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Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 11:03 pm
by Jacquelyn11
Hello! I am a current undergrad and I've been accepted into West Virginia University and Suny Buffalo law but with no scholarships. No surprise there because I have a 3.5 gpa and a 152 LSAT. I had some family emergencies and other things going on and was only able to study about 6 hours for the LSAT before I took it. I know that with studying I could score higher and possibly get some financial aid. I desperately need scholarships and I am wondering if it is worth it for me to take off a year and study for the LSAT and retake it and apply again with the chance to get scholarships or if I should just accept what I have now?
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 11:18 pm
by Aawaldrop
Retake.
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 5:41 pm
by michaelm55
Life is not simple and retaking is not always the answer. If there is no particular reason that you can't retake, however, you really should do so... if for no other reason than the fact you didn't really prepare at all your first time through, and doing so will guarentee a higher score.
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 10:14 pm
by 20141023
.
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 10:21 pm
by bizzybone1313
Regulus wrote:Question:
Do you needs scholarships?
Answer:
Jacquelyn11 wrote:I desperately need scholarships
Question:
Have you been offered any scholarships at the schools you are looking at attending?
Answer:
Jacquelyn11 wrote:I've been accepted into West Virginia University and Suny Buffalo law but with no scholarships.
Question:
Have you spent at least a few months studying for the LSAT and given it your all?
Answer:
Jacquelyn11 wrote:I had some family emergencies and other things going on and was only able to study about 6 hours for the LSAT before I took it.
Question:
Should you retake the LSAT and only go to these schools if they offer you scholarships?
Answer:
I think you already know the answer to this question. 
Hey this format is pretty cool. Maybe LSAC should adopt it and add it to its line of logical reasoning questions.
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:22 pm
by Jacquelyn11
Thanks for all the responses. I am going to wait and see what financial aid I will be getting and hear back from the other schools I've applied to and decide from there. If I don't get substantial need based aid, then I will probably wait a year. I really appreciate the feedback!
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:40 pm
by bobbypin
Regulus wrote:Question:
Do you needs scholarships?
Answer:
Jacquelyn11 wrote:I desperately need scholarships
Question:
Have you been offered any scholarships at the schools you are looking at attending?
Answer:
Jacquelyn11 wrote:I've been accepted into West Virginia University and Suny Buffalo law but with no scholarships.
Question:
Have you spent at least a few months studying for the LSAT and given it your all?
Answer:
Jacquelyn11 wrote:I had some family emergencies and other things going on and was only able to study about 6 hours for the LSAT before I took it.
Question:
Should you retake the LSAT and only go to these schools if they offer you scholarships?
Answer:
I think you already know the answer to this question.
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 12:36 am
by PRgradBYU
Jacquelyn11 wrote:Thanks for all the responses. I am going to wait and see what financial aid I will be getting and hear back from the other schools I've applied to and decide from there. If I don't get substantial need based aid, then I will probably wait a year. I really appreciate the feedback!
Thanks for actually listening to peoples' advice on here. You wouldn't believe how many people plague TLS with questions like this and then argue with everyone about how they JUST CAN'T retake the LSAT. You've got a decent GPA, so you should complement it with a 160+ LSAT score--you can do it!
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 3:22 pm
by Jacquelyn11
PRgradBYU wrote:
Thanks for actually listening to peoples' advice on here. You wouldn't believe how many people plague TLS with questions like this and then argue with everyone about how they JUST CAN'T retake the LSAT. You've got a decent GPA, so you should complement it with a 160+ LSAT score--you can do it!
Thanks PRgrad.
I am feeling a lot better about my situation. I go to a good college, my gpa should also go up a little more after the semester, and I have an excellent resume and work experience. The only thing holding me back is my LSAT score which I know I can bring up. I want to do something like environmental or public interest law or go work for the government. I'm not looking for a big paycheck, so I ideally just want to go to a decent law school where I will come out with minimal debt and the only way to do that is to get a high enough LSAT to get scholarships. Thanks everyone for making the answer so much clearer.
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 2:41 pm
by tachikara
--
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:58 am
by leo2013
even if you are a genius, you can improve your grade by 10 points by invest 2-3 months serious prep.
So, definitely retake. Why not take June test and make a decision after you get your score?
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 1:31 pm
by Jacquelyn11
tachikara wrote:The common wisdom on this website regarding government jobs is that they are rather difficult to get, especially coming straight out of law school. What kind of public interest are you interested in? Being a public defender is v. different from joining a federal agency. This probably affects what schools you should be aiming for as well.
I'm interesting in a wide variety of areas that fall within public interest. I was an AmeriCorps member so I've had a lot of volunteer work in many different places. I've worked at a domestic violence shelter, for environmental protection agencies, at an assisted living home, at the Boys and Girls Club and I'm currently a volunteer at a sexual assault center. I'm interested in women's rights, environmental protection, civil rights, etc. And as far as government jobs I am interested in being in the civil service or doing environmental protection. I wish I had a better idea of what I wanted to do, but I'm very interested in so many things that it is super hard to decide.
leo2013 wrote:even if you are a genius, you can improve your grade by 10 points by invest 2-3 months serious prep.
So, definitely retake. Why not take June test and make a decision after you get your score?
I completely agree with you. Taking it cold was seriously stupid. I'm on spring break now and I'm working hard to get all my assignments for the rest of the semester done ahead of time so I can begin to study for the LSAT.
Thanks everyone for the feedback! I love this site. There is so much good information and really helpful people.
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 8:29 pm
by Jacquelyn11
I wanted to give an update. I'm almost certainly taking a year off.
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 2:12 pm
by Presidentjlh
Jacquelyn11 wrote:I wanted to give an update. I'm almost certainly taking a year off.
Smart choice. You have a decent GPA. With a few months of studying, you could drastically improve your cycle.
Good luck to you.
Re: Scholarships? Retake LSAT or accept what I have?
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:16 am
by Solistus
Very good choice. With that GPA, a strong LSAT score could get you a great scholarship offer. Just think of your future scholarship award as additional salary for this next year... And then remember that it is tax free and saves you a bunch of interest payments compared to borrowing the same amount. A 60k scholarship is like a 6 figure salary for the year!