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I didn't retake in Oct/Dec because I really wanted schools to go ahead and assess my application with my current score (for fear that I would do worse, etc).

But now I am curious-- how would a February retake effect applications that

1. have already been accepted (could a school take away your acceptance if you do worse?? could this leverage scholly $ if you do better, assuming there is any left?)

2. waitlists- this is what I'm assuming a retake would help the most. Any improvement at all would help, right?

3. dings. If you are dinged, and you do WAY better, can you petition to be reconsidered?

4. pending. If a school hasn't responded (and you submitted in October)-- it's probably a bad sign anyways, and a retake couldn't really hurt, right? Or would this just make them hold off looking at my app even longer? And doing worse COULD hurt?

TYIA for any info

I really think you should have retaken in October or December. However, since you did not, you should only retake in February if you know you will do better. Which may just mean really committing to studying.

1. I don't think it would affect schools you've already gotten into, but again, you shouldn't retake unless you know you'll do better. I do think it could help you with regard to scholarship money.

2. I agree with you here. I think retakes help most with waitlists.

3. I don't know the answer to this, but I feel like you may have to reapply the next year. You would probably need to contact individual schools for the answer to this though.

4. Eh. Again, you shouldn't retake unless you know you'll do better. That should not be your concern going in. But just because you're pending doesn't necessarily mean you've been dinged, it just means you weren't auto-admit. Different schools have different policies in place with rolling admissions. Sometimes it means you get put in a pile for a while and not reconsidered until a particular date. I wouldn't assume that just because you're pending it means you won't get in.

Where are you in your cycle? Are there any acceptances you're happy with? Are you on a frustrating amount of waitlists? This would all play into whether or not you should retake in February. As a side note, you should be getting dinged some places, if no one is dinging you, you didn't really apply to reaches.

I haven't been dinged anywhere yet, but its very early and I have only heard back from 2 of my reaches. I'll prob get my first ding on Friday from Illinois. I'm going to see what happens with my top schools (UGA, UNC, Illinois, CU) first, but if I get mostly WL or ding, I'm leaning towards the retake. I would be happy going to UF, but I'm still dream-chasing I guess.

So far my cycle looks like:
W&L-WL
Iowa-Prelim.WL
UF-IN
FSU-IN
Tennessee-IN
Kentucky-IN
Miami-IN
Stetson-IN

edit: Also, I will obv TRY to do better. Some people just don't though, even when PTing much higher. This scares me!

Retake only if you are able and willing to devote significant time to studying. None of the things you listed in your post will even apply if you don't improve your score.

Having said that, February retake adds the least value to your application. On LSN there is plenty of people from past cycles who had very strong numbers in some schools but were WL/Rejected, often the reason is a February retake.


Your absolute best bet would be to take a year off, but since you'll be happy to attend a school you already got an accenpatace to I guess that's not something you want to do.

Ragged wrote:Retake only if you are able and willing to devote significant time to studying. None of the things you listed in your post will even apply if you don't improve your score.

Having said that, February retake adds the least value to your application. On LSN there is plenty of people from past cycles who had very strong numbers in some schools but were WL/Rejected, often the reason is a February retake.


Your absolute best bet would be to take a year off, but since you'll be happy to attend a school you already got an accenpatace to I guess that's not something you want to do.

Okay, the questions really is if I do WORSE will it hurt me? Thats really the bottom line. I know that a retake is only really justified by doing BETTER, but doing worse could happen-- easily, and it does to a lot of people.

Barbie wrote:

Ragged wrote:Retake only if you are able and willing to devote significant time to studying. None of the things you listed in your post will even apply if you don't improve your score.

Having said that, February retake adds the least value to your application. On LSN there is plenty of people from past cycles who had very strong numbers in some schools but were WL/Rejected, often the reason is a February retake.


Your absolute best bet would be to take a year off, but since you'll be happy to attend a school you already got an accenpatace to I guess that's not something you want to do.

Okay, the questions really is if I do WORSE will it hurt me? Thats really the bottom line. I know that a retake is only really justified by doing BETTER, but doing worse could happen-- easily, and it does to a lot of people.

I don't think it will because the only way schools find out your LSAT (or updated one) would be if you submit it to them, or apply fresh and lsac sends it.

txadv11 wrote:

Barbie wrote:

Ragged wrote:Retake only if you are able and willing to devote significant time to studying. None of the things you listed in your post will even apply if you don't improve your score.

Having said that, February retake adds the least value to your application. On LSN there is plenty of people from past cycles who had very strong numbers in some schools but were WL/Rejected, often the reason is a February retake.


Your absolute best bet would be to take a year off, but since you'll be happy to attend a school you already got an accenpatace to I guess that's not something you want to do.

Okay, the questions really is if I do WORSE will it hurt me? Thats really the bottom line. I know that a retake is only really justified by doing BETTER, but doing worse could happen-- easily, and it does to a lot of people.

I don't think it will because the only way schools find out your LSAT (or updated one) would be if you submit it to them, or apply fresh and lsac sends it.

Really? I thought that they get your new LSAT automatically.


In any case, it probably will not hurt you at all because the schools you are applying to will only look at the highest LSAT. Downside risk is minimal.

What if you get on WL at a reach, but score lower. Would you be better off in your original position on the WL or would the lower score bump you down a notch?

I doubt it would hurt you.

Are you looking to get into a better school, or just to get more money? If so, you could be faced with a conundrum. If you improve significantly on the LSAT, you'd need to decide whether to go to W&L for no money - because by that point almost all the cash has been allocated. Getting money from your other schools that have already accepted you could be a challenge too.

However, if improve your score and delay your cycle by a year, you open up the prospect of a better school plus money.

albanach wrote:I doubt it would hurt you.

Are you looking to get into a better school, or just to get more money? If so, you could be faced with a conundrum. If you improve significantly on the LSAT, you'd need to decide whether to go to W&L for no money - because by that point almost all the cash has been allocated. Getting money from your other schools that have already accepted you could be a challenge too.

However, if improve your score and delay your cycle by a year, you open up the prospect of a better school plus money.

Its not really for W&L, moreso for UGA/CU/UNC/Illinois... if by some chance I get a WL

Ragged wrote:
Really? I thought that they get your new LSAT automatically.


In any case, it probably will not hurt you at all because the schools you are applying to will only look at the highest LSAT. Downside risk is minimal.

This.

I'm curious about this too, Barbie. I have gotten in one place (American, think that I won't get a scholly and therefore definitely do not want to go) and got waitlisted at Fordham. Right now, I have 3.47/164, but I was PT'ing in 170's before I took it in June 2010. I am REALLY considering retaking in February and if I do MUCH better (170s) applying again next cycle to better schools or possibly hunting for some scholarship money. However, I am slightly concerned about what would happen if I do worse? Will most schools still take the 164, or will they consider the more recent score more heavily?


PS Another reason the retake is so tempting is that I got LR -4 (combined), RC -3, and LG -14. Damn!

r6_philly wrote:What if you get on WL at a reach, but score lower. Would you be better off in your original position on the WL or would the lower score bump you down a notch?

It would probably hurt alittle, but it would help alot more if you get a better score. And I know you mean HLS, and I think with your stats you pretty much have to retake if you want to have a chance.

I did my re-take in February for last year's cycle, so take this FWIW:

Feb retakes don't help except for money or the next cycle. I regret not re-taking December last year and waiting until Feb because there were schools I would have gotten into in January that I wasn't getting into in April. Unless you're doing it for $$$ or want to apply next year, I would advise against a February re-take.

Ragged wrote:

r6_philly wrote:What if you get on WL at a reach, but score lower. Would you be better off in your original position on the WL or would the lower score bump you down a notch?

It would probably hurt alittle, but it would help alot more if you get a better score. And I know you mean HLS, and I think with your stats you pretty much have to retake if you want to have a chance.

It's only a dream... I think I am unwilling to reapply another cycle at this point. Maybe I will take it in June if I get on the WL? Maybe I should just make more realistic plans haha.

can schools rescind admission offers based on a new lsat score?

r6_philly wrote:

Ragged wrote:

r6_philly wrote:What if you get on WL at a reach, but score lower. Would you be better off in your original position on the WL or would the lower score bump you down a notch?

It would probably hurt alittle, but it would help alot more if you get a better score. And I know you mean HLS, and I think with your stats you pretty much have to retake if you want to have a chance.

It's only a dream... I think I am unwilling to reapply another cycle at this point. Maybe I will take it in June if I get on the WL? Maybe I should just make more realistic plans haha.

The baby in your tar grew up! So cute!

lbeezy wrote:
The baby in your tar grew up! So cute!

Thanks! 18 months now!

..

r6_philly wrote:

Ragged wrote:

r6_philly wrote:What if you get on WL at a reach, but score lower. Would you be better off in your original position on the WL or would the lower score bump you down a notch?

It would probably hurt alittle, but it would help alot more if you get a better score. And I know you mean HLS, and I think with your stats you pretty much have to retake if you want to have a chance.

It's only a dream... I think I am unwilling to reapply another cycle at this point. Maybe I will take it in June if I get on the WL? Maybe I should just make more realistic plans haha.

What about February? If you get 175+ you should have a good shot I think.

Errr I meant February.

Ragged wrote:
What about February? If you get 175+ you should have a good shot I think.

Errr I meant February.

You think? Maybe I will take a couple of tests during the break and see. I don't really want to take any chances, so I would only do it if I get into my targets. Besides if I am still hanging maybe they will hold my file for the new score. I will test it out I suppose.