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I am taking the LSAT in December, but I am quickly thinking I may have chosen the wrong date. I work full-time alongside taking a full courseload at school (the LSAT is the weekend before my finals). Aside from that, I have to write my senior thesis this semester, which is not fun at all. More and more I am thinking this is too much, so here are my choices.

1 - Unregister for the December test and take it in February
2 - Ruin my GPA and possibly not be fully prepared for the LSAT and take it in December.

I really want to take it in December to get my applications and such out of the way. I don't want to apply late in the game and miss out on a possibility to get into the law schools I want.

What would hurt me worse - hurting my GPA (3.76) or my LSAT score (hopefully in the 165+ range) by taking it in Dec. or turning my application in so late?

Thanks in advance for the guidance

the fundamental question is how prepared are you?

how close are you practice test scores to what you want? if you are scoring 175 and your goal is 176, then you are set and take December. if you are scoring 155 and your goal is 170, then you should not take December.

I studied in one and a half months only because I could fully devote myself to studying during that time. Even that was cutting it a bit short. The "magic number" most people suggest is 3 months, but obviously everyone is different. However, given your situation, I would strongly suggest registering later and not putting your GPA or your LSAT score at risk. After all, these are the two most important things that will be going into your application. You will have to apply in the next cycle, but it's already pretty late by the time December results come out so why not just delay, get it all done properly and have a clean start? Might as well try to do the best you can and get into the best school you can.

Also, I'd wager your senior thesis adviser will likely end up being one of your LORs, so it's worth working as hard as you can on that to get a positive letter.