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Ok, i'm a URM (black) in undergrad, living in NYC, and i need some tips.

That said, i took the LSAT for the first time in February after roughly 3 & a half months of self prep with the LG & LR bibles. I scored a 166, which is good because that was my average going in. However, up to test day i knew i needed more time to get as comfortable with the LSAT as i needed to be, but i wanted to get it out of the way so that i could focus on maintaining my GPA (between 3.9 & 4.0 ATM).

About me and the LSAT...

LR: I already know my problem question types, and they're problematic in that they take me longer to analyze, but i almost always get them right. However, as we all know, all the extra seconds spent on questions add up and, consequently, i end up racing against the clock for the last 5-6 questions and this kills my accuracy. When i do a section untimed, i often get them all right, but i understand this makes no difference if i can't do it in 35 minutes. So, more practice, right?

LG: It's a love/hate relationship. Quite frankly, i think it was a case of love on test day because i finished all the games in time and never really felt rushed. I didn't feel like a missed more than 2 (can't confirm since it was a February LSAT) and usually when i feel like that after a PT i get them all right or miss 1-2. However, sometimes the LSAT throws curve balls and comes at you with games that seem unsolvable, causing you to either guess through them or stubbornly solve them while killing valuable time. I would hate to get one of those on a retake.

RC: Started off as my strongest section, ended up my weakest. On my initial diagnostics, i would miss about 7 in this section. I assumed (perhaps erroneously) that i didn't need to buy prep materials for this so i hardly worked on it as i decided that i could reasonably 'survive' the test with missing about 6/7 here and make up for it elsewhere. As of my last PTs, i was missing an average of 6 so the only improvement was that these were timed, and i felt as though i did the same on test day. If i'm going to retake, i need help getting this down to a consistent -2/3. The main problem, yet again, is that i always end up rushing the last passage/questions and most of my misses come from there.

The test i took felt like this: LR -10 (5 each); LG -2; RC -6. We all get that ballpark estimate feeling after a PT so i think i can be pretty sure my estimate is close to what happened on test day.

I have no doubt that practice will enable me to bring down the LR from a -10 to a -4 (combined), that i can keep hitting a -2 or better on LG, and maybe if i pay more attention to RC and get some prep material i could bring it down to a -4 or better. The thing is, i know the effort it will require and i won't have the time (i work and will have 3 summer courses as well) to give it 2 months of hardcore prep; i'd have to get it in with my other classes. Sitting out a cycle is not an option, i'm a late entrant to the college game (32yo set to graduate next June).

Some other points:
Would take biglaw if offered (only for the money) but not a biglaw or bust person;
I'm not far removed from entertaining thoughts of living in Florida (UF in mind; lots of family out there);
Broke (make enough to survive the city so fishing for scholly);
Have no idea what branch of law i want to practice;
The beautiful, affordable houses in Georgia could convince me to live there (Emory & UGA);

Please express your opinions considering all of the above.

marlo45 wrote:Ok, i'm a URM (black) in undergrad, living in NYC, and i need some tips.

That said, i took the LSAT for the first time in February after roughly 3 & a half months of self prep with the LG & LR bibles. I scored a 166, which is good because that was my average going in. However, up to test day i knew i needed more time to get as comfortable with the LSAT as i needed to be, but i wanted to get it out of the way so that i could focus on maintaining my GPA (between 3.9 & 4.0 ATM).

About me and the LSAT...

LR: I already know my problem question types, and they're problematic in that they take me longer to analyze, but i almost always get them right. However, as we all know, all the extra seconds spent on questions add up and, consequently, i end up racing against the clock for the last 5-6 questions and this kills my accuracy. When i do a section untimed, i often get them all right, but i understand this makes no difference if i can't do it in 35 minutes. So, more practice, right?

LG: It's a love/hate relationship. Quite frankly, i think it was a case of love on test day because i finished all the games in time and never really felt rushed. I didn't feel like a missed more than 2 (can't confirm since it was a February LSAT) and usually when i feel like that after a PT i get them all right or miss 1-2. However, sometimes the LSAT throws curve balls and comes at you with games that seem unsolvable, causing you to either guess through them or stubbornly solve them while killing valuable time. I would hate to get one of those on a retake.

RC: Started off as my strongest section, ended up my weakest. On my initial diagnostics, i would miss about 7 in this section. I assumed (perhaps erroneously) that i didn't need to buy prep materials for this so i hardly worked on it as i decided that i could reasonably 'survive' the test with missing about 6/7 here and make up for it elsewhere. As of my last PTs, i was missing an average of 6 so the only improvement was that these were timed, and i felt as though i did the same on test day. If i'm going to retake, i need help getting this down to a consistent -2/3. The main problem, yet again, is that i always end up rushing the last passage/questions and most of my misses come from there.

The test i took felt like this: LR -10 (5 each); LG -2; RC -6. We all get that ballpark estimate feeling after a PT so i think i can be pretty sure my estimate is close to what happened on test day.

I have no doubt that practice will enable me to bring down the LR from a -10 to a -4 (combined), that i can keep hitting a -2 or better on LG, and maybe if i pay more attention to RC and get some prep material i could bring it down to a -4 or better. The thing is, i know the effort it will require and i won't have the time (i work and will have 3 summer courses as well) to give it 2 months of hardcore prep; i'd have to get it in with my other classes. Sitting out a cycle is not an option, i'm a late entrant to the college game (32yo set to graduate next June).

Some other points:
Would take biglaw if offered (only for the money) but not a biglaw or bust person;
I'm not far removed from entertaining thoughts of living in Florida (UF in mind; lots of family out there);
Broke (make enough to survive the city so fishing for scholly);
Have no idea what branch of law i want to practice;
The beautiful, affordable houses in Georgia could convince me to live there (Emory & UGA);

Please express your opinions considering all of the above.

Try to retake... based on all the thread I read which has the same problem as you has.. Do more practice and don't underestimate the topic which you are already confident just increase the time of your practice in your weak point but don't ignore the topic which you are already confident.

Study for a retake. If you don't feel comfy come June or Oct don't retake.

If I were in your spot (which I sort of am), I'd retake in October. You're looking at 3/4 scholarships and a few yield protects with an outside shot at Harvard and Stanford. If you can get it up to a 170, which comparatively, is really not all that difficult, you could be looking at strongly H/S and/or full rides at mid-t14. Get it up to 172, and you're looking at full rides (Hamilton/Ruby specifically) to CCN, which many posters feel is actually superior to H or S.

You're at a place where I think you'd kick yourself later on if you weren't at the very top of your potential come law school admissions time. URM + 166 + 3.9+ is great, but you open up almost unthinkable options with 4 LSAT points.

Thanks for the input, guys. Yeah i'd rather retaking in October since my summer load will be lighter and that gives me more time to prep. I owe it to myself to try for that 170+. I came across an online list of AA Harvard grads, i randomly googled about 10 names from the list and the law firms they represent were almost all NLJ250+. Would be nice coming out of law school with a 6 figure job.