LSAT Re-take strategy advice please! Forum

[2014]

You are banking on beating your score because you went -0 on two sections? What if those sections are harder next time? You are playing with small margins, one or two questions wrong is a big difference up there. I think your odds of improving your 174 are not great, and I certainly don't think you can bank on 177+.

If you do worse, it reflects poorly on your judgment. It probably looks far more impressive to have a one test 174 than a 174-173 or w/e.

If you are a glutton for punishment then sign up for Feb, prep for it as hard as you can, but don't tell the schools to wait, including Yale.

[WhatSarahSaid]

I'm going to echo some people here.

I was in a semi-similar situation to yours. Before the June test, my PTs went very well -- I hit 180 twice, and averaged around 177 for my last 10 PTs. I got a 173 in June and decided that I was capable of doing better, so I took the October test and got a 174. I think my move made sense based on my goals ($ from CCN), and although my marginal improvement isn't that big of a deal, I'm just happy that I won't have to explain why I did worse.

For your goals, though, it's very risky. The possibility of doing worse than a 174 is pretty large. What if you have a bad test day, or get hit with a really hard LG section or something? Sounds like you have the inside track to at least one of HYS with that GPA and those softs, and you could definitely put that at risk with a lower score.

I wouldn't do it.

[dcman06]

I wouldn't do it. You're above Harvard's and Yale's medians for GPA and LSAT, much less the rest of the T-14. I heard the score bands for the guys who score 175-180 is between a 168-180. I can certainly believe that is the case because getting a 175+ on the LSAT doesn't just show that you're great at the test, but you almost certainly had to have some luck too.