Where is it worth applying? Forum

[T14wannabe2016]

Hi all,

It's been my dream to attend a T14 school, and while I have the GPA (3.96) and the resume for it (many law related internships, currently taking a gap year to work in a non-profit law office doing death penalty work, studied abroad at Oxford), I don't have the LSAT. I've struggled with this for months. I've taken over 50 practice tests. I sat the October test and got a 158 even though my practice test range was 162-165. I retook the exam in December and I'm not sure my score yet, but I'm guessing, and hoping, its in the same range as my practice tests. Is there anywhere in the T14 I even have a shot at with this low LSAT? What other schools outside of T14 should I consider if I am interested in public interest and criminal work (specifically capital punishment work)?

[stig2014]

What was your study method for the LSAT? Everyone here is going to tell you to retake. With your GPA no school is off the table; with money too. There are a lot of methods on this site to help you boost your score up to around 170. Please use all your retakes! Many people would kill for your GPA and the future opportunities you have available.

Edit: you could get into a few T-14's, but you can do much better.

[lymenheimer]

Check mylsn.info for chances

[T14wannabe2016]

What was your study method for the LSAT? Everyone here is going to tell you to retake. With your GPA no school is off the table; with money too. There are a lot of methods on this site to help you boost your score up to around 170. Please use all your retakes! Many people would kill for your GPA and the future opportunities you have available.

Edit: you could get into a few T-14's, but you can do much better.

The first time I took the LSAT, I took a test a day for 6 weeks until the day of the exam and critically reviewed each exam after I took them (about 6 hours a day of LSAT). My score went up from a 157 to 165 over the 6 week period. The second time I took far fewer tests and focused on self-study books. I know people will tell me I can boost my score to 170, but i've come to realize it is just not possible. I do not perform well under timed conditions and am a slow reader. I'm convinced no matter how much I study, I'll never hit 170 and honestly, I don't have the time to test that hypothesis. I'm working a full time job and a part time job at the moment and would not like to push off law school another year.

What are the "few T-14s" you think I have a shot at?

[EnderWiggin]

I know people will tell me I can boost my score to 170, but i've come to realize it is just not possible. I do not perform well under timed conditions and am a slow reader. I'm convinced no matter how much I study, I'll never hit 170

Very few people, including many who score highly on the LSAT, naturally "perform well under timed conditions." Don't fall back on that and the slow reader excuse as a reason not to retake. The defeatism of convincing yourself you'll never get a top score isn't a strong suit either.

And honestly, I don't have the time to test that hypothesis. I'm working a full time job and a part time job at the moment and would not like to push off law school another year.

Why, specifically, can you not wait another year to apply? It sounds like you are getting some solid WE and unless you took your full-time job with the explicit understanding that it is absolutely a fixed, one-year, absolutely-no exceptions-can-you-work-here-for-another-year-agreement, there is nothing wrong with continuing with that work. If for some reason you need to/want to leave that job, find another. After one year of a "gap year", you'll still be among the youngest students at most T14s. Law school is not going anywhere.

The first time I took the LSAT, I took a test a day for 6 weeks until the day of the exam and critically reviewed each exam after I took them (about 6 hours a day of LSAT).....The second time I took far fewer tests and focused on self-study books.

Did you drill by question type? Buy all the Cambridge packets? When you get your Dec. score back, did you max out at -0 for LG? If the answer to any of those questions is no, then you can prepare better for a third take. The key for many people is not killing yourself by taking every released PT multiple times, but being more targeted in how to study. Work smarter, not harder.

[stig2014]

What was your study method for the LSAT? Everyone here is going to tell you to retake. With your GPA no school is off the table; with money too. There are a lot of methods on this site to help you boost your score up to around 170. Please use all your retakes! Many people would kill for your GPA and the future opportunities you have available.

Edit: you could get into a few T-14's, but you can do much better.

The first time I took the LSAT, I took a test a day for 6 weeks until the day of the exam and critically reviewed each exam after I took them (about 6 hours a day of LSAT). My score went up from a 157 to 165 over the 6 week period. The second time I took far fewer tests and focused on self-study books. I know people will tell me I can boost my score to 170, but i've come to realize it is just not possible. I do not perform well under timed conditions and am a slow reader. I'm convinced no matter how much I study, I'll never hit 170 and honestly, I don't have the time to test that hypothesis. I'm working a full time job and a part time job at the moment and would not like to push off law school another year.

What are the "few T-14s" you think I have a shot at?

I would second everything in the above post about how to properly prepare for the LSAT. Maybe you can't score 170, that's fine. What's not fine is failing to properly prepare and giving up before you've reached your full potential.

To answer your question about what T-14's you could possibly get into (If you get your 162-165) - myLSN shows that reported past applicants with your numbers have gotten in, over 50% of the time, at Michigan, Northwestern, Cornell, Georgetown, and Virginia. But in all seriousness, play around with mylsn.info and look at the schools available to you with a higher LSAT and the potential scholarships that could follow.