The LSAT is a pivotal part of your law school application and you should take it seriously. After all, it is weighted equally to your GPA in most cases and it takes four years of hard work to get a great GPA, so it makes sense to do a comparable amount of studying for the LSAT. Once again, take the LSAT seriously!
We suggest starting early and giving yourself the room to study for at least a year. You do not need to study that long to do well on the LSAT. It is a preventive measure in case you need it.
A student might start early, feel ready to take the exam after 3 months of review, take it, get an outstanding score, and be all set for the applications. On the other hand, another student might study for 3 months and still feel unprepared and might need 6 months of study or 9 or even a full year. When starting out, you might be the first case or the second. You don't know, so you need to give yourself enough wiggle room if necessary.