Top Law Schools

Sorry if this has been asked and answered over and over, but I didn't have much luck with the search function..

Me: Top 25 university; GPA: 3.1 cumulative (3.47 disregarding a few shitty/retaken-for-A's classes in community college); light softs; 1 year part time work experience as a file clerk in a law firm; 1st LSAT: 156.


I'm currently registered to take the LSAT on Saturday, but I don't feel like I'm fully prepared to do as well as I think I can..

I took last June's LSAT and got a 156 with absolutely no study. I probably should have cancelled the score, but for whatever reason didn't. After 2 weeks of solid study, I'm now practice testing around 163-165 ish.. My errors are pretty evenly distributed between LG, RC and LR.. As I spend more time with the test, it becomes more and more intuitive and my speed has been increasing steadily. With (let's say) 1 more month of solid study, I don't doubt that I could hit the golden 170 mark.. With the full 8 weeks till the December LSAT, I'm confident that I can surpass it.

So...

I'm determined to start law school next year, meaning that I'm set on applying during this cycle. I have the following questions:

- From what I've read, it's pretty important for splitters hoping to get into top schools to apply as early in the cycle as possible.. How important is it? If I skip this LSAT, take it in December, and send in apps the day scores come out (for the sake of argument, 171), what am I looking at prospect wise?

- If I DO take this LSAT, cross my fingers, apply with that score and then decide to retake again in December after ample study, let's say boosting my October score of ~165 to a December score of ~171, what can I expect?

- Is having 3 consecutive LSATs a really terrible thing? Even if I show significant improvement each time?

- Any advice?!?!?

Thanks a lot.

quicklyquickly wrote:Sorry if this has been asked and answered over and over, but I didn't have much luck with the search function..

Me: Top 25 university; GPA: 3.1 cumulative (3.47 disregarding a few shitty/retaken-for-A's classes in community college); light softs; 1 year part time work experience as a file clerk in a law firm; 1st LSAT: 156.


I'm currently registered to take the LSAT on Saturday, but I don't feel like I'm fully prepared to do as well as I think I can..

I took last June's LSAT and got a 156 with absolutely no study. I probably should have cancelled the score, but for whatever reason didn't. After 2 weeks of solid study, I'm now practice testing around 163-165 ish.. My errors are pretty evenly distributed between LG, RC and LR.. As I spend more time with the test, it becomes more and more intuitive and my speed has been increasing steadily. With (let's say) 1 more month of solid study, I don't doubt that I could hit the golden 170 mark.. With the full 8 weeks till the December LSAT, I'm confident that I can surpass it.

So...

I'm determined to start law school next year, meaning that I'm set on applying during this cycle. I have the following questions:

- From what I've read, it's pretty important for splitters hoping to get into top schools to apply as early in the cycle as possible.. How important is it? If I skip this LSAT, take it in December, and send in apps the day scores come out (for the sake of argument, 171), what am I looking at prospect wise?

- If I DO take this LSAT, cross my fingers, apply with that score and then decide to retake again in December after ample study, let's say boosting my October score of ~165 to a December score of ~171, what can I expect?

- Is having 3 consecutive LSATs a really terrible thing? Even if I show significant improvement each time?

- Any advice?!?!?

Thanks a lot.

WARNING: This is anecdotal evidence.

I took the LSAT last December, got my applications in by January and ended up wait listed a ton of places. I was definitely a splitter. 17x, 2.7x. That said, I did everything I could do get of the WL at NU and I eventually did, so it does happen. Getting the best LSAT score you can is more important than getting in early. If you end up with a 159, getting apps in by November won't matter. I also had three scores, don't think it mattered at all (Feb, Oct, Dec).

What did you do to get off of the waitlist?

How was your work experience?

quicklyquickly wrote:What did you do to get off of the waitlist?

How was your work experience?

Almost ten years work experience in two industries. To get off the WL I wrote every single optional essay, I withdrew from all the other schools I applied to (I would not recommend this, but I had decided I was going to reapply ED if I didn't get in this year) and explained this in an essay to make sure the adcomms knew I was serious.

If you want NU I would also recommend interviewing here. I didn't and I think that was a mistake, though I survived it.

I think you can also still ED three different schools by the time the december scores come out (Duke, Gtown and UVa) this could offset the late application. I applied deep into january (a few weeks after scores came out) and my cycle didn't go as well as others with my numbers. I would also recommend that if you apply late to have applications in and on the go with a couple of schools and ready to go for other ones. I wanted to wait to see what my score was to apply and kinda got disheartened waiting and definitely had to scramble to get my apps in once my score came out.

SO you want your apps to be solid and in at the first chance and you maybe want to ED one of the above schools. good luck!!!