Mystical Contemplation on the 10/'12 & 12/'12 Exams, and Qs Forum

[JEDyessir]

Any real advice that you give me, a random person that you've never met on the internet, will in fact greatly help me. If there is a God, I'm certain this will not go unnoticed on your life resume.

I'm looking for some wisdom.

I was RC-LR-RC-LG-LR for 10/6/2012 LSAT. Second time having taken the test. I was apart of the December '11 debacle and it hit me very hard in some unspeakably painful places-- oh and I got a bad score.

Succinctly: 1) In your opinion, which RC do you all think would be graded above, in my case? ..I felt the third section (above) of RC was the harder of the two.
On this conclusion, I'm then trying to figure out whether to shell out the 160$ before the 10/29/2012 deadline for the 12/'12 exam; if I did this, it would be my third test in two years (and therefore my last).
So,
2) Am I going to see my scores for the 10/'12 lsat BEFORE that deadline? Any thoughts?
3) In your opinion, what would you value more.. a) + [say?] 5 points on your best LSAT score (having had your first two exams go poorly) *OR*, and without that +5 points on a possible third exam, b) a 2 months earlier application submission. I could cut a possible third exam and gamble with the "rollings".

Semi-relevant facts:
My grades are good: 3.61; my resume is better: prestigious scholarship, all sorts of good stuff for EC's, two prestigious profs willing to write me letters (about to follow up), all from a T1 school. Really pushing for 1L Fall 2013.

Thanks.

[Carnac]

1) The first RC will be graded.
2) You absolutely should see it before 10/31. Expect to receive it either this Friday or next Monday.
3) Tough call. I'd probably go with the +5, but you will get many varying opinions on this one.

[JEDyessir]

Thanks Carnac!

I would love for the first one to be graded. The third one touched me the wrong way.

Good luck to you.

[TopHatToad]

3) Tough call. I'd probably go with the +5, but you will get many varying opinions on this one.

I'm not sure it's a tough call there, at least how it's phrased. 5 points is certainly never guaranteed, and the stress of another retake is strong disincentive for many, but which is better? You know that, OP. 5 points opens whole new schools to you, and makes a ton of scholarship money open up where you're already in. But hey, maybe you're just not interested in tens of thousands of dollars up front and better career potential, what do I know?