each point

Improvement on the LSAT tends to go slowly. So, if you take a practice test and your score improved by a point - celebrate! Keep at it and you will see gains.

Plan in advance

You should plan to spend about two to six months studying for the LSAT. Too little time will likely result in insufficient time to learn all the strategies and to adequately practice. Too much time will likely result in frustration and boredom. Avoid both by figuring out when the best time for you to take the LSAT.

Take a break

If you work on the LSAT every single day, you’ll start despising the task. You should plan to take at least one day per week when you do not even think about the LSAT. Preferably, you will have two LSAT days followed by one break day. On your break days, do not think about the LSAT at all. If it creeps into your mind, shove it out. Politely ask your friends, family, and associates to not even bring the subject up on those days. Forget about the LSAT completely for a day.

Join an LSAT study group

One of the best reasons for joining a study group is for motivation. Within your group, you can discuss problems with motivation, timing, pacing, and other issues. You may even want to turn it into an “LSAT Support Group” and sit down with the intention of discussing how to deal with the pressure of studying for the test. However, ensure that your group focuses on the positive, and how to identify and overcome problems, rather than simply complaining about them. If there’s noone in your area, check out www.lawschooldiscussion.org

Navigating the private student loans sector reminds me of trying to walk across a mine field blindfolded. You’d think that the interest rates for private student loans would be dropping since the prime rate is or at near zero.  Nothing is further from the truth.   

Re-read this article many times, take notes and use this criteria the next time you sit down and discuss private student loans with your lender. Please make your lender explain the following terms that will be used a lot.

• Prime Lending Rate
• LIBOR Index (London Interbank Offered Rate)
• Annual Percentage Rate (APR)

Top 7 Questions You Need to Ask Your Lender

1.  Which index will you be using to determine my interest rate.  The two major index lenders used to determine your interest rates are the LIBOR index and the prime lending rate.  Make them show you why the rate they use is better than the other one.

The LIBOR index (London Interbank Offered Rate) starts with how much your lender has to pay on the money borrowed. Then they will add a buffer to it to help them make money. Over the past several years the spread between the LIBOR and the Prime lending rate has increased which means it is better to go after the LIBOR because the interest rates move upwards more slowly, thus saving you more money on the entire loan. 

However as you have read in the papers and heard on TV, interest rates are falling so that is why you need them to compare both methods.

2.  How much will my co-signers credit rating influence the interest rate?

Most college student use their parents or other family member as their co-signer.  If you are going to shop for the best interest rates you should also shop for the best co-signers.  They can either make or break you.

3.  What fees are associated with this loan?

Lenders are notorious for adding fees to the loans. Application fees are the most common fees. Any fee that falls in the range of 3% to 4% is just about the same as adding 1% to your interest rate.

4.  Can I repay this loan faster and exactly what are your payment options?

Any time you owe money and interest accrues you need to eliminate that debt as soon as possible.  Some private lenders want to squeeze all the money they can out of that loan.  The only way they can do that is by charging you a fee for paying off your student loan early.  A good lender will provide several options to meet your repayment needs.

5.  Can I get a graduation discount?

If you show proof that you graduate, some institutions will offer you a discount on your student loan.

6.  What kind of tax break can I expect?

Once you begin to pay off your student loans you will be able to write off the interest on your student loans. For my nephew it is substantial. Make sure and have your lender show you these advantages and combine them with this next question.

7.  Please show me on paper, exactly how much I will be paying by the end of my loan.

These pieces of paper will helped us tremendously when it’s time to finally make a decision on who we borrow money from. You’ll love the ease of comparing when you have each paper sitting side by side.

A few other facts you should know:

• use private student loans as a last resort after you have failed to get a federal student loan.  
• these loans are also good as a supplement but only borrow what you absolutely need.  
• they are not your last option when it comes to finding a student loan, but they are better than the other options available to you.  
• once you are approved for the loan you can expect to see the money in as little as 14 days. 
• unlike federal student loans, you don’t have apply through FAFSA first, you can get these loans at any time.

For students going abroad for higher studies, it is imperative to provide proof of sufficient funds (at least for first year expenses). Mostly all universities require sufficient proof of financial aid for meeting expenses such as application cost, tuition fees, accommodation and living, health insurance, transportation etc. Therefore unless financial aid can be arranged, studying abroad may not be possible at all.

If you are an Indian student planning to go abroad for education, you can consider the various sources for financial aid apart from your/parents’ savings. A main options are as follows -

Bank Loans 

Various banks such as Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Canara Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, HSBC Bank, Indian Bank etc. provide education loans for studying abroad.

Depending upon the loan amount, certain percentage of security (such as NSE shares, house mortgage etc.) is required and interest is charged accordingly. Recently, most banks usually do not ask for security or collateral for a loan up to Rs. 4 lacs. The interest rates would generally not exceed the Prime Lending Rates (PLR). Certain banks also accept a third party guarantee instead of security. (But this is usually for loans between 4 lacs and 7.5 lacs).

To avail of bank loans, the candidate needs to fulfill certain conditions such as he must be an Indian resident, confirmation of admission and requirement of minimum annual income. The repayment of loan generally starts after six months of course completion or one-month of job (if employed immediately after course completion) and the entire amount has to be repaid in 5 to 7 years (from the first payment).

Trust Loans
Trust Loans are either free or charge a lower interest rate (2 to 4 %). The loan amount is variable and is usually up to Rs. 1.5 lacs. However, they generally have a deadline by which you must submit the loan application forms. Few of the well known trusts are- J.N. Tata Endowment (soft loans between Rs. 50,000 and Rs.1.5 lacs), Sahu Jain Trust, Mariwala Trust, K.C. Mahindra Education Trust and R.D. Sethna Scholarship Fund.

Fellowships

Fellowships are comparatively difficult to acquire due to stiff competition. The popular ones are- Inlaks Scholarships, Aga Khan Foundation, Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarships and AT & T Leadership Awards (only for U.S.).

Apart from these, you can also acquire financial assistance abroad by way of University Funding - Scholarship/Fellowships/Assistantships, U.S. Banks Student Loans (for US) and other sources.

One must remember that most universities provide financial aid to overseas students on merit and not on need. It is easier to avail monetary assistance for graduate programs than undergraduate courses. The aid amount varies for different universities and fields of specialization. Also note that it is easier to receive financial assistance from U.S. and U.K. universities than those in Australia, New Zealand or Canada.

In case of undergraduates, Aid forms from the institute as well as the Foreign Student’s Financial Aid Form has to be submitted along with a bank statement. Forms may ask details about your personal and total (family) annual income, average living expenses, asset details etc.

Postgraduate students must mention about financial aid requirement in their application forms. Meritorious students receive financial assistance most commonly in the form of tuition waivers, scholarship or fellowship and assistantships (a cash stipend to take care of their expenses and in return they work for certain hours a week- either teaching or research based).

Please note that Indians usually are able to manage some funding after one or two semesters.

A U.S. Bank loan is among the best alternatives for MBA students. When applying for bank loans in US, a co-signer (US citizen or permanent resident) is required. However, several banks will waiver the co-signer requirement.The relevant information will be available on the university website.

Ensure that you go through the university information thoroughly and understand the terms and conditions properly.