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I posted before and got a few questions cleared up, but I have a whole new round of them. I'm a white male Accounting major/French minor at an SEC school with a 3.8 GPA. I took one practice LSAT and got a 160, hoping to raise that to low-mid 170s with a lot of practice. I have pretty decent softs (volunteer work, campus involvement, London School of Economics summer school), and I can write well when I need to (i.e. not this post).

Reaches: UVA, Georgetown, Cornell, Duke, Vandy
More realistic: UNC, Wake Forest, Emory, UGA, W&L, and Tennessee (in-state)

Here's where it gets tricky, though. I'm in my second year of undergrad, but I'm graduating Summer 2013. I didn't really want to, but there's no way to drag it out longer unless I add another major which I have no interest in. So I have a couple of dilemmas:

1. When should I apply? 2012-13 or 2013-14 cycle? I would be fine with taking a gap year and working in an accounting firm or law firm (assuming I could land some kind of grunt work position), but part of me thinks I might have no motivation to go back to LS after I've settled into the real world. If I apply in the 2012-2013 cycle, is it like undergrad applications where they would only see my GPA up until that point, and I can relax (at least a little bit) for my "senior" year once I'm accepted? In other words, say I finish this semester with a 4.0 and get a 3.85 cumulative. Would that be my official application GPA?

2. When should I take the LSAT for real? I just made the unfortunate discovery that they only offer Feb, June, October, and December. I could start a Kaplan course this month while my courseload is manageable and take it in June, but that seems rushed. If I take it for the first time in October, though, I have to apply late. That might put me at a disadvantage, especially for my reach schools. Or would that effectively shut the door for applying in the 2012-13 cycle?

3. Is going from a 160 to a 17x realistic? The 160 was the first time I had ever seen LSAT material in any form, and it was taken in a really relaxed setting with no preparation. But I still worry that I can't improve enough to wow T14 or even T25 admissions.

Sorry if this is a lot, but I really have no one else to ask. Thanks.

swag wrote:I posted before and got a few questions cleared up, but I have a whole new round of them. I'm a white male Accounting major/French minor at an SEC school with a 3.8 GPA. I took one practice LSAT and got a 160, hoping to raise that to low-mid 170s with a lot of practice. I have pretty decent softs (volunteer work, campus involvement, London School of Economics summer school), and I can write well when I need to (i.e. not this post).

Reaches: UVA, Georgetown, Cornell, Duke, Vandy
More realistic: UNC, Wake Forest, Emory, UGA, W&L, and Tennessee (in-state)

Here's where it gets tricky, though. I'm in my second year of undergrad, but I'm graduating Summer 2013. I didn't really want to, but there's no way to drag it out longer unless I add another major which I have no interest in. So I have a couple of dilemmas:

1. When should I apply? 2012-13 or 2013-14 cycle? I would be fine with taking a gap year and working in an accounting firm or law firm (assuming I could land some kind of grunt work position), but part of me thinks I might have no motivation to go back to LS after I've settled into the real world. If I apply in the 2012-2013 cycle, is it like undergrad applications where they would only see my GPA up until that point, and I can relax (at least a little bit) for my "senior" year once I'm accepted? In other words, say I finish this semester with a 4.0 and get a 3.85 cumulative. Would that be my official application GPA?

2. When should I take the LSAT for real? I just made the unfortunate discovery that they only offer Feb, June, October, and December. I could start a Kaplan course this month while my courseload is manageable and take it in June, but that seems rushed. If I take it for the first time in October, though, I have to apply late. That might put me at a disadvantage, especially for my reach schools. Or would that effectively shut the door for applying in the 2012-13 cycle?

3. Is going from a 160 to a 17x realistic? The 160 was the first time I had ever seen LSAT material in any form, and it was taken in a really relaxed setting with no preparation. But I still worry that I can't improve enough to wow T14 or even T25 admissions.

Sorry if this is a lot, but I really have no one else to ask. Thanks.

1. Apply whenever seems right for you. I took a year off before applying, and I feel like it was the best choice for me to have a break after UG. Plus, working for a year is seen as a major plus when applying to most schools.

2. I took mine in October and applied for this cycle, and still got in everywhere I wanted to. I planned to take the LSAT in June but didn't feel ready so I put it off a few more months. I think it is much more important to get your highest score than it is to have your applications in before October. If you had your applications ready and submitted right when you got your score, you would still be submitting early in the cycle. Most people say before Thanksgiving is on the early side of things.

3. I got a 157 on my first test and ended up with a 175 on the real thing. So, yes I think it's totally possible. I also studied for about 5 months, took a class, went through the Powerscore bibles, and took almost every practice test available. If you're willing to put in the time, you can get there. Also if you manage to get in the 170s with a 3.8, you're definitely going to get in to a T14.


Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions. Hope that helps!

swag wrote:I posted before and got a few questions cleared up, but I have a whole new round of them. I'm a white male Accounting major/French minor at an SEC school with a 3.8 GPA. I took one practice LSAT and got a 160, hoping to raise that to low-mid 170s with a lot of practice. I have pretty decent softs (volunteer work, campus involvement, London School of Economics summer school), and I can write well when I need to (i.e. not this post).

Reaches: UVA, Georgetown, Cornell, Duke, Vandy
More realistic: UNC, Wake Forest, Emory, UGA, W&L, and Tennessee (in-state)

Here's where it gets tricky, though. I'm in my second year of undergrad, but I'm graduating Summer 2013. I didn't really want to, but there's no way to drag it out longer unless I add another major which I have no interest in. So I have a couple of dilemmas:

1. When should I apply? 2012-13 or 2013-14 cycle? I would be fine with taking a gap year and working in an accounting firm or law firm (assuming I could land some kind of grunt work position), but part of me thinks I might have no motivation to go back to LS after I've settled into the real world. If I apply in the 2012-2013 cycle, is it like undergrad applications where they would only see my GPA up until that point, and I can relax (at least a little bit) for my "senior" year once I'm accepted? In other words, say I finish this semester with a 4.0 and get a 3.85 cumulative. Would that be my official application GPA?

2. When should I take the LSAT for real? I just made the unfortunate discovery that they only offer Feb, June, October, and December. I could start a Kaplan course this month while my courseload is manageable and take it in June, but that seems rushed. If I take it for the first time in October, though, I have to apply late. That might put me at a disadvantage, especially for my reach schools. Or would that effectively shut the door for applying in the 2012-13 cycle?

3. Is going from a 160 to a 17x realistic? The 160 was the first time I had ever seen LSAT material in any form, and it was taken in a really relaxed setting with no preparation. But I still worry that I can't improve enough to wow T14 or even T25 admissions.

Sorry if this is a lot, but I really have no one else to ask. Thanks.

Work on your GPA, but as of now, you have a very good GPA. Just keep it from dropping. Really, with a 170+, none of the schools you list are reaches.

1. Man, go 13-14. Take a year off, relax, take your time with your LSAT prep. You aren't going to have much of a life through LS and after LS, so might as well do something you want to do, like travel.

2. June a year before the cycle, then if you need to retake, you have Sept, and worse case Dec.

3. That should be easy. I did a cold test and got 151, studied 3 months, got a 162 (with a terrible testing center) retook after very light review, and got a 170. They say there is about a 10 point jump from your cold to your actual for most, but if you work at it, should not be a problem.