Why the strong "retake" philosophy on TLS? Forum

[totoro]

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[Samara]

Schools only consider your highest score, despite what they claim on their website. There is no incentive to do otherwise. Many people increase their scores dramatically even people in situations like yours. Considering how crucial your choice of school is to your ability to find legal employment, everyone should maximize their LSAT potential.

[cinephile]

Schools say all kind of bullshit on the websites, but that doesn't make it true. Just look at the actual history of people here or on LSN, they don't seem to average.

[NoodleyOne]

While they say they consider all scores, analysis from LSN seems to indicate that they don't.

Also, the high 160s are a common plateau, and it takes a lot of work to get over it. It takes a different type of knowledge of the test. It requires that you "know" the test on a different level, and it takes a lot of work to get there. It's not impossible though.

[vanwinkle]

I could not find a good answer to this on the forum search but I'm hoping someone can give a good explanation of this? I see a lot of people saying 'RETAKE' when you underscore but I'm curious to know why TLSers have such a tendency to suggest retakes.

1) LSAT is the biggest factor in law school admissions. A high LSAT can sometimes overcome a low GPA, but a high GPA will almost never overcome a low LSAT.

2) Unlike GPA, you can retake the LSAT. It's actually an option. It's the one thing you can do to get into better schools.

3) The economy sucks right now. Seriously, things are shitty for everyone. Even going to a T14 doesn't guarantee you a job these days, though you'll have much better odds of finding one from a T14 than some TTT diploma mill. Think of it as a sliding scale of job opportunities. There are nuances I'm not getting into, but basically, lower school ranking equals lower chances of legal employment.

Given this, if your goal is to get a law-related job, retaking the LSAT is often more realistic than taking your chances at the schools your terrible LSAT score can get you into. When you ask about a 164 and people say "retake", they're saying "you're better off retaking than going to a school that'll take your 164".