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I've been lurking on this forum for the past few weeks now and although I haven't posted before, I could really use some advice. I took the LSAT in Dec. 09 and 10 and scored a 155 (terrible, I know) and a 162. I've got a 3.75 GPA, which I think is okay-ish. My question is this--

Should I delay another year and retake in June or apply late cycle (now) for next year?

I'm a 22 y/o white female, so I really don't have the URM thing going for me, so I'm kind of tossed up. Applying this late is a clear disadvantage, and even though I'm not looking to go T-14, something in the top 20-30ish range would be excellent.

I really blew off the first LSAT, regrettably. The second time around, I prepared by taking the full length Powerscore class. I scored a 162 on my 3rd practice test, about 2 weeks into the class and never looked back. By the week of the Dec 10 LSAT, I had PT'd at 169, 170, 172 and 174. The Dec 10 test really threw me off, in that I missed 14 LR questions in one section! I had previously been missing 2-4 between the two sections combined... I guess I'm just hung up on taking another year off, but do you guys think it would be worth it? I mean, I could increase probably at least 4+ points, get some volunteer work in and apply earlier, so retaking in June seems pretty obvious, but would it pay off or would the 3x test taker/low first score end up hurting me more than it would benefit?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Everyone here seems to know what they're talking about.

1L here @ low-tier school, 24yo, finished college & grad school with amazingly good grades before law school.

It all depends on where you're shooting on where you're wanting to go. Figure that out, and when-to-apply will become crystal clear. a 155 + 162 = pretty awesome numbers. Unless you're diehard, dead-set on T25 then I think you're fine to take a shot at applying at pretty much anything beyond T30 schools, even right now - seriously. Take it FWIW though, because I go to a shitty school & got a shitty LSAT. I only say this last part because you're sure to get flamed over your LSAT score by others, because that's just how TLS is (sigh). Fear not, I'll get flamed too I bet lol.

That said, even if you take a year off don't get bummed thinking that NOT going to law school, like, RIGHT after you graduate college = it's over. That's not the case at all, especially if you do something like what I did and continue your education with a M.S. degree or something similar. Working a job isn't necessarily going to hurt you, either, it all just sort of depends.... [note: "depends" is an answer to 99.9% of questions asked in law school.. so you'd do well to get used to hearing that lol]

If you really think that you will get 4 or more points if you try again then my advice would be to go for it, unless you are completely dead set on starting this fall. Did you really do 4 PTs in the week before the test? Thats pretty intense, I was doing 2 a week, though I had finals (and had to get all As, which I did ). If you think that you can score about ten points better, like you were in those PTs, then you'd have to be crazy to not retake. Not only do you get into way better schools, but you can graduate with very little debt at some great schools if you want.

RETAKE

Re-take. A 3.75 is a very good GPA and raising your LSAT even a few more points (165 range) may not get you into more schools but it will really open options as for scholly money goes. Furthermore, if you get your LSAT up 6-10 points (168-172 range) you're probably headed to a T14.

You are only 22. Get a year of WE, which can't hurt your resume and application and study your butt off. I know you've studied before, but keep at it. If this is really what you want to do, it will be worth it. Do not sell your GPA short. Its very good. Use it wisely.

My numbers were very similar to yours (3.75 GPA with a 162 on my first take). I re-took and scored 6 points higher and radically changed my entire cycle and career possibilities. It sounds like you are very capable and simply underperformed on test day. I think you owe it to yourself to give it another shot and put yourself in the best position to succeed.

And look at it this way... Say you re-take and improve your score 6 points like I did, and you get a full ride to a solid T20-30 school. Essentially, you just got paid $120,000 to re-take the LSAT and take a year off of school. Sounds like a great deal to me.

romothesavior wrote:And look at it this way... Say you re-take and improve your score 6 points like I did, and you get a full ride to a solid T20-30 school. Essentially, you just got paid $120,000 to re-take the LSAT and take a year off of school. Sounds like a great deal to me.

That really puts it in perspective...

Thanks, everyone. The insight is appreciated. I think I'm better off retaking it... Sadly.