Retake? Forum

[jslom958]

I scored a 164 on the December LSAT, and although it is a decent score, I still feel dissatisfied. My goal was at least a 167 to have a shot at Cornell, though my last four PTs before the December test were 157, 158, 163, and 167. My overall PT average was about 163. Should I retake?

[UTexas]

I'd certainly think about it. How much time did you spend preparing? What materials did you use? Did you take any prep courses? Over what span of time did you take those four PTs? How many PTs did you take in total?

[jslom958]

I started studying in July, spending about six hours a day studying during the summer and around four hours a day since school began. Over that time, I used both the LG bible and the LR bible. I completed Blueprint's online course starting in October and found it beneficial. Those last four PTs were taken four days in a row over Thanksgiving break. Overall, I probably took about 20 or so PTs.

Am I masochistic for thinking about retaking considering that I have little interest in NYC biglaw and would be happy to attend a T30 like Boston University?

[BenJ]

Doing that well relative to your PTs probably means you don't have a whole lot of room to improve. Even if you do improve, it won't be by more than 2-3 points, which probably isn't worth having two LSAT scores on your applications. It seems like you're studying very rigorously already. The one reason to take it again would be if you think you could gain a lot by changing your method of studying; just doing more of the same isn't going to make a difference beyond the margin of error.

[jslom958]

I feel strong with LG and rarely missed more than three per section during the last two months of studying. I stepped up my game in LR but was slapped around on the December test. RC is a beast, and I never truly felt comfortable with it. I usually spend 30 minutes on the first three passages and rush through the final passage. Perhaps if I nailed down RC (-9 on the December test) I could see improvement since I concentrated much more heavily on LG and LR. I always felt shaken during RC sections.

[UTexas]

Hmmm. I'm not so sure now. That's quite a lot of studying. Have you spent a good deal of time studying the problems you miss to understand better why you're missing them? What was your score on your first diagnostic? I know of plenty of people that moved started in the low 150s and finished in the high 160s or low 170s. You might need to alter your approach.

But, given what you said below, maybe you shouldn't.

Am I masochistic for thinking about retaking considering that I have little interest in NYC biglaw and would be happy to attend a T30 like Boston University?

Maybe so. How is your GPA? Depending on your GPA, you can be competitive for plenty of T30 schools with a 164.

[aguyingeorgia]

164 isn't shabby, but you can definitely improve.

I'd focus on reading complicated articles, increasing your reading speed, and figure out what you are missing on different parts. Are you consistently missing certain types of questions? Do you understand why? That, more than anything, can really help.

Good luck.

[aether]

Am I masochistic for thinking about retaking considering that I have little interest in NYC biglaw and would be happy to attend a T30 like Boston University?

Yep, pretty much. You beat your average PT and got within three points of your best PT score. Where I come from, we call that a solid performance. Furthermore you have already made very reasonable efforts at LSAT study, so any further improvement will probably require a large effort.

What's your GPA? Have you already run the law school predictor? If your current LSAT is sufficient to achieve your admission goals, there would seem little point to retaking.

[jslom958]

I did not take a cold diagnostic, but after a brief run through the LR bible and about a month of LG practice, I scored a 154.

My GPA is 3.9x. With my GPA in consideration, it kind of stings to have a 164 just knowing that I am above the 75th percentile for GPA at all but maybe two or three schools.

[UTexas]

If you have a 3.9, then you probably don't need to take it again. A 3.90 and a 164 gets you "ADMIT" on Law School Predictor for Emory, ND, and BC, and "STRONG CONSIDER" for a host of others, including BU. It even gets you "CONSIDER" for a number of T14 schools. Your numbers (assuming a 3.90 GPA) are better than those of 56%, 44%, 50%, 58%, and 52% of admitted applicants at Cornell, Georgetown, UCLA, UT-Austin, and Vanderbilt, respectively. They're better than those of 45-48% of applicants at Berkeley, Penn, Duke, and Northwestern.

http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/wp-co ... ograms.htm

[5ky]

You could always ED to UVA. They've shown themselves to be quite willing to overlook a below 25th LSAT if you have an above median/75th GPA.

I would not retake if I were you. Unless you put in an insane amount of studying, as well as completely changed the way you have been studying, it doesn't seem like the marginal benefit is worth it.

[jslom958]

Thanks, all. It's an odd feeling being done with the LSAT. Good, but odd.

You could always ED to UVA. They've shown themselves to be quite willing to overlook a below 25th LSAT if you have an above median/75th GPA.

My plan thus far is to ED at UVA. I was hesitant about ED because of financial aid and all, yet in the TLS article on UVA, Dean Trujillo stated that ED applicants are considered for aid in the same way as RD applicants. I understand that aid at UVA would be unlikely, but the fact that I would be considered gives me peace of mind.

[Clyde Frog]

Definitely retake.

[Clearly]

I retook the same score, but I suspected I hadn't hit my cap just yet. However, that is way too many RC questions to be giving up. My mentality is this... If you're smart enough to graduate college with a strong GPA, you could work yourself to a decent LSAT score...After all, what do high scorers have that you don't have?

Get the MLSAT RC book, its a decent guide...Don't underestimate RC, it takes as much work as any other section, and I know its miserable drilling RC, but challenge yourself when you study, I want -3 or better on RC, and it becomes a little easier to do. That said, BP's program for RC is in my opinion the strongest in the world, so I hope you followed what they were getting at (although I personally do all the things they mention in my head, and don't notate ANY of it, too time consuming and personally breaks my focus too much).

I'd retake, but don't sell yourself short. The LSAT needs a lot of work and a lot of attention, and its hard to improve from where you are, I was stuck there for a while, but you will break through if you take another 30 tests and strictly review your mistakes.

[ManOfTheMinute]

I retook the same score, but I suspected I hadn't hit my cap just yet. However, that is way too many RC questions to be giving up. My mentality is this... If you're smart enough to graduate college with a strong GPA, you could work yourself to a decent LSAT score...After all, what do high scorers have that you don't have?

Get the MLSAT RC book, its a decent guide...Don't underestimate RC, it takes as much work as any other section, and I know its miserable drilling RC, but challenge yourself when you study, I want -3 or better on RC, and it becomes a little easier to do. That said, BP's program for RC is in my opinion the strongest in the world, so I hope you followed what they were getting at (although I personally do all the things they mention in my head, and don't notate ANY of it, too time consuming and personally breaks my focus too much).

I'd retake, but don't sell yourself short. The LSAT needs a lot of work and a lot of attention, and its hard to improve from where you are, I was stuck there for a while, but you will break through if you take another 30 tests and strictly review your mistakes.

Shit, I hope the dude hasn't been waiting three years to re-take...

[Clearly]

Fuck clyde necro'd.

[Clyde Frog]

Lol

[Clearly]

Lol

Not really amusing to waste peoples time when they're trying to help other people out.

[SteelPenguin]

Lol

Oh you...

[Clyde Frog]

Lol

Not really amusing to waste peoples time when they're trying to help other people out.

Maybe that guy has been looking at that thread for the last three years and you helped him out