Reapplying Advice Forum

[Chexmix123]

I am looking for some advice on students who applied to law school and then reapplied the following cycle. Specifically, someone who mainly improved their application through increasing their LSAT score. Unfortunately when I took the LSAT, I let my anxiety get the better of me and it affected my time management greatly. I am currently registered for the June LSAT and my practice tests have put me back into the mid 160s where I was originally scoring. With my current LSAT score I was just above the 25% at several regional schools that have either waitlisted me or outright rejected me. I have been accepted to lower ranked schools (TTT) with scholarship, but they are in locations that I do not want to live. My parents are advising me to take the money and run rather than wait another year and risk getting rejected/waitlisted again. A couple of friends in law school and even a dean of admissions at one of my target regional schools tell me I should take the money and just transfer after my first year, but I find that to be risky.

I am curious about the entire process of reapplying. Did you get different letters of recommendation? Is it bad to resubmit your letters of recommendation from your previous application? Did you change the topic of your personal statement? Did you start a new fancy job? I am worried that simply improving my LSAT score will not be enough. I would rework my personal statement, but keep it focused on the same topic.

Background:
I currently work as a paralegal for a law firm and would continue to work here until I went to law school. I do not receive any financial support from my family. I took a Princeton Review course and did not feel that it helped that much. I have seen more improvement using Mike Kim's book and the various guides on this forum. I do not have aspirations for Big Law. The only lofty goal I have is clerking for a judge. I realize that better schools make that a more realistic possibility. Ideally I would not move for a new job as I wish to say in the state I currently live to maintain instate tuition eligibility.