Should I Retake the LSAT? (Wondering about Scholarships) Forum

[Heythereyou]

Hey guys,

I'm new here but I've been browsing since I wrote the June LSAT on Monday.

I am from Canada and I'm planning on applying to a variety of Canadian law schools. I studied for the LSAT for about a month, and my goal was to get a 165 (based on how I felt the test went, I think I accomplished my goal). I made this my goal because I knew it would be sufficient to get me into the schools I wanted. Despite only studying for a month, I didn't think it was possible to raise my score much higher until I started reading posts on this forum.

Now I'm reconsidering setting my goals so low, and I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to re-write in October while studying for the 3 months beforehand.

What I'm wondering about is whether or not it would be worth it. I think the score I got on Monday will get me into the schools I'd like to attend, but if I were to study and say, raise my score to over 170+, do the Canadian law schools offer large scholarships?

Thanks in advance for advice.

[nyjets2090]

By all means, retake. You have to go into this test with the mindset of 180 being your goal.

[Heythereyou]

By all means, retake. You have to go into this test with the mindset of 180 being your goal.

Understood, I was just trying to be realistic based on the prep tests that I was taking. I'm just wondering if it is worth it. I hear about huge scholarships in the states, but I haven't heard of many from Canadian Law Schools and that would be the only reason I can think of to improve my score since it is already sufficient to get me into the schools I'm looking at.

[bbkk]

Hey guys,

I'm new here but I've been browsing since I wrote the June LSAT on Monday.

I am from Canada and I'm planning on applying to a variety of Canadian law schools. I studied for the LSAT for about a month, and my goal was to get a 165 (based on how I felt the test went, I think I accomplished my goal). I made this my goal because I knew it would be sufficient to get me into the schools I wanted. Despite only studying for a month, I didn't think it was possible to raise my score much higher until I started reading posts on this forum.

Now I'm reconsidering setting my goals so low, and I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to re-write in October while studying for the 3 months beforehand.

What I'm wondering about is whether or not it would be worth it. I think the score I got on Monday will get me into the schools I'd like to attend, but if I were to study and say, raise my score to over 170+, do the Canadian law schools offer large scholarships?

Thanks in advance for advice.

Any chance you are in Toronto? If you are, and if you decided to retake in Oct, we can study together, if you'd like. =)

[Heythereyou]

Hey guys,

I'm new here but I've been browsing since I wrote the June LSAT on Monday.

I am from Canada and I'm planning on applying to a variety of Canadian law schools. I studied for the LSAT for about a month, and my goal was to get a 165 (based on how I felt the test went, I think I accomplished my goal). I made this my goal because I knew it would be sufficient to get me into the schools I wanted. Despite only studying for a month, I didn't think it was possible to raise my score much higher until I started reading posts on this forum.

Now I'm reconsidering setting my goals so low, and I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to re-write in October while studying for the 3 months beforehand.

What I'm wondering about is whether or not it would be worth it. I think the score I got on Monday will get me into the schools I'd like to attend, but if I were to study and say, raise my score to over 170+, do the Canadian law schools offer large scholarships?

Thanks in advance for advice.

Any chance you are in Toronto? If you are, and if you decided to retake in Oct, we can study together, if you'd like. =)

Unfortunately not, Thanks for the offer though =)

[LeCanada]

By all means, retake. You have to go into this test with the mindset of 180 being your goal.

Understood, I was just trying to be realistic based on the prep tests that I was taking. I'm just wondering if it is worth it. I hear about huge scholarships in the states, but I haven't heard of many from Canadian Law Schools and that would be the only reason I can think of to improve my score since it is already sufficient to get me into the schools I'm looking at.

U of A apparently averages your scores if you retake, but all the other schools I've looked at (and I'm sure you know there's not that many law schools in Canada, so basically all of them) take your best score. Just a point to consider, but it's not like your first score was a 140 or something. Personally, I would just wait and see what your actual score was before planning to retake, in case you underestimated yourself.

With regards to huge scholarships in Canada, keep in mind the costs of a Canadian law school are a fraction of the cost of the top US schools so we don't fork out as much money. But if you have a high GPA and LSAT you could get a full tuition scholarship or something of the like. It sucks if you apply out of your region or don't have significant ties to the province you're applying in because I've noticed a lot of scholarships schools offer give preference, or are limited to applicants of their home province.

Finally, I just wanted to say the advice DailyDouble gave you through the link to my post is pretty valuable. They made me slow down and understand that it's about the process and not just going 0 to 100 in a second. A thorough review can only help you better understand the material and help you if you end up retaking. With any luck you scored higher than your original estimate (which in itself was impressive given you said you studied for 1 month), but if not I'm sure you'll ace your retake with a few more months to study.

[nyjets2090]

By all means, retake. You have to go into this test with the mindset of 180 being your goal.

Understood, I was just trying to be realistic based on the prep tests that I was taking. I'm just wondering if it is worth it. I hear about huge scholarships in the states, but I haven't heard of many from Canadian Law Schools and that would be the only reason I can think of to improve my score since it is already sufficient to get me into the schools I'm looking at.

Sure, definitely worth it. There are huge scholarships in the states, but tuition is also much higher. The average tier 2 school will still cost substantially more at full price than an elite school in Canada (U of T, McGill, etc), except you'll be able to find a job with a U of T degree. Canadian schools also put alot more weight on your GPA than American schools do, although schools on the west coast tend to do that also.

I have very little knowledge about how scholarships work in Canadian law schools (merit-based/need-based, etc). You're correct though in saying they aren't as prevalent as the states and a full ride is certainly much rarer at a Canadian school than an American school.

[kiyoku]

May your decision-making model revolve not around "risk-minimization," or "reward-maximization."

Following, Jeff Bezos, may you make your decisions through the thought process of "regret-minimization."

Your life is subjective to your thoughts. Your regrets will haunt you. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't care if I got into Tier 1 in canada (UofT). The point is that you studied 1 month and got a great mark. That doesn't sound like a whole lot of work to me.

Would you rather instill confidence into you future children (sorry for the assumption) by saying, "I studied only 1 month and got 165?"
Or would you say to them, "I studied 1 month and got a great mark of 165, but I didn't stop. I kept studying and pushed my limit and I got to ____."

Don't you think you'll regret for the rest of your life that you actually chose not to fill in the blank?