help? Forum

[dizzynoise42]

i guess i will go with the theme of the day and ask whether people think i should retake.

i got a 166 on the june test, but by the end of my prep i was scoring over 170 on all of my timed tests.

my first diagnostic i scored 155.

i have a 3.85 gpa and am not a minority and i was planning on looking at schools in San fran, DC, NYC, Boston and Seattle.

I was also hoping to get some merit money if at all possible.

what do you all think? use your infinite wisdom to determine whether it would be worthwhile to try again!

Any help would be appreciated

Thank you in advance!!

[stintez]

I probably would not retake. Apply early.

[dizzynoise42]

bump! anyone else wanna chime in?

[modestsquirrel]

Retake. Increase your score by just 4 points and you are looking at giant merit scholarships at BC, BU, Fodham, Hastings, etc. Get your applications going early and take the Oct. test. Beyond this, it will open doors of admission to schools you otherwise would not be accepted to. Honestly not retaking would be huge mistake, it could be mean the difference of tens of thousands of dollars and some acceptances in the T14. Good luck.

[witorres89]

i guess i will go with the theme of the day and ask whether people think i should retake.

i got a 166 on the june test, but by the end of my prep i was scoring over 170 on all of my timed tests.

my first diagnostic i scored 155.

i have a 3.85 gpa and am not a minority and i was planning on looking at schools in San fran, DC, NYC, Boston and Seattle.

I was also hoping to get some merit money if at all possible.

what do you all think? use your infinite wisdom to determine whether it would be worthwhile to try again!

Any help would be appreciated

Thank you in advance!!

For San fran, DC, NYC, Boston and Seattle your scores are already good enough to get into the schools in these regions minus Harvard, Colombia, NYU, Stanford, and maybe Georgetown. Retake if you really need a scholarship or elite prestige, but you are already in at good schools in those regions.

[Bryan]

I would recommend a retake. Your PT scores show you have the capability to score significantly higher and you can still get your apps in early after the October test. Plus, since you already have a very good score in the bank, you might be more relaxed and less susceptible to test day nerves in October.

Also, those cities all have high COL and, I imagine, very competitive legal markets so moving up into higher ranked schools and receiving larger scholarships is probably especially important.

[modestsquirrel]

The people who are saying "eh, good enough" are not providing you with good advice. Three months of studying and a few points higher means greater career prospects and less debt. It's three months. If you don't have the capacity to buckle down and study for the summer, then you certainly wont have the capacity to do well in law school. Just do it. This is coming from someone with a 165 studying for the Oct test. We are so close. Why give up now?

[TommyK]

I don't see a compelling reason not to retake. Retake in October and it sounds like you'll probably do better. If you do, awesome. If not, most law schools accept the top score anyways. All you sacrifice is the marginal cost of another LSAT, and a couple of months of studying. What you could gain in comparison is potentially ridiculous from a cost/benefit ratio.

If you end up crushing the LSAT, getting another 6 points, you could be looking at thousands of extra dollars in merit based $$. Definitely worth it to me to sacrifice a couple months by studying, and the LSAT fee.

Just my $.02

Cheers.

[dizzynoise42]

thank you all so much. that really helped. im going to retake in october.

for those of you retaking what are you going to do about your applications? i was really hoping to get the majority of them done this summer, but now i will be waiting until nov 1st to get my oct scores. suggestions? thank you!

[balzern]

Hey I am retaking in October too. I have heard a lot of discussion on this subject but it seems that as long as you get your apps in by 12/1 you are still ahead of the curve. Really, a ton of people submit their apps after January so you are still in good shape. What I suggest (and what I am going to do) is work on the apps to schools that you are interested in given your current score and what score you are projecting to get (realistically). Then when we get our scores (probably around 10/29) you can submit them immediately. Also, it allows you some flexability to adjust your school list depending on your new score, as you have until mid to late November to get your stuff in. You might be thinking about applying to some schools even before your October scores come out, but many schools will put your application on hold if you are retaking and MOST schools do not start reviewing applications until around when we are planning on sending ours in, so we are still going to be considdered early. Hope this helps, and good luck with the retake!