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I am hoping to get into HYS (or get a big scholarship at a CCN), and I've usually been PTing around 175. Is my current score enough? What complicates this to me is that a few posts on this forum have suggested retaking can ding you at Yale and Stanford, especially if there's only a few points difference between the two scores.

KBJ022 wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 01, 2022 10:37 am

I am hoping to get into HYS (or get a big scholarship at a CCN), and I've usually been PTing around 175. Is my current score enough? What complicates this to me is that a few posts on this forum have suggested retaking can ding you at Yale and Stanford, especially if there's only a few points difference between the two scores.

Assuming that by "AA" you mean "African American", then your numbers are probably enough. If you have the time, energy, and resources to invest in re-taking the LSAT, then you might as well do that in order to increase your odds. In the 170-175 range, every single point counts, whereas all scores above 175 are basically viewed as the same. I find it very unlikely that the fact of taking the LSAT more than once would increase your likelihood of getting dinged from Yale or Stanford.

At Yale, faculty play an outsized role in admissions compared to other schools, and those who succeeded on the LSAT in one shot when testing rules were different can be cranky about dumb things. But I wouldn't let one school where no one has a guaranteed shot dictate your overall strategy. If you think you can measurably improve your score, it might be worth retaking, and for almost all schools no one will care about 2 scores (even Yale may not still care).

Not to buck the trend here about retaking, but as an aa male with a 172, I think that puts you in like the top 10 people for aa males in the average year. I’m just not sure how much advantage a 175 vs a 172 is for an aa male as it is already so uncommon.

Happy to hear from others that this is not the case, though.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 07, 2022 2:02 pm

Not to buck the trend here about retaking, but as an aa male with a 172, I think that puts you in like the top 10 people for aa males in the average year. I’m just not sure how much advantage a 175 vs a 172 is for an aa male as it is already so uncommon.

Happy to hear from others that this is not the case, though.

I tend to agree, but the 3.62 GPA is below 25th percentile at HYSCCN, so that might make shooting for a higher LSAT worth it if OP's goal is Yale or a full-ride scholarship at CCN.

I would be very surprised if OP doesn't get into Harvard with 3.62/172.

Just came in here to day congrats, brother. You’re going to have some incredible life changing doors open for you.

I’m a black civil rights lawyer who gets a decent amount of high profile cases in PA. I did biglaw for five years. If you need anything and I can be of help, dm me.

In at H, money at CCN. Ruby or Hamilton are possible. Y and S are on table but less certain. Retaking won’t help you.

The only point in retaking would be to delay a year due to recession timing… but I don’t think you’ll need that.