3.75 GPA, 155 LSAT Go this year or Retake? Forum

[Jhausie]

I've been accepted to William Mitchell, Lewis and Clark (OR), Loyola (LA), Marquette, and Northeastern. I want to practice in the Midwest, but also want to receive the best education possible from an institution I can personally be proud of (University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, University of Iowa). I am waitlisted at the U of M and the jury is still out on Wisconsin and Iowa.

I'm 24 years old and have been out of school for a few years. Just returned from Afghanistan last June. Would need new letters of rec to reapply.

If I'm not accepted at any of these should I retake, or should I settle for one of the schools I've already been accepted to?

[PARTY]

RETAKE.

by waiting a year, retaking, and hopefully doing better, you can not worry about being accepted to any of those schools, not have to settle, get scholarship money, and have more doors open in terms of higher ranked schools.

your gpa is good. don't waste it.

[3ThrowAway99]

retake

[chill]

.

[Mr. Pancakes]

retake, no brainer. decent GPA, low LSAT = retake and profit.

[splitsplat]

Retake.
Get 168+
Get good/huge scholarship from WUSTL.
Profit.

[Jhausie]

Even if I'm already 24? I've already studied alot for the LSAT (took a class and everything), but I can definitely do more. If I apply again, where do I get my new letters of rec from. I've been out of school for a few years now and I've already used two of the profs I knew best.

[chill]

.

[Mal Reynolds]

Even if I'm already 24?

Your fifty-year-old self will will laugh at this thought. He will laugh in a good way if you study for another year and retake, which sets yourself up for greater financial freedom and better long term career prospects. He will laugh a depressing, lonely laugh if you go to a school that will accept a 155.

[Mr. Pancakes]

24 is still plenty young. You will have a shitload of people a lot older than you in your 1L class. The average age for people starting law school is around 25.

[hurldes]

Yes definitely retake. Especially if you've only taken a class and haven't done much independent self preparation. Buy the logic games and logical reasoning bibles and go through those if you haven't already. Then take 20-30 practice timed practice tests and go over them, figuring out your mistakes and correcting yourself.

If you have only done the 6-ish practice tests that Kaplan and similar LSAT prep companies typically make their students take, then you are performing at like 30% of your capacity. You can add 15 points to your LSAT score with a few months of hard study.

[Tiago Splitter]

Dude I sat out a year and retook the LSAT and I'm 28. Yeah I'll be collecting Social Security in just 38 short years, but I think the wait was worth it.

[Jhausie]

I studied for 4 months, 4-5 days a week, 3 hours a day. I took a course but also did self study and a few independent practice tests. Probably 9-10 practice tests in all, including the course and self study.

[splitsplat]

I studied for 4 months, 4-5 days a week, 3 hours a day. I took a course but also did self study and a few independent practice tests. Probably 9-10 practice tests in all, including the course and self study.

I forget how many, but there are, I think, at least 20 more practice tests for you to take. It also depends on why you scored lower. If it was a problem of time management, doing full practice tests under real test conditions is going to be a big help. If it was just not understanding questions then you also still have more material to cover and learn, which should also provide a boost after you finish learning the question types etc.

[Calchexas]

Jhaus, you sound like you are a hard-worker who just has troubles with the LSAT. Your situation (good GPR+mediocre LSAT) reminds me of my own a year ago, so I would wholeheartedly recommend that you retake!

However, don't let this talk about scoring 15 more points scare the crap out of you. Even if you score 3-10 more points, that will improve your odds of getting into better schools by a wide margin.

Of course, do as well as you possibly can, and work as hard as you can on improving. Still, know that as few as five points make the difference between you being a tier one and tier three applicant, so wait that year, and get cracking on a self-motivated LSAT prep program.

Good luck.

P.S. Splitsplat's right: take more practice tests. I got my average score from upper 140s to mid 160s because of this.

[sinisterkid]

You just returned from Afghanistan -- I hope your PS is centered around your experiences in a combat zone. Ask your bn commander/company commander to write you a LoR. Mine wrote phenomenal LoRs for me.

[mattviphky]

You can reuse your LORs. Yes, retake. Even if you just get a few points higher, a 160 will put you in a much better situation, if not for schools, at least for scholarship money. I was in your situation last year...RETAKE! Here is my story (but with a much lower gpa)
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6&t=149790

[spleenworship]

retake

[hyakku]

Even if I'm already 24?

Your fifty-year-old self will will laugh at this thought. He will laugh in a good way if you study for another year and retake, which sets yourself up for greater financial freedom and better long term career prospects. He will laugh a depressing, lonely laugh if you go to a school that will accept a 155.

Please this man. You've served our country, I'd hate to see you get fucked by debt later down the role because you settled. You can and will do better next year my man, and be looking at graduating with little to no debt. And really, what's better, being a 28 Year old working your ass off to pay off 200k in a likely mediocre job, or being a 29 Year old banking 60-70k a year because you've got no debt and no worries? Keep in mind Michigan generally seems to give extra attention, aid and financial help to veterans IIRC, so that's a T14 to definitely look into.

Thank you for risking your life as well in service for our nation, regardless of my position on the war, it's much appreciated.

[spleenworship]

Even if I'm already 24?

Your fifty-year-old self will will laugh at this thought. He will laugh in a good way if you study for another year and retake, which sets yourself up for greater financial freedom and better long term career prospects. He will laugh a depressing, lonely laugh if you go to a school that will accept a 155.

Please this man. You've served our country, I'd hate to see you get fucked by debt later down the role because you settled. You can and will do better next year my man, and be looking at graduating with little to no debt. And really, what's better, being a 28 Year old working your ass off to pay off 200k in a likely mediocre job, or being a 29 Year old banking 60-70k a year because you've got no debt and no worries? Keep in mind Michigan generally seems to give extra attention, aid and financial help to veterans IIRC, so that's a T14 to definitely look into.

Thank you for risking your life as well in service for our nation, regardless of my position on the war, it's much appreciated.

If it hasn't already been mentioned, don't forget Northeastern either- work experience in the military would help you out. Just get yourself a high LSAT.

[mattviphky]

If it hasn't already been mentioned, don't forget NorthWEstern either- work experience in the military would help you out. Just get yourself a high LSAT.

Fixed

[spleenworship]

If it hasn't already been mentioned, don't forget NorthWEstern either- work experience in the military would help you out. Just get yourself a high LSAT.

Fixed

Ugh... Sorry.... Not enough coffee yet