Top Law Schools

Any speculation on how schools view applicants that have taken the LSAT once. I have seen the threads where admissions officers are quoted as saying their school averages the tests, they only consider the highest score, etc. I am more wondering if the cycle of a hypothetical person with a 172 would look more like the cycle of a multiple test taker with a 174.

IMO, that's going to depend on what the other score was that the 174 received and what the reasons behind the alternative LSAT score were.

For example, if the person had a 173 then a 174, then no, the 172 looks worse. However, if it was a 161 and then a 174, then things start to get more difficult to determine. Maybe it's been 6 years and a PhD later that person scored the 174. Or, maybe it's only been two months.

Bottom line, it's a case by case situation. You want to get the highest score you can the FIRST time around.

thelawschoolproject wrote:IMO, that's going to depend on what the other score was that the 174 received and what the reasons behind the alternative LSAT score were.

For example, if the person had a 173 then a 174, then no, the 172 looks worse. However, if it was a 161 and then a 174, then things start to get more difficult to determine. Maybe it's been 6 years and a PhD later that person scored the 174. Or, maybe it's only been two months.

Bottom line, it's a case by case situation. You want to get the highest score you can the FIRST time around.

I took it once and I did fine. I am just entering my cycle and would like to understand where I stand compared to applicants on LSN, etc.

By and large a better score is going to be better. A first time 173 is going to be better than retake 173, but a 173 will probably always be better than a 170.

The discrepancy could come if someone has taken the thing like 4 times over a 2 year period and goes 159, 161, 158, 173. A school would probably look at that with a little more scrutiny.

Since USNWR and the ABA only care about the highest score though, most schools aren't going to be any pickier than they have to be.

Some of the top law schools do average or "consider" multiple scores.

Scroll down in this link for school-specific policies, and check the schools' websites for the latest info:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/retaking-the-lsat.html

I think the only way this could be a consideration is if both applicants' top scores are above the 75th. If a school's range is 166-171 and one guy has a 172 and the other guy has a 165 and a 174, there might be a different result than if one has a 170 and the other is 165/172

LSAT Blog wrote:Some of the top law schools do average or "consider" multiple scores.

Scroll down in this link for school-specific policies, and check the schools' websites for the latest info:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/retaking-the-lsat.html

Does anyone know if this is still current info?

coldshoulder wrote:

LSAT Blog wrote:Some of the top law schools do average or "consider" multiple scores.

Scroll down in this link for school-specific policies, and check the schools' websites for the latest info:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/retaking-the-lsat.html

Does anyone know if this is still current info?

Not definitively, but if anything, schools have probably gotten looser

I doubt schools, with the possible exception of T6, will admit a 172 one time LSAT versus a 165/173, with everything else being equal. They might have had that luxury a couple of years ago, but with the decreased number of LSATs administered, they'll probably take what they can to maintain medians without drastically decreasing class size.

There were ~300 less +170 scorers between the Class of 2013 and 2014. With 18% less people taking the 2011 June LSAT over last year, if that trend continues for the Oct/Dec tests, that's possibly 500-600 less +170 scorers for the 2015 Class.

zozin wrote:

There were ~300 less +170 scorers between the Class of 2013 and 2014. With 18% less people taking the 2011 June LSAT over last year, if that trend continues for the Oct/Dec tests, that's possibly 500-600 less +170 scorers for the 2015 Class.

In a typical year do more people take the October or June LSAT? or is there no difference?

sumner wrote:

zozin wrote:

There were ~300 less +170 scorers between the Class of 2013 and 2014. With 18% less people taking the 2011 June LSAT over last year, if that trend continues for the Oct/Dec tests, that's possibly 500-600 less +170 scorers for the 2015 Class.

In a typical year do more people take the October or June LSAT? or is there no difference?

http://www.lsac.org/LSACResources/Data/ ... stered.asp

.

Would schools even see LSAT scores that are more than 5 years old? If so, would these older scores be factored into admissions decisions at all?