SERIOUS ADVICE Forum

[xcpriss06]

I have a serious issue, and I can't seem to make a decision for myself so I wanted to see if any wise people out there could give me some serious advice. I am in a bit of a predicament as far as law school is concerned. I just graduated from school and I've been wanting to be a lawyer since as long as I can remember. I studied for the LSAT for a considerable amount of time, at one point scoring as high as 170 on a test. I am a female as well as a URM, with a 3.69 GPA. I just took the Dec 2010 LSAT, and was really sick on the day of the test...in OCT I had to postpone the test because I ended up having surgery on the day of the test because of some complications...obviously luck has not been on my side for this, but that's life. Anyways, my issue is that I was so ill on the day of the test that I had an emotional breakdown. I can say that I felt confident about all the sections but the last one, which happened to be games...my weak point. I was so nervous that my illness would interfere that I think I allowed it to do so.

Looking back now I am trying to gouge what my score could potentially be, and I really have no idea...I ran out of time on the last section after my flip out, granted the games section was unusually hard, regardless I had to guess on about ten in the section alone. I would say anywhere from 150-160 but I have no idea...

My dilemma is wether or not to cancel the score, I have until tomorrow...or to keep it and retake, and postpone law school for another year.

If I postpone I would teach english in South Korea for a year...which would also give me peace of mind in school as far as money goes.

SO that you understand my predicament I want to go to a top school...which is why my LSAT score needs to be solid, but I don't know that one bad one and one good one would hurt me...ADVICE????

[Mce252]

Well, you say 150 to 160 but you have no idea. Which is it? If you know you didn't do well, then cancel and teach. If you could have potentially done fine, take the score and gamble on whether you teach and retake or whether you end up applying with a decent score.

[iagolives]

Wow, that's rough. I'm sorry to hear that.

Honestly, I would cancel, teach for a year, and try again. Not only will you be in a better place (hopefully) when you take it again, but you will be on a bit better footing (it sounds like) financially as well. Also, as someone who did not do this, I think its good to work for a least a year before going in. Besides giving you more to write about on your PS, I think that year after undergrad is important developmentally to us as people and that, if you work and then go to law school, you will probably have a bit more perspective and not be swallowed up as much by 1L. This isn't true for everyone, but I think its true more times than not. Granted, not everyone can stop going to school and find a job in this economy, but since it seems like this won't be a problem for you, I would go with it. Worse case scenario, you get the same score after taking it again, and get into the same school you would have, but have the benefit of letting the economy have another year to get stroonger.

Just my $0.02. Good luck with your decision.

[edgnarly]

Taking a year off of school won't hurt you. Especially if you gain life experience and some good cold hard cash. Being in S. Korea gives you something interesting to talk about (hopefully not, "My experience when the Korean War began again"). You take a while and get ready to take the LSAT, you come in totally prepared, and you crush it. I don't think you loose anything by doing that.

Keep the score and see what you get. Most places seem to take your highest score anyway.

[glitched]

Urm teaching English in south Korea? You don't need to know Korean to teach there? Lol I am Korean American and I somewhat conversant but still wouldn't feel comfortable to teach/live there.... lol but anyway... was that first test a cancel or no show?

[Pleasye]

If you're guessing that your score was anything from 150-160 and you were testing way higher than that I would say cancel your score and take the year off. You have a solid GPA but even a low 160's score won't really get you into a top school. I didn't do well in October either and am retaking in February and taking another year off. It was a hard decision but as of now I think I made the right one. Good luck with making your decision!

[xcpriss06]

That is all great advice. I appreciate it...my fear was that a low score could not be overcame regardless of a significantly higher...as far as scholarships.