Should I retake? Forum

[lsacqueen]

I just took the December LSAT and have a bad feeling about it. I ran out of time on almost every section so had to guess 2 or 3. Didn't feel great about the last lg, and allowed myself to get bogged down in the 3rd rc passage.... to the point where I had only 5 minutes left for the HAMF science passage with 8 questions!! It was my first official test, and I have taken 16 practice tests - diag 162, last score 174, with the average being 169-170.
Since I have a pretty bad feeling about this test, I'm guessing best-case scenario, I get a 170, worst case low 160s....

Hypothetically, if I waited for the score and found out I got ~165 and have a 3.8 and good softs, which T14 schools would I have a good chance of getting into?

Should I cancel the score? Or should I hope for the best and retake in February? BTW I'm applying NEXT cycle, not this one.

[thelawyler]

Do you normally run out of time? If not, I'd cancel and retake. Then again, retakes really do not hurt you even if you have a score on record, so its really up to you. I took it three times and my current cycle is going pretty well so far.

[ahduth]

You seem to want to cancel and retake.

So... why not? If you think you'll do better, that's sort of the whole story, right?

[somewhatwayward]

you should retake. just based on your description, it sounds like there were a lot of questions you had to guess on or finish really quickly (like the eight RC questions in the last five minutes). that doesn't bode well bc you probably made some other mistakes (just the nature of the beast). when i took my LSAT, i finished all the sections but still got a 171 just bc of mistakes i made. of course maybe you were more accurate in the questions you did answer bc you spent more time on them.

basically there's no reason not to retake

ETA: i would probably also cancel in your situation bc i think it's very unlikely that you got a score you'd be happy with...oh, and i don't think you can get into the T14 with a 165/3.8 unless you're a URM....also, when you prepare for your next LSAT, focus a lot on getting the timing down

[JDizzle2015]

i don't think you can get into the T14 with a 165/3.8 unless you're a URM

I agree.

I also think it would be smart to cancel in your situation. If you were applying this cycle, I'd recommend seeing your score since Feb isn't really an option. However, since you're applying next year anyways and you sound like you know you underperformed, I think canceling is the right call.

[pupshaw]

Another vote for cancel and retake.

When I took my first real LSAT, I had a similarly bad feeling and sure enough wound up with a score several points lower than my PT average. Retook and improved by 9 points. Since you have plenty of time until next cycle, just give yourself another crack at it. Also, if you cancel now, you can still do a third retake if you're not crazy about your next score.

[crit_racer]

Don't cancel. Post-LSAT jitters is all. I'm sure you did better than you think. Also, there's really just not that much of a benefit to cancelling...

EDIT: not saying don't retake, just not to cancel this score. Besides, you still have 2 tries after this even w/o cancelling.

[lsacqueen]

Thanks for all the responses, guys. It seems like the consensus is saying cancel and retake. I think I will definitely retake, but I sort of want to see what I got anyway. Would it kill me to wait and find out and have a potentially low score be on my record, assuming my retake is several points higher?

[thelawyler]

Thanks for all the responses, guys. It seems like the consensus is saying cancel and retake. I think I will definitely retake, but I sort of want to see what I got anyway. Would it kill me to wait and find out and have a potentially low score be on my record, assuming my retake is several points higher?

It won't really kill you unless you want HYS later on (and with a 3.8, it's not impossible). Sent you PM with more details regarding my own experience.