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Hi guys,

I did an initial search, didn't see this question asked (but please advise if there are threads about this already).

If I ask a law school to defer for a year (start September 2011) and retake the LSAT in June 2011? At that point, if my score is exceptionally high, I could just reapply that fall for start in September 2012 or if there's no improvement, attend the school that I had deferred from. Is that possible? Will the school that I deferred from know and/or care that I'm retaking the LSAT? Any anecdotes/advice is appreciated. Thanks!

To be clear, you're asking whether you can keep one school (to which you've already been admitted) on the hook while you take a year to retake the LSAT and see if you can get into a better school?

Sounds fool-proof to me.

Will depend on if the deferral is binding or not.

This sounds like something you should ask the law school to which you're deferring. I would imagine they would not be happy about it. If you want to apply to more schools, then you aren't deferring admission. You should just withdraw and apply again next cycle with your new lsat.

I was thinking of something along these lines, but then I just figured that if I wanted to retake the LSAT, and I was planning on waiting until next cycle anyway, then it may just be easier for all parties involved to simply reapply next cycle to the school instead of deferring. I assume that they'd re-accept you (that's a strong assumption, I hope it's true) because, even if you don't do better on the LSAT, you are the same candidate. And, if you DO do better on the LSAT, then you can re-apply to that school and perhaps get some scholarship money.

This is at least the strategy I am employing We'll how it goes!

Does anybody have any experience withdrawing from a school after being accepted, and then reapplying to that school the following cycle???

I was in the same boat last year and asked this question to the forum... fat chance I prob can find the thread now. What I can tell you is that it sounds like a really good idea to defer from a school and retake your LSAT, so long as you let the school know your intentions. I did this and the school was fine with it. However, in the end, I withdrew from all my schools before I took the LSAT because I did not want to chance behaving "unethically" at a risk of passing the bar. It worked out for me, I took an LSAT class and jumped 6 points in my score... not much but the score jump, plus my added year of work experience, got me into some decent schools. Hope this helps!

sophia wrote:I was in the same boat last year and asked this question to the forum... fat chance I prob can find the thread now. What I can tell you is that it sounds like a really good idea to defer from a school and retake your LSAT, so long as you let the school know your intentions. I did this and the school was fine with it. However, in the end, I withdrew from all my schools before I took the LSAT because I did not want to chance behaving "unethically" at a risk of passing the bar. It worked out for me, I took an LSAT class and jumped 6 points in my score... not much but the score jump, plus my added year of work experience, got me into some decent schools. Hope this helps!

Did you use the same LOR, PS, etc, or did you get new ones?

shoop wrote:To be clear, you're asking whether you can keep one school (to which you've already been admitted) on the hook while you take a year to retake the LSAT and see if you can get into a better school?

i can't tell if this is meant to be sarcastic, but yes, that is exactly what i'm asking. out of the schools i've been accepted to, i wouldn't mind going to one of them, but like a lot of people, i do want to get into the best school possible. i felt that i underperformed on the lsat and could do better. if i end up screwing up the LSAT again, i'd rather go to one of the law schools i've been accepted to than not. my fear is that withdrawing and reapplying in a year will decrease my chances of getting in to those same schools if i end up getting around the same LSAT score. any validity in this fear?

sophia wrote:I was in the same boat last year and asked this question to the forum... fat chance I prob can find the thread now. What I can tell you is that it sounds like a really good idea to defer from a school and retake your LSAT, so long as you let the school know your intentions. I did this and the school was fine with it. However, in the end, I withdrew from all my schools before I took the LSAT because I did not want to chance behaving "unethically" at a risk of passing the bar. It worked out for me, I took an LSAT class and jumped 6 points in my score... not much but the score jump, plus my added year of work experience, got me into some decent schools. Hope this helps!

that's interesting that the law school did not mind when you told them that. another reason why i'd want to retake the lsat is to potentially increase scholly money at whichever school i'd defer at. do you think that's something schools are willing to do? i.e. reassess your scholarship package after a retake during you deferral?

I had an extremely similar situation last year. I got into a school somewhere on the west coast and asked to defer because of a situation with my job. I was happy to get into the school, especially with my low LSAT, but I also knew that I wanted to retake the test and reapply to higher ranked schools.

They were absolutely willing to let me defer the acceptance, which was non-binding, and all they wanted from me was a formal request. However, after some thought, I decided not to go through with the deferral. I guess the best reason was that the admissions office was so accommodating and friendly. I just sort of felt bad holding up one of the spots for this year's class knowing that the moment I got a better offer, I was going to jump ship.

In the end, it worked out for me. I got a MUCH higher LSAT and got into the best school in the region this year. (I wrote a new personal statement and updated the resume, but used all of the same letters of recommendation.)

minuit wrote:I was thinking of something along these lines, but then I just figured that if I wanted to retake the LSAT, and I was planning on waiting until next cycle anyway, then it may just be easier for all parties involved to simply reapply next cycle to the school instead of deferring. I assume that they'd re-accept you (that's a strong assumption, I hope it's true) because, even if you don't do better on the LSAT, you are the same candidate. And, if you DO do better on the LSAT, then you can re-apply to that school and perhaps get some scholarship money.

This is at least the strategy I am employing We'll how it goes!

Does anybody have any experience withdrawing from a school after being accepted, and then reapplying to that school the following cycle???

I only reapplied to one school this year that I got into last year, so this may not be representative. I was accepted off the waitlist last year. This year, I was accepted with almost a full ride scholarship. Taking that year off not only allowed me to collect my salary at my job this year, but I also made tens of thousands more through scholarships.

As others have said, some deferrals are binding.

For these, you have to sign that you have withdrawn from all your schools and you will NOT apply to any other schools in a subsequent admissions cycle during your deferral period.

Hi all, I need some advice as I am really stressing out... lol

I have a full ride from Brooklyn Law, but I freaked out when I realized I'd still owe about 100K in debt post graduation - to pay living costs in NYC. I am considering retaking the LSAT and applying to higher-ranked schools, which would offer better job outcomes. I am also on the waitlist at Duke, but I doubt I will get in...

What are your thoughts? Thank you so much!

dreamofNYC wrote:Hi all, I need some advice as I am really stressing out... lol

I have a full ride from Brooklyn Law, but I freaked out when I realized I'd still owe about 100K in debt post graduation - to pay living costs in NYC. I am considering retaking the LSAT and applying to higher-ranked schools, which would offer better job outcomes. I am also on the waitlist at Duke, but I doubt I will get in...

What are your thoughts? Thank you so much!

#s?

Regardless, I wouldn't go to Brooklyn under almost all circumstances (the only exception being fear/close to free and a guaranteed in writing job). Retake is likely your best option.

goldenflash19 wrote:

dreamofNYC wrote:Hi all, I need some advice as I am really stressing out... lol

I have a full ride from Brooklyn Law, but I freaked out when I realized I'd still owe about 100K in debt post graduation - to pay living costs in NYC. I am considering retaking the LSAT and applying to higher-ranked schools, which would offer better job outcomes. I am also on the waitlist at Duke, but I doubt I will get in...

What are your thoughts? Thank you so much!

#s?

Regardless, I wouldn't go to Brooklyn under almost all circumstances (the only exception being fear/close to free and a guaranteed in writing job). Retake is likely your best option.

Grad school at Columbia Univ. GPA 3.9, LSAT 163. I think I can do much better on LSAT next time around. Thanks so much for answering