Taking the February LSAT for the 2012 cycle Forum

[john1990]

I want to attend law school in the fall, but i know i can score higher on the lsat. I got a 166 in October and now i am prepping in the 169-170 range so i feel like i will be cheating myself if i do not retake and try for a T14. But, Duke, for example, says that these applications are at a disadvantage.
This will be my third time taking the exam, so i need to know if February is worth it because i can otherwise delay retaking until June and maybe score even higher. Otherwise i can take the February LSAT and not have to worry about it as i take a year off. Although, i never had any intention of taking a year off until my score jumped.
So, will i benefit from waiting for the next cycle? Is it a must? Should i just wait for the June LSAT? Not really sure on what to do for the next year if i am not in law school
My GPA is a 3.32 and i am non-urm

[princeR]

Wait till June. I'm in the EXACT same position as you, including having no idea what to do next year. I just found a pretty cool internship at a open legal aid clinic in Seattle. You can't rush something like this, I learned that the hard way. Think about it, if you wait till June you could honestly break 175 and get a scholy to Duke... now that would be boss status. Plus, don't you want to be consistently PT'ing about 3 points above where you want to be? I know I want to... so PT'ing at 183...

[Mr.Binks]

You are at a significant disadvantage by using your February score to apply to the 2012 cycle. Many schools won't even accept those, in fact. On top of that, unless you have been prepping pretty regularly until this point, the February test is too soon to make any real increase in your score.

Like the guy above me said, I would wait until June.

[john1990]

My main concern is the economics behind taking a year off. That will equate to a year of salary forgone, which is a huge opportunity cost

[Mr.Binks]

My main concern is the economics behind taking a year off. That will equate to a year of salary forgone, which is a huge opportunity cost

Understandably so, but your options for higher paying salaries is increased exponentially by graduating from a better law school. The market for lawyers sucks, so I don't think the opportunity cost is too substantial at this moment.