Re-apply next cycle or no? 167 / 3.8x Forum

[oreomilkshake]

Hi TLS,

I'm wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and can offer some advice / perspective for me.

/edit: semi-identifying info removed. Please PM if curious!

[TheRealSantaClaus]

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[Big Dog]

"national level" policy work will be a whole lot easier to enter with a prestigious degree, particularly if heavily discounted. Retake/reapply.

[Hornet2011]

First of all, congrats on your numbers. Sure they aren't where you are PTing at, and my recommendation is to use all your retakes as there is nothing to lose in doing so, but a 167 is nevertheless quite an accomplishment.

As far as your decision goes, relax. Wait and see what your scholarship offers come in at. While not *likely*, people do outperform their numbers from time to time and the decision may be relatively easy after all. If not, no big deal. You will in all likelihood only get as good offers next year if you don't improve your score.

I wouldn't let your personal situation influence too much whether or not you should go to law school this year. You sound accomplished in your field and can probably land an equally rewarding and engaging job elsewhere in the interim.

[oreomilkshake]

Thank you all! I suppose I could just wait and see what money offers come out and then, as you said, Hornet, it could end up being a much easier decision. I've been feeling some time pressure to make a decision about signing up for the June LSAT right now. Last time I prepped for ~10 months but not very consistently (took a month or two off here and there) and am feeling stressed out that 5 months would not be adequate time for me to prep and actually score higher. An October re-take would certainly be enough time to prep though if I end up going that route.

[Hornet2011]

Exactly -- glad to see you are not quite as concerned.

As far as the June LSAT goes, my recommendation is to plan on taking it. First of all the registration deadline isn't until far off in the future. If you get to the registration deadline and still don't feel prepared then you can always postpone. Even then though I'd still recommend signing up and studying until the day before and only then withdrawing with no consequence. You have nothing to lose but the 150 or so dollars it costs for the LSAT. This is nothing compared to the cost of law school.

Again you shouldn't be stressed about taking these next two attempts. Yes they are important but you have a solid score that sounds like will get you to obtaining your goals as is. Obviously a better score would make for a likely even better situation, so think of it as playing with house money when it comes to dealing with test stress.

That being said, I would recommend studying very diligently for these next couple attempts. Ask yourself what would you give up in time studying if it could guarantee you a 170 or whatever by June. That is how much time you should be putting into studying. Don't let it overly consume your life, but put your all into achieiving your target score. Even if you score lower you can at least know you have it your all and can sleep better at night knowing so.

EDIT: grammatical mistakes and swapping pronouns for my description for ease of reading.

[oreomilkshake]

Hmm that does make sense. Like if I do score higher in June then I know 100% that my outcomes will be better if I wait it out and re-apply early next cycle. And if I don't score higher I'm already on my way to prepping for October. Darn seat deposits are due in April and May though

I guess worst case scenario I don't score higher and had some wasted effort applying this cycle but I guess too I can still check out some of the admitted students events and get a better idea of which schools would be better fits for me next cycle. I'd also maybe have to renew my protection order but I can't really make any predictions about what someone else will do. And I'll have a lot more money saved a year from now and will have less to take out in loans even if I don't score higher...

I can't imagine my outcomes would be substantially worse next cycle if I retake 1-2 times and don't score higher? (if everything is as number driven as everyone says)

[Hornet2011]

Exactly -- taking the June test will only mean you have more to gain and you can better gauge your position going forward. Additionally *if* you are on any waitlist / accepted at schools you will be in a better position to get pulled off the list and then negotiate scholarships. As far as seat deposits go, yeah, that is a bummer. Again though I am assuming they are around 1k-2k a seat? While that seems like a lot of money, consider that once again in light of the overall law school cost. Now I wouldn't recommend triple depositing, but choose the school you would attend and deposit for that, assuming you are still relatively confident you will attend this coming Fall.

Definitely check out the admitted student events. It will only make your decision making process easier for this year or the next.

On another note, don't worry about the possible future "sunk cost" of studying for the LSAT. I would approach it as you will do well. If you don't, you don't. I think this is an insightful blog post on what a good decision is, I would suggest reading it: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... 4104,d.dmo

One of the key takeaways is a good decision can still be a "good decision" if it has a bad outcome. Giving your all for the LSAT is one of those in my opinion.

[oreomilkshake]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the insight and information and help talking me through the decision making process. I feel pretty comfortable that none of my options are "bad" per se, and am prepared to work with whatever the outcome may be - but I am definitely interested in making the most informed decision I can and learning from others here. And I just registered for the June LSAT! Good thing I never got around to burning the trainer and bibles like I had planned