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Should I wait for retake score or submit now and update?

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 5:27 am
by lurkerrr
My stats now are: 165/3.78
I'm pretty confident I can get a 170+ in September (misbubbled in June and didn't find out till I got my score :shock: ) The thing is the earlier the better, so should I wait for my retake score, which will be around mid-late October, and then submit all my applications or can I at least submit to some of my target schools and update them with my new score once it's out? When will they normally make a decision? My concern is that they will probably reject/wl me even before I get my retake score..

P.S. I have got all my Personal Statement/Diversity Statement/Optional Essays/LoRs ready.

My target schools are: CLS, NYU, Penn, UVA, Michigan, Northwestern

so above all: wait? or submit some of my applications?

Re: Should I wait for retake score or submit now and update?

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 9:55 am
by whitespider
Wait. Definitely wait.

Re: Should I wait for retake score or submit now and update?

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 10:02 am
by pylon
I'd wait. Applying immediately once you have your new score in mid-late October isn't going to do you any harm, as it's still pretty early in the cycle.

Re: Should I wait for retake score or submit now and update?

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 12:12 pm
by lilkrnq
whitespider wrote:Wait. Definitely wait.
I'm curious about this too. Waiting until near end of October is something I understand but what about for December? Anybody have thoughts?

Re: Should I wait for retake score or submit now and update?

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 12:24 pm
by Nomo
If you think you can get above 170, but you only have a 165 then you shouldn't apply until you get to 170 or until you've used up all your retakes. And December isn't that late anymore. Take your time. Apply in December if you have a 170 at that time. Take the LSAT a third time and wait until next year if you don't.

Re: Should I wait for retake score or submit now and update?

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 12:15 am
by iVi
Nomo wrote:If you think you can get above 170, but you only have a 165 then you shouldn't apply until you get to 170 or until you've used up all your retakes. And December isn't that late anymore. Take your time. Apply in December if you have a 170 at that time. Take the LSAT a third time and wait until next year if you don't.
As someone who will be taking the Dec. LSAT in Korea (retaking a 169 from June, for personal reasons cannot take Oct. test), I won't have my new score until Jan. 5th. Although I'm confident in getting a better score (averaged 174 on +30 PTs),
this seems pretty late to be submitting applications,

Thoughts? Is January considered late enough to hurt one's chances?

Re: Should I wait for retake score or submit now and update?

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 7:30 am
by pylon
iVi wrote:
Nomo wrote:If you think you can get above 170, but you only have a 165 then you shouldn't apply until you get to 170 or until you've used up all your retakes. And December isn't that late anymore. Take your time. Apply in December if you have a 170 at that time. Take the LSAT a third time and wait until next year if you don't.
As someone who will be taking the Dec. LSAT in Korea (retaking a 169 from June, for personal reasons cannot take Oct. test), I won't have my new score until Jan. 5th. Although I'm confident in getting a better score (averaged 174 on +30 PTs),
this seems pretty late to be submitting applications,

Thoughts? Is January considered late enough to hurt one's chances?
It's late, but it's not the end of the world... and if you're able to perform at your PT level, the late app mid-170 will outweigh the early app 169. I'd advise having your application completely ready so that when Jan 5th comes around you submit immediately.

Re: Should I wait for retake score or submit now and update?

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 11:25 am
by iVi
[/quote] It's late, but it's not the end of the world... and if you're able to perform at your PT level, the late app mid-170 will outweigh the early app 169. I'd advise having your application completely ready so that when Jan 5th comes around you submit immediately.[/quote]

Thanks for the response. Is it better to wait until the score is released to submit the app? I was considering submitting the app and notifying schools that I'll be taking the Dec. test. Any cons to that approach?