Should I retake? HELP :(

[noleknight16]

I live in FL and will be graduating in the summer of 2011 and applied this cycle to law school after taking the LSAT in December. I score a 157 (GPA is 3.57, nothing spectacular), which was around 4 or 5 points off my average PT scores. Not sure exactly what went wrong. White, male so no URM boost. I applied to a broad list of schools, mostly reaches but only a couple schools I know I would get into. I do expect to get into Syracuse with some money and probably a school like Miami . Both extremely expensive and Syracuse would be scary expensive if I didn't hold the scholly GPA. Obviously if a reach-type school bites then the whole dynamic changes but let's just assume those are my two options.

The plus of Syracuse is that my uncle is a partner at a top 10 ranked law firm in NYC. I'm not going to beg him to give me a job or anything but if I had trouble, I would bet he has a lot of connections in the state. This fact just makes me want to say "Eff it, I have connections and wanna go to law school."

Miami's plus is obviously close to home, weather, girls, lifestyle, etc.

Should I just take a testmasters class in April, and see what happens on the June test? If I do about the same, then I think I would just go with this cycle and if I break the 160s, apply early next cycle. It seems like a pretty good plan in my mind. I honestly do think that I can score better. What say the wise members of the TLS?

[seriously????]

yeah, u answered ure own question, retake and see what happens. maybe u end up at the same schools but with much more significant scholarships.

[jeremysen]

yeah... - for miami, your scores are above median GPA & below median LSAT. If you could get those 5 points, it'd prolly make a huge difference in $$.

And if you get into the mid 160s, you'd be looking at a whole different set of schools

[HeavenWood]

If you have to ask...

In all seriousness, you're smart to retake. Miami is alluring for a number of reasons, but decent job prospects at a reasonable price are not one of them. If you want to work in Florida, at the very least, you should be aiming for UF/FSU. If you want to work in NYC, no less than Fordham should do. If you uncle CAN guarantee you a job, however, that changes things entirely.

Bottom line: you're smart to retake.