perplexedconfused wrote:Hello fellow law school hopefuls!
Many years ago, probably 2008-2009, I took the LSAT twice and bombed it, twice (this is after taking the PowerScore prep course and vigorously studying). I scored a 149 and canceled the other score because I knew it was awful (I was scoring in the high 150's and thought I would magically reach my goal of mid 160's on test day).
I blame most of this on test anxiety, but was so frustrated and discouraged that I threw in the towel and stopped prepping for the LSAT altogether and thought maybe I was not destined to be an attorney. After debating if I want to go get my MBA or give law school another crack, I have come to the conclusion that I should follow my law school dreams and I am now starting to study again. I am hoping that the last 3 year hiatus to focus on work will improve my focus and overall studying and LSAT score.
Has anyone else experienced a similar situation or taken a few years off and then succeeded on the LSAT? Has anyone thought of following a different career path due to LSAT discouragement? Any thoughts, recommendations, advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!
I took the LSAT summer 2010. During that time, I was struggling with accepting my parents pending separation. I definitely underestimated the negative effect that it had on my focus. I arrogantly and foolishly took the test anyway. The result was 7 points lower than my first practice test. Defiantly, I told myself that maybe it was a sign I shouldn't go to law school. Luckily, I was able to see within a few weeks that I had just been unwilling to accept that I had made a bad decision. I learned a good lesson concerning self-awareness that summer, even if it was hard to swallow at the time.
Earlier this year, after having been working for 1.5 yrs, I decided that I felt like it was still a good choice for me to go to law school, so I took a Kaplan prep course and focused diligently to take the LSAT in June. I was able to perform 8 points higher this summer than 2 years ago. To me, it wasn't so much an affirmation that "yes, I should go to law school," but rather, " yep, I was definitely foolish in taking it 2 years ago."
So with that in mind, you have to think about how this go around will be different than from a few years ago. If you studied rather diligently then and put forth your best effort, you shouldn't expect to see a huge improvement UNLESS your work experience has helped you develop better some skill relevant to the LSAT. If, however, you feel like you could have done better in terms of preparing, then you should jump both feet in and give it a go!
Feel free to PM if you want to discuss further - best of luck!
