Retake and App timing questions -- 172/3.4/MA URM Forum

[christam]

I got a 172 in June. I was pt'ing higher than that and I feel I could improve if I choose to sit in October.

Would the increase (or decrease) significantly affect my options? What score would?

Will the decision to sit in October change when I should send in my apps? I want to be in the first wave of apps.

I plan on applying to the T6, UCB, Cornell, UCLA, USC, only.

Any comments would be appreciated!

[t-14orbust]

I think you're limiting your options by not applying to any t14 besides t6 b and cornell

[christam]

I think you're limiting your options by not applying to any t14 besides t6 b and cornell

I base that solely on not wanting to live/work outside of CA or NY. Please, enlighten me

I might apply to Georgetown just to hear what they have to say.

[chesterfan1230]

You'll get fee waivers for most of the T14. Apply anyways and use schools to negotiate scholarship amounts.

[Ti Malice]

You'll get fee waivers for most of the T14. Apply anyways and use schools to negotiate scholarship amounts.

Exactly. Apply to the entire T14. The point is to maximize your chances of receiving scholarship offers. You might get a great offer from a school you don't want to attend that you could nevertheless use as leverage in negotiations with your preferred schools.

If you think you could improve your score, go ahead and retake. MAs get a boost, but generally not a huge boost, and most (maybe all) T14 schools seem to go easier on reverse-splitter URMs than regular-splitter URMs. Adding a few points to your LSAT could really improve your chances at a number of schools.

[t-14orbust]

You'll get fee waivers for most of the T14. Apply anyways and use schools to negotiate scholarship amounts.

Exactly. Apply to the entire T14. The point is to maximize your chances of receiving scholarship offers. You might get a great offer from a school you don't want to attend that you could nevertheless use as leverage in negotiations with your preferred schools.

If you think you could improve your score, go ahead and retake. MAs get a boost, but generally not a huge boost, and most (maybe all) T14 schools seem to go easier on reverse-splitter URMs than regular-splitter URMs. Adding a few points to your LSAT could really improve your chances at a number of schools.

[Lavitz]

I base that solely on not wanting to live/work outside of CA or NY. Please, enlighten me

You know the rest of the T-14 have solid placement into NYC too, right?

Unless you meant you wouldn't even want to live outside NY or CA states during law school, but I doubt that since you're applying to Harvard, Yale and Chicago.

[christam]

I base that solely on not wanting to live/work outside of CA or NY. Please, enlighten me

You know the rest of the T-14 have solid placement into NYC too, right?

Unless you meant you wouldn't even want to live outside NY or CA states during law school, but I doubt that since you're applying to Harvard, Yale and Chicago.

You definitely make good points. I did mean that I wouldn't want to live outside of NY or CA but I wouldn't greatly mind Chicago/Boston and Yale is Yale so... haha

Any thoughts on retaking? and what changes that might have on my cycle? Would a few more points be the difference between in and out at the T6 or $$$?

[Lavitz]

You definitely make good points. I did mean that I wouldn't want to live outside of NY or CA but I wouldn't greatly mind Chicago/Boston and Yale is Yale so... haha

Any thoughts on retaking? and what changes that might have on my cycle? Would a few more points be the difference between in and out at the T6 or $$$?

In that case, I'm sorry but I have to ask: you know Cornell is located in Ithaca and not in NYC, right? There's a huge difference there, and that's why I'm not sure why you'd be willing to live in Ithaca just because it's in NY state, and not willing to live in Ann Arbor, Charlottesville, Durham, etc. Also, Northwestern is located in Chicago and they're known to be lenient on low GPAs.

I'll be attending Cornell in a few months, and I'm shooting for NYC Biglaw, but I still would've strongly considered Duke or Michigan if they had offered more money.

Anyway, URM cycles aren't my specialty, but I'll give it a try. That's already a great score for a URM. At Columbia's LSAT median and above everything below that. Unfortunately, there just aren't many data points for URMs with those numbers. Here's what I could come up with:

I broadened the range a little more than I would've liked in order to get at least a handful of datapoints. It's still such a small sample size that I don't think much can be drawn from it though. Probably in at NYU and Cornell though.

Personally, I would retake if my PT average was around 176. A higher LSAT would help with Columbia. I'm not sure about $$$. And for Columbia (and Yale), you could probably wait until you get your score to submit the app, and you'd still get your decision around the same time you would have if you applied on day 1. For the others (especially Berkeley), I would submit the app on day 1 and just make sure they receive the score later if they haven't made a decision by the time it comes out.

That's just my opinion.