You wouldn't advise a retake, would you? Forum

amc987 · Post by **amc987** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:15 am

Hey guys,

I've posted on here on behalf of my SO. Thought I'd give it another go. My SO got a 172 on the October LSAT and a 167 on the December LSAT. She also had a 169 score from 2 years ago. She was upset because her PT average was 175-178 before both tests. She's also kicking herself that she didn't cancel.

She wants to go to HYS, she has a 3.6 GPA from a top 5 UG, and she is MA. Is there any reason it might be in her interest to retake in February? On the one hand it's best to end on a high note and if she could actually get a score in her practice range, that would stand her in better stead for HYS/ scholarship money at other T14s. However, no one wants to be the last person at a party. She doesn't want to continue with this LSAT thing if there's a chance she'd under-perform for a second time with a score that's already in the 170s.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance, y'all.

phillywc · Post by **phillywc** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:18 am

Congrats to your SO on a great score, it for sure puts her in contention I would think... Y is probably out of the picture. I think one more point would be huge at H, but i'm not urm, so i would defer to someone with more expertise.

guano · Post by **guano** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:19 am

You wouldn't advise a retake, would you?

yes, we would

daryldixon · Post by **daryldixon** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:20 am

amc987 wrote:Hey guys,

I've posted on here on behalf of my SO. Thought I'd give it another go. My SO got a 172 on the October LSAT and a 167 on the December LSAT. She also had a 169 score from 2 years ago. She was upset because her PT average was 175-178 before both tests. She's also kicking herself that she didn't cancel.

She wants to go to HYS, she has a 3.6 GPA from a top 5 UG, and she is MA. Is there any reason it might be in her interest to retake in February? On the one hand it's best to end on a high note and if she could actually get a score in her practice range, that would stand her in better stead for HYS/ scholarship money at other T14s. However, no one wants to be the last person at a party. She doesn't want to continue with this LSAT thing if there's a chance she'd under-perform for a second time with a score that's already in the 170s.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance, y'all.

No reason to retake. Most schools only care about the top LSAT score. HYS may see it as a negative but even they are slaves to their medians so she is likely in at at least one of HYS and all of CCN because of her stats and her URM status.

ScottRiqui · Post by **ScottRiqui** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:28 am

Well, since you mentioned HYS, she's below the median LSAT at H/Y, and below the 25th GPA at all three, so a retake wouldn't be outright silly. I don't know how big the MA boost is, though.

amc987 · Post by **amc987** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:38 am

ScottRiqui wrote:Well, since you mentioned HYS, she's below the median LSAT at H/Y, and below the 25th GPA at all three, so a retake wouldn't be outright silly. I don't know how big the MA boost is, though.

I don't know exactly either. I thought the MA boost was, generally speaking, greater than the boosts that Latinos whose families come from other areas (South America or PR) get, but not as great as the AA boost.

I'm an AA male and if I'd gotten a 172 with that GPA, I don't know that I'd retake.

Can anyone with experience with URM admissions comment on this?

amc987 · Post by **amc987** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:41 am

guano wrote:
You wouldn't advise a retake, would you?
yes, we would

Could you elaborate on that a little, man?

guano · Post by **guano** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:46 am

amc987 wrote:
guano wrote:
You wouldn't advise a retake, would you?
yes, we would
Could you elaborate on that a little, man?

If she doesn't get HYS, or a huge scholly to the rest of the T14, she'll be kicking herself for not retaking. As pointed out earlier, she's not quite a lock

Dr.Zer0 · Post by **Dr.Zer0** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:47 am

amc987 wrote:
ScottRiqui wrote:Well, since you mentioned HYS, she's below the median LSAT at H/Y, and below the 25th GPA at all three, so a retake wouldn't be outright silly. I don't know how big the MA boost is, though.
I don't know exactly either. I thought the MA boost was, generally speaking, greater than the boosts that Latinos whose families come from other areas (South America or PR) get, but not as great as the AA boost.

I'm an AA male and if I'd gotten a 172 with that GPA, I don't know that I'd retake.

Can anyone with experience with URM admissions comment on this?

AA>NA (if they have tribal affiliation)>MA>PR

amc987 · Post by **amc987** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 2:01 am

guano wrote:
amc987 wrote:
guano wrote:
You wouldn't advise a retake, would you?
yes, we would
Could you elaborate on that a little, man?
If she doesn't get HYS, or a huge scholly to the rest of the T14, she'll be kicking herself for not retaking. As pointed out earlier, she's not quite a lock

But what if she gets a 172 or less in February? Wouldn't that be worse than now for HYS/ scholarships? As we all know, there are no guarantees.

Dr.Zer0 wrote:
amc987 wrote:
ScottRiqui wrote:Well, since you mentioned HYS, she's below the median LSAT at H/Y, and below the 25th GPA at all three, so a retake wouldn't be outright silly. I don't know how big the MA boost is, though.
I don't know exactly either. I thought the MA boost was, generally speaking, greater than the boosts that Latinos whose families come from other areas (South America or PR) get, but not as great as the AA boost.

I'm an AA male and if I'd gotten a 172 with that GPA, I don't know that I'd retake.

Can anyone with experience with URM admissions comment on this?
AA>NA (if they have tribal affiliation)>MA>PR

Just so I'm clear, if she were AA with those numbers, you wouldn't advise retaking, but since she is MA and the boost is less, you think it might be worth doing?

Pneumonia · Post by **Pneumonia** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 2:12 am

I don't know enough about URM admissions to advise one way or the other w/r/t a retake, but I do know that scoring in February is not going to affect her chances unless she gets like a 150 or something.

Dr.Zer0 · Post by **Dr.Zer0** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 2:22 am

amc987 wrote:
Dr.Zer0 wrote:
amc987 wrote:
ScottRiqui wrote:Well, since you mentioned HYS, she's below the median LSAT at H/Y, and below the 25th GPA at all three, so a retake wouldn't be outright silly. I don't know how big the MA boost is, though.
I don't know exactly either. I thought the MA boost was, generally speaking, greater than the boosts that Latinos whose families come from other areas (South America or PR) get, but not as great as the AA boost.

I'm an AA male and if I'd gotten a 172 with that GPA, I don't know that I'd retake.

Can anyone with experience with URM admissions comment on this?
AA>NA (if they have tribal affiliation)>MA>PR
Just so I'm clear, if she were AA with those numbers, you wouldn't advise retaking, but since she is MA and the boost is less, you think it might be worth doing?

If she were AA she would have a solid chance at HYS. Since she's MA its a bit more iffy. IDK if its worth it or not, but I don't think it will have a negative effect on her app if she does end up retaking. Just my two cents.

amc987 · Post by **amc987** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:27 am

Okay, thus far the best argument for retaking is MA boost<AA boost and 3.6/172 MA isn't a lock for HYS.

How high would she have to score in order to lock up at least one of HYS? 175+?

The thing about this is that she was scoring so high before October and December and clearly didn't get to her practice score on the real test days. She was close in October and it didn't help her cause that the curve was tight at the top, but that happens sometimes. And December was a total shitshow, as she puts it, despite her many high PT scores. It's a lot of time and energy and effort to put in just for the chance that you might improve a few points.

Would anyone here definitely retake or definitely not retake in this situation?

kobe1020 · Post by **kobe1020** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 11:23 am

if you are looking for advice that suggests not to retake you are in the wrong place bro...

1. it is obvious 3.6/172 MA is not a slam dunk at HYS (maybe a good chance but not a lock)
2. so either retake to improve her chance or apply anyways with prayer
3. you probably won't be asking here if you guys decided it's better not to retake
4. so why bother posting..
5. depending on what you guys are looking for, CCN maybe as good as HYS. Maybe

guano · Post by **guano** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 11:39 am

amc987 wrote:Okay, thus far the best argument for retaking is MA boost<AA boost and 3.6/172 MA isn't a lock for HYS.

How high would she have to score in order to lock up at least one of HYS? 175+?

The thing about this is that she was scoring so high before October and December and clearly didn't get to her practice score on the real test days. She was close in October and it didn't help her cause that the curve was tight at the top, but that happens sometimes. And December was a total shitshow, as she puts it, despite her many high PT scores. It's a lot of time and energy and effort to put in just for the chance that you might improve a few points.

Would anyone here definitely retake or definitely not retake in this situation?

Many people here advise maxing out retakes under virtually all circumstances. I'd retake, because even one extra point might make the difference between getting into HYS, or not. I settled for a score that was roughly my PT average, but I'd PT'd several times 3 or 4 points higher. I was held at Columbia (my top choice) and waitlisted at NYU. In hindsight, if I'd retaken, I might have been in at Columbia, or wouldn't have to ride the waitlist at NYU, and possibly gotten scholarship money, and I wish I'd have retaken.

twenty · Post by **twenty** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 2:13 pm

With the median being 173, there is a world where it makes sense to retake. A decrease score won't hurt her, so there's really no reason not to at this point.

That said, gun to my head, she'll probably get into H regardless.

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