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I was in a similar situation last December. I studied for about a month while working full-time and ended up with a 159. My diagnostic was 155 and I was averaging 163-166. Ended up studying a lot more and bumped my score up to a 169 in June. I would say get in the mindset that you'll be retaking because it was tough to convince myself to get back into studying after my first bad score. Don't worry about having one score lower than the others, so go ahead and sit for the December date. Good luck!

Congrats on you're good GPA.

Now, ask yourself this: "why do I want to go to law school?" If you don't have a concrete answer to that - and by that I mean a specific job in mind - don't go and forget about the lsat.

vitaquonex wrote:I was in a similar situation last December. I studied for about a month while working full-time and ended up with a 159. My diagnostic was 155 and I was averaging 163-166. Ended up studying a lot more and bumped my score up to a 169 in June. I would say get in the mindset that you'll be retaking because it was tough to convince myself to get back into studying after my first bad score. Don't worry about having one score lower than the others, so go ahead and sit for the December date. Good luck!

Disagree with the last part. Not really sure what the utility would be in wasting a take right now with such a low score.

Clemenceau wrote:

vitaquonex wrote:I was in a similar situation last December. I studied for about a month while working full-time and ended up with a 159. My diagnostic was 155 and I was averaging 163-166. Ended up studying a lot more and bumped my score up to a 169 in June. I would say get in the mindset that you'll be retaking because it was tough to convince myself to get back into studying after my first bad score. Don't worry about having one score lower than the others, so go ahead and sit for the December date. Good luck!

Disagree with the last part. Not really sure what the utility would be in wasting a take right now with such a low score.

I suppose they could wait. How often do applicants use all 3 takes and still not have a score they're happy about?

Also, February tests are not released correct? So there's no way to review missed answers if they schedule February.

vitaquonex wrote:

Clemenceau wrote:

vitaquonex wrote:I was in a similar situation last December. I studied for about a month while working full-time and ended up with a 159. My diagnostic was 155 and I was averaging 163-166. Ended up studying a lot more and bumped my score up to a 169 in June. I would say get in the mindset that you'll be retaking because it was tough to convince myself to get back into studying after my first bad score. Don't worry about having one score lower than the others, so go ahead and sit for the December date. Good luck!

Disagree with the last part. Not really sure what the utility would be in wasting a take right now with such a low score.

I suppose they could wait. How often do applicants use all 3 takes and still not have a score they're happy about?

Also, February tests are not released correct? So there's no way to review missed answers if they schedule February.

You could search "4th take" and I'm sure a few people would come up. It makes sense though. If OP is intent on getting higher than 160, and he's only at 160 now, there's no point in taking.

This isn't a game, son. Literally tens of thousands of people make a 20s-ruining decision by attending law school, every year.

Don't waste an LSAT on a score that shitty. If you're going to give up a decent career for law school, don't screw around: get a good score (I wouldn't shoot for less than ~170) and go to a legit school on the cheap. There's too much risk and not enough reward, otherwise.

vitaquonex wrote:I suppose they could wait. How often do applicants use all 3 takes and still not have a score they're happy about?

Quite often. There's essentially nothing to gain from taking the test when you're objectively not ready to (as is the case for OP).

Clemenceau wrote:

vitaquonex wrote:I was in a similar situation last December. I studied for about a month while working full-time and ended up with a 159. My diagnostic was 155 and I was averaging 163-166. Ended up studying a lot more and bumped my score up to a 169 in June. I would say get in the mindset that you'll be retaking because it was tough to convince myself to get back into studying after my first bad score. Don't worry about having one score lower than the others, so go ahead and sit for the December date. Good luck!

Disagree with the last part. Not really sure what the utility would be in wasting a take right now with such a low score.

+1. No upside (one could argue that taking the test in a real setting may benefit you on future takes, but I would argue you can closely simulate that experience without wasting an attempt. You can even go to your testing center, sit around with other takers prior to the test and then go off by yourself to another room and use the 7sage proctor app to nearly completely simulate the process) and a very real downside. Your takes are precious. You know enough to see that applying with your GPA and (giving you the benefit of the doubt) a 160 LSAT would be a bad decision. I would just study a few more months and take your first attempt later. People underperform all the time and lots of people end up using all three takes (or being put into a difficult decision where they have to sit out an ADDITIONAL cycle in order to get a fourth bite at the apple).

vitaquonex wrote:I suppose they could wait. How often do applicants use all 3 takes and still not have a score they're happy about?

Also, February tests are not released correct? So there's no way to review missed answers if they schedule February.

That's the thing. By taking now (when unprepared) they'll only have 2 legitimate takes to get a score that they're happy with, not 3.

I wouldn't even take february if I were OP. I'd just prepare for june, then retake in September if need be. Still have dec or feb as a last resort.

Honestly, there should be no rush to attend law school. You're making money right now, enjoy it. Worry about the lsat in maybe a year or so. I would honesty work at least 2-3 years (maybe even get a promotion in there) before you start to consider law school enough to study for the lsat at a serious enough level; especially if you want to aim higher than a 160.

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Wait to take the LSAT until you're more prepared.

TheodoreKGB wrote:Wait to take the LSAT until you're more prepared.

+1. Don't use a take if you are not scoring where you want to be, especially since you don't want to apply until next year

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zeglo wrote:

Traynor Brah wrote:This isn't a game, son. Literally tens of thousands of people make a 20s-ruining decision by attending law school, every year.

Don't waste an LSAT on a score that shitty. If you're going to give up a decent career for law school, don't screw around: get a good score (I wouldn't shoot for less than ~170) and go to a legit school on the cheap. There's too much risk and not enough reward, otherwise.

So would you recommend taking and canceling, taking and retaking, or just withdrawing before Saturday?

Withdrawing. Taking and cancelling uses up one of your takes FYI. It's not some kind of freebie.

zeglo wrote:By that, do you mean just don't even sit for it? Sorry. I'm not sure of the meaning of things.

Whatever you decide to do, don't take and cancel. It still counts as a take. Just withdraw if you are PTing lower than you want to score.

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zeglo wrote:Thanks for the help, all.

I took off a bunch of days of work to prepare for Saturday.

I guess now I'll just relax and study a bit.

You're right, I have time.

Well, what do I do now? Pre-write apps and casually study for a bit?

Good choice!

You'll be glad you waited.

Take, and immediately cancel. Remember this is paid already.

JazzyMac wrote:Take, and immediately cancel. Remember this is paid already.

This is just the dumbest fucking thing. This is paid for and you don't get your money back, but you are wasting one of your takes, and OP seems to be pretty fucking far off the mark at the moment, and may well need three takes to do it right. OP, cancel, and don't actually take the test till you're hitting your score on your practice tests.