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I've taken the LSAT twice, once in October 2010 and then again in December, scored a 167 then a 166, both below my PT average of 172. My question is, should I settle for schools I got into with my weak GPA (Cardozo, Brooklyn, et. al.) and start this year or wait a year and try again in June?

I'm asking for advice because I am leaning toward retaking as I am not stoked about my options right now and wanted to know what anyone thought about retaking for a third time and if you have any personal anecdotes or anything to share. I did not put enough effort into studying the first two times, my prep strategies were weak and misguided, which caused me to be nervous and lack the confidence I needed on test day, and I really feel like I can do better. My main doubt is that I burned through a lot of tests without really taking the time to review my strengths and weaknesses and now I'm worried that I don't have enough fresh material to prep with. Although, I have taken a break from studying since last December and gave myself some time away from the material. Please let me know what you think. Thanks.

retake

Retake for 2012. You don't want to spend the last semester before the apocalypse at Cardozo.

emjay wrote:I've taken the LSAT twice, once in October 2010 and then again in December, scored a 167 then a 166, both below my PT average of 172. My question is, should I settle for schools I got into with my weak GPA (Cardozo, Brooklyn, et. al.) and start this year or wait a year and try again in June?

I'm asking for advice because I am leaning toward retaking as I am not stoked about my options right now and wanted to know what anyone thought about retaking for a third time and if you have any personal anecdotes or anything to share. I did not put enough effort into studying the first two times, my prep strategies were weak and misguided, which caused me to be nervous and lack the confidence I needed on test day, and I really feel like I can do better. My main doubt is that I burned through a lot of tests without really taking the time to review my strengths and weaknesses and now I'm worried that I don't have enough fresh material to prep with. Although, I have taken a break from studying since last December and gave myself some time away from the material. Please let me know what you think. Thanks.

what's your gpa?

Also as far as reusing material I don't think it'll be a problem. For me at least, LR after a few months without looking at it was completely fresh again. Logic Games not so much....I would recognize the scenarios, and for a few games I remembered that there was a very big deduction....but this was not the case for every game. Same for Reading Comp., but I suck at RC so even passages that were familiar didn't really help.

Take it with a grain of salt though, because I did not study effectively or seriously for my first take. That may explain why most of it seems new again. I bet if you studied along pithypike's guidelines some of it would be beaten into your head.

nshapkar wrote:

emjay wrote:I've taken the LSAT twice, once in October 2010 and then again in December, scored a 167 then a 166, both below my PT average of 172. My question is, should I settle for schools I got into with my weak GPA (Cardozo, Brooklyn, et. al.) and start this year or wait a year and try again in June?

I'm asking for advice because I am leaning toward retaking as I am not stoked about my options right now and wanted to know what anyone thought about retaking for a third time and if you have any personal anecdotes or anything to share. I did not put enough effort into studying the first two times, my prep strategies were weak and misguided, which caused me to be nervous and lack the confidence I needed on test day, and I really feel like I can do better. My main doubt is that I burned through a lot of tests without really taking the time to review my strengths and weaknesses and now I'm worried that I don't have enough fresh material to prep with. Although, I have taken a break from studying since last December and gave myself some time away from the material. Please let me know what you think. Thanks.

what's your gpa?

3.59

geoduck wrote:Retake for 2012. You don't want to spend the last semester before the apocalypse at Cardozo.

TITCR

emjay wrote:

nshapkar wrote:what's your gpa?

3.59

Retake and apply for the next cycle since you believe you can realistically do better. This GPA combined with a high LSAT score shouldn't keep you out of the T14, especially if you can get in some work experience.

Why do you want to go to law school and what is the disadvantage of waiting a year to get into a better school?

aspire2more wrote:

emjay wrote:

nshapkar wrote:what's your gpa?

3.59

Retake and apply for the next cycle since you believe you can realistically do better. This GPA combined with a high LSAT score shouldn't keep you out of the T14, especially if you can get in some work experience.

+1

With a 3.59 and 170, you'll have a very strong chance of getting somewhere in the t14. Considering that you averaged 172 on PT, find out what went wrong on test day. If you lost focus, take adderall, if you were nervous, smoke a blunt before the exam.

nshapkar wrote:

aspire2more wrote:

emjay wrote:

nshapkar wrote:what's your gpa?

3.59

Retake and apply for the next cycle since you believe you can realistically do better. This GPA combined with a high LSAT score shouldn't keep you out of the T14, especially if you can get in some work experience.

+1

With a 3.59 and 170, you'll have a very strong chance of getting somewhere in the t14. Considering that you averaged 172 on PT, find out what went wrong on test day. If you lost focus, take adderall, if you were nervous, smoke a blunt before the exam.

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic. Is that how everyone on TLS gets 170+?

Didn't you know? Pot totally raises cognitive skills and should definitely be combined with Adderall.

geoduck wrote:Didn't you know? Pot totally raises cognitive skills and should definitely be combined with Adderall.

Ok, ok. I get it was a joke now. Kind of scary how I was willing to go and get some for a higher LSAT

legalmo wrote:Ok, ok. I get it was a joke now. Kind of scary how I was willing to go and get some for a higher LSAT

Talk to Jeffort. It may still be a good idea.

Retake. I went 165, 167, 173. Totally worth it. If you have another chance to rock the LSAT, take it or you'll always wonder what might have happened.

EarlCat wrote:

legalmo wrote:Ok, ok. I get it was a joke now. Kind of scary how I was willing to go and get some for a higher LSAT

Talk to Jeffort. It may still be a good idea.

All joking aside, starting to take/using adderall to try to boost ones LSAT score (or any other academic performance) is a really really bad idea.

Earlcat was being sarcastic about it being a good idea because he knows about some of the nightmare situations I've had the unfortunate *pleasure* of witnessing with a few people that stupidly decided to put themselves on adderall to boost academic performance/their LSAT score. It ended really badly for every person I've known that (against my advice) went forward with trying to use ADD/ADHD stimulant/amphetamine medications to boost their LSAT score.

The worst case I witnessed firsthand was with my ExGF. When I first met her years ago she had recently earned a masters degree after earning two BA's and had a great life going with career prospects, $$, etc. She was a really smart talented girl at the time and was hitting mid 160 range scores on practice tests. Then, behind my back and against my advice from when she asked if I thought taking it would help boost her LSAT score (like everyone, she wanted to break the magic 170 barrier), doctor shopped, got an Rx and went on adderall.

Now, several years and lots of drama later, she is a fugitive on the run with warrants out for her arrest, has no home, no car, lost all her belongings, has been arrested many times and put into hospitals many times on psych holds for acting crazy in public while jacked up on adderall. I have a restraining order against her. Last I heard she was still doing the homeless thing wandering around carrying one bag with the last of her remaining possessions and revolving in and out of psych hospitals, but she STILL keeps managing to get adderall, always has some with her and keeps taking it!

Wow. I guess that proves that I'm actually ADHD. Been on Adderall and the like for years and never had any reaction like that. In fact, it's made me significantly less likely to become a fugitive.

mjcaccio wrote:Retake. I went 165, 167, 173. Totally worth it. If you have another chance to rock the LSAT, take it or you'll always wonder what might have happened.

Your experience is very inspiring. Did you reuse a lot of PTs?
I am kinda in the same boat with a 165 on Feb 2011 LSAT and was PTing at average 168. Wondering about retake.
I did all 62 PTs, so anything I use again for June 2011 will be a reuse. Worried if reusing PTs will hurt me, since I may go into the June 2011 test thinking it'll be easier than it will actually be.

geoduck wrote:Wow. I guess that proves that I'm actually ADHD. Been on Adderall and the like for years and never had any reaction like that. In fact, it's made me significantly less likely to become a fugitive.

+1

Also FWIW, I do not have ADHD and I take Adderall (legally and specifically as prescribed). I have a completely different medical condition for which it is used as treatment. I am also not a fugitive, degenerate, or otherwise damaged person due to taking it. However, the medication is labeled "Schedule II" for a reason and I really wish I did not need to take it. There is a high risk of dependency and abuse, which can lead to severe psychological problems (probably not unlike those described above). Even without abuse or sudden withdrawal, anxiety and manic symptoms are not entirely uncommon while on the medication. Combine those potential symptoms with test day jitters, and you are at risk for doing yourself more harm than good.

The moral of the story: Don't abuse prescription drugs for the LSAT (or ever). It could backfire and actually cause you to screw up on the test. Relax the day before, get plenty of sleep, and eat a PowerBar or something before leaving for the testing center. Also, on the other hand, if you do have a legitimate prescription for some kind of medication, you should probably take it on test day as normal. I'm pretty sure that test day would be a really bad time to find out you've developed a dependency.

Sorry to continue on the tangent, but I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in as well in case someone lurking is considering buying meds for the LSAT instead of a protein shake.

jim-green wrote:

mjcaccio wrote:Retake. I went 165, 167, 173. Totally worth it. If you have another chance to rock the LSAT, take it or you'll always wonder what might have happened.

Your experience is very inspiring. Did you reuse a lot of PTs?
I am kinda in the same boat with a 165 on Feb 2011 LSAT and was PTing at average 168. Wondering about retake.
I did all 62 PTs, so anything I use again for June 2011 will be a reuse. Worried if reusing PTs will hurt me, since I may go into the June 2011 test thinking it'll be easier than it will actually be.

Dude, stop copy-pasting this into every LSAT thread.

arvcondor wrote:Dude, stop copy-pasting this into every LSAT thread.

Sorry about that, my mistake. Just concerned I am making the right decision before investing yet another $150 in PTs. But it was probably not correct of me to ask the question so many times.

jim-green wrote:

arvcondor wrote:Dude, stop copy-pasting this into every LSAT thread.

Sorry about that, my mistake. Just concerned I am making the right decision before investing yet another $150 in PTs. But it was probably not correct of me to ask the question so many times.

youre considering dumping hundreds of thousands into law school and youre worried about $150 for PT's?

geoduck wrote:Retake for 2012. You don't want to spend the last semester before the apocalypse at Cardozo.

lol

BlueDiamond wrote:youre considering dumping hundreds of thousands into law school and youre worried about $150 for PT's?

Very good point. This is probably the reason I should be talking to more people before going to law school.

BlueDiamond wrote:youre considering dumping hundreds of thousands into law school and youre worried about $150 for PT's?

I wonder if there are people who can holistically look at your personal financial position and determine if law school is the right choice. I found a simple calculation table on TLS but it does not look at current savings, and other things like child expenses.