ery low lsat score Forum

[packmomma]

I am 38 years old and got a 3.0 but got a 139 on the lsat. do i have a chance? I cant retake it because it is to late and Im not sure I could raise it anyway. ugh I really hate the lsat

[FlanAl]

i guess i'll be the first to say that if you can't re-take you probably shouldn't go to law school

[stintez]

did you even study???

[akili]

I normally disapprove of this response, but

RETAKE. (if this isn't a poorly crafted flame)

[taxguy]

Folks, have a bit more sympathy. My son studied for the LSAT like mad. He took the powerscore virtual course. He studied all of the PowerScore bibles. He took 15 or more live LSAT tests and got a 144 and 146 respectively. It happens. Not everyone is going to test well regardless of the amount of studying that they do for the test.

[stintez]

Folks, have a bit more sympathy. My son studied for the LSAT like mad. He took the powerscore virtual course. He studied all of the PowerScore bibles. He took 15 or more live LSAT tests and got a 144 and 146 respectively. It happens. Not everyone is going to test well regardless of the amount of studying that they do for the test.

still the question remains did the OP study yes or no, we're not picking on them

[SilverE2]

Folks, have a bit more sympathy. My son studied for the LSAT like mad. He took the powerscore virtual course. He studied all of the PowerScore bibles. He took 15 or more live LSAT tests and got a 144 and 146 respectively. It happens. Not everyone is going to test well regardless of the amount of studying that they do for the test.

Then he probably shouldn't go to law school. We're not being particularly unsympathetic...

[glewz]

Folks, have a bit more sympathy. My son studied for the LSAT like mad. He took the powerscore virtual course. He studied all of the PowerScore bibles. He took 15 or more live LSAT tests and got a 144 and 146 respectively. It happens. Not everyone is going to test well regardless of the amount of studying that they do for the test.

Then he probably shouldn't go to law school. We're not being particularly unsympathetic...

If this is crushing someone's dreams after a ton of $ and time investment, then yes, such a view is not sympathetic.

[stintez]

Folks, have a bit more sympathy. My son studied for the LSAT like mad. He took the powerscore virtual course. He studied all of the PowerScore bibles. He took 15 or more live LSAT tests and got a 144 and 146 respectively. It happens. Not everyone is going to test well regardless of the amount of studying that they do for the test.

Then he probably shouldn't go to law school. We're not being particularly unsympathetic...

If this is crushing someone's dreams after a ton of $ and time investment, then yes, such a view is not sympathetic.

not to be particuarly unsympathetic but its better that it happens now instead of 3 years and 150k of debt later.

[kapital98]

Do you have extensive work experience? If you have great soft factors you could always apply to some 4th tier schools.

Most likely they will all reject you. In that case look to see if you can get accepted to a non-ABA approved law school. You're not going to get much in the way of job offers but you will eventually be able to take the bar exam (depending on the state.)

If you can just get that score up to a 145 that would help you tremendously (and it is incredibly easy to do if you put in at least 50 hours of studying.)

For some schools, especially non-ABA approved, the LSAT is a formality.


[Note: If you choose to go to a T4 or non-ABA accredited school pay special attention to debt. Your going to be making near the bottom of the legal field. Most people go to non-ABA schools in order to become more versatile in their current profession (like real estate)]

[Sandro]

He asked if he had a chance. The answer is yes, you have a chance at some schools. Whether or not it makes sense to attend them is a different question which the op/flame didnt ask.

[stintez]

He asked if he had a chance. The answer is yes, you have a chance at some schools. Whether or not it makes sense to attend them is a different question which the op/flame didnt ask.

+1 good point

[packmomma]

I actually did do alot of prep but then I canceled my October LSAT test and took the december lsat wothout prepping for over a month, why I did that I have no clue. I cant retake it because I wanted to apply for fall 2011 and not wait another year untill 2012. If I were in my 20s then another year wouldnt seem so long. I also sorta have an undiagnosed dislexia issue that made some things a little harder. My anxiety was through the roof the day of the test and I went completely blank and blindly guessed on 75% of the test. I really want to pimp slap myself, ugghhhh

[packmomma]

By the way What the heck is a flame? This is my first forum entry ever

[stintez]

I actually did do alot of prep but then I canceled my October LSAT test and took the december lsat wothout prepping for over a month, why I did that I have no clue. I cant retake it because I wanted to apply for fall 2011 and not wait another year untill 2012. If I were in my 20s then another year wouldnt seem so long. I also sorta have an undiagnosed dislexia issue that made some things a little harder. My anxiety was through the roof the day of the test and I went completely blank and blindly guessed on 75% of the test. I really want to pimp slap myself, ugghhhh

study as hard as you can for as much as you can and take the feb one you are bound to do at least in the low to mid 140s.

[dabears1]

By the way What the heck is a flame? This is my first forum entry ever

It's something you're not doing very well here.

[glewz]

Folks, have a bit more sympathy. My son studied for the LSAT like mad. He took the powerscore virtual course. He studied all of the PowerScore bibles. He took 15 or more live LSAT tests and got a 144 and 146 respectively. It happens. Not everyone is going to test well regardless of the amount of studying that they do for the test.

Then he probably shouldn't go to law school. We're not being particularly unsympathetic...

If this is crushing someone's dreams after a ton of $ and time investment, then yes, such a view is not sympathetic.

not to be particuarly unsympathetic but its better that it happens now instead of 3 years and 150k of debt later.

LSAT = .16 correlation with 1L scores. And you need to acknowledge a person's background before making a "probably shouldn't go to law school" recommendation.

Edit: In this case...1 month no study prior to Dec test? --> less sympathy..sorry. OP, take the February test & throw that score at schools that waitlist you. If you think about it, you got around 30-40 questions right - there's a lot of room for improvement

[amorfati]

I'm not positive, but I think you could get an accommodation for dyslexia. I've heard they're not looked upon too favorably in the higher ranked schools, but at the end of the day I think you would probably be better off with an accommodation and an addendum about your dyslexia than a low score.

[kapital98]

You can still sign up for the February test. Signing up late means you have to pay an extra $68. You have until the 18th.

http://www.lsac.org/jd/lsat/test-dates-us-feb11.asp

In a perfect world I would highly discourage from taking the February test. You have only 3 weeks to study and little/no working memory of the test.

However, taking the test in February, relatively unprepared, is far superior to keeping your score or going to a non-ABA approved school. Right now your best case scenario is getting into a T4 school and then paying ~$120-150K on school because your LSAT is too low to get any scholarship money.

PLEASE: Sign up for the February test and study your ass off for the next 3-4 weeks. You will surely increase your score to at least the high 140's.

P.S. The Powerscore Logical Reasoning/Logic Games set takes ~3 weeks to complete. Add some new preptests (ex: 60/61) and you will certainly improve you score.

P.S.S. Talk about your dsylexia in your personal statement. How you have overcome obstacles (like getting a high 140's/low 150's on the LSAT...)

[SilverE2]

Then he probably shouldn't go to law school. We're not being particularly unsympathetic...

If this is crushing someone's dreams after a ton of $ and time investment, then yes, such a view is not sympathetic.

not to be particuarly unsympathetic but its better that it happens now instead of 3 years and 150k of debt later.

LSAT = .16 correlation with 1L scores. And you need to acknowledge a person's background before making a "probably shouldn't go to law school" recommendation.

Edit: In this case...1 month no study prior to Dec test? --> less sympathy..sorry. OP, take the February test & throw that score at schools that waitlist you. If you think about it, you got around 30-40 questions right - there's a lot of room for improvement

Which happens to be the single highest correlating factor. Add GPA to that equation and the correlation increases even higher. Look, I'm awful at math, I can't calculate myself out of a wet paper bag. Does that mean I. Should become an engineer? Absolutely not, even if its my dream. Sometimes it really is time to face reality...

[akili]

It's not about whether she would be a good lawyer, but with that GPA and that LSAT score she will go in to huge amounts of debt for crap employment prospects. We aren't talking even TTTT...

[amers73]

Which happens to be the single highest correlating factor. Add GPA to that equation and the correlation increases even higher. Look, I'm awful at math, I can't calculate myself out of a wet paper bag. Does that mean I. Should become an engineer? Absolutely not, even if its my dream. Sometimes it really is time to face reality...

+1 unfortunate but I have to agree.

[ClayDavis]

If you have a job - any job - do not leave it to go to law school.

[M&A621]

i guess i'll be the first to say that if you can't re-take you probably shouldn't go to law school

[glewz]

Which happens to be the single highest correlating factor. Add GPA to that equation and the correlation increases even higher. Look, I'm awful at math, I can't calculate myself out of a wet paper bag. Does that mean I shouldn't become an engineer? Absolutely not, even if its my dream. Sometimes it really is time to face reality...

The 1L grade correlation is minuscule at 0.16, and in OP's case (38 years old) GPA's additional value is nil. That the LSAT is the highest measurable correlating factor does not say very much btw...it's like commending a person for being the tallest among midgets (no offense to midgets)

And really..if you're bad at math, you can be a damn good engineer - many many friends & close relations of mine would prove my point here.

It's not about whether she would be a good lawyer, but with that GPA and that LSAT score she will go in to huge amounts of debt for crap employment prospects. We aren't talking even TTTT...

I agree, which is why I said that we need to consider a person's background before making a recommendation against entirely pursuing a dream. In this case, I think we have enough information to say that OP should study harder.