Feb Waiters: is TODAY the DAY? [New Poll] Forum

[rheannabanana]

157.
No prep whatsoever.
1st time taking the test.

<- Fails at life.

For people who have taken the test without any prep and then with some prep, is the increase in score worthwhile?

You don't fail at life, and yes the increase in score can be worthwhile. If those extra points are going to get you admission or scholarship money, then go for it!

I got a 158 my first time around, completely unprepared, then bumped my score to 165 after a month of practice with the logic games bible. With more practice you have the potential to push your score even higher.

[John_rizzy_rawls]

Triple LR? What a nightmare.

So you mega-bombed that section, say -10. What's a 158, like 20 wrong?

158 is around -30.

That's insanity. Going from 170 average to -30 on the real thing.
I feel for you man. I know you don't want to hear this but you've got the skills for a big jump if you wanna wait it out for a 4th.

[griffin.811]

It's always fun to watch these threads on release day and know the majority of you falsify your score. 99% of test takers score below 170 yet almost all of you claim to be in that range. Since I am not fortunate enough to be in the 170s, please explain the flaw in my reasoning.

The 170+ are more likely to post. Also 170 was only 97th percentile oddly enough this test, and is usually 98th FYI.

170 was 98th for a long time, but it's been slowly declining in recent years. It was 97.2% in October fwiw.

Interesting, didn't know that. Thanks for the heads up. Damn effective TLS helping all these retakers get 170+.

Also you are applying the stats for the whole population to a very specific sample group (LSAT LR question ) Thats like saying only 1% of the people in the world can perform heart surgery, therefore only 1% of surgeons in this hospital should be able to perform heart surgery!

I would like to think that TLS'ers have at least slightly better numbers than the population of LSAT takers as a whole.

[wannabelawstudent]

No way i cant wait another 2 years and take it a 4th time and my gpa sucks so i was really banking on doing well on the lsat, oh well just gonna have to roll the dice with apps

Dude I know you're gonna hear this a lot. But seriously if you have a low Gpa and averaged 170 but got a 158. Wait the 2 years. I did it and it put me in a lot better position financially, as an applicant, and I believe I'm gonna be a better law student than I was had I gone 2 years ago. I know it sucks thinking "wtf am i gonna do for two years" but a 170 is gonna open up so many more doors in terms of where you can go and how much debt you'll end up with. Were talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars difference just by you waiting.

Besides, realize that law school is a lot like the LSAT in a sense that its a bunch of preparing for one test. Maybe its a mental thing that gets worked out but if you choked(sorry to use that phrase but I admit that I choked) in that situation three times, what makes you think you wont do it come exam time in law school. Your settling for a school with much fewer job prospects.

The only exceptions i can think of is if you already have a job lined up or you want to go to your Big State school and practice law in that state.

[bogydog]

Got a 164 with about 15 hours of prep, which puts me at the 75th percentile for UW Madison, my state school where I was hoping (planning) to go...but I think, after browsing around TLS I kind of got the impression that retaking might not be a bad idea.

However if I have to take a year off, I would probably want to go teach ESL abroad, since (1) it would be fun and (2) I don't exactly have a plethora of job options available with a Spanish major. Anyone know if it's possible to take the test in Latin America? If not, would it be worth it to retake in June if I studied really hard, like 8+ hours a day starting when school gets out in May (like 3 weeks total)?

[CardozoLaw09]

No way i cant wait another 2 years and take it a 4th time and my gpa sucks so i was really banking on doing well on the lsat, oh well just gonna have to roll the dice with apps

Dude I know you're gonna hear this a lot. But seriously if you have a low Gpa and averaged 170 but got a 158. Wait the 2 years. I did it and it put me in a lot better position financially, as an applicant, and I believe I'm gonna be a better law student than I was had I gone 2 years ago. I know it sucks thinking "wtf am i gonna do for two years" but a 170 is gonna open up so many more doors in terms of where you can go and how much debt you'll end up with. Were talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars difference just by you waiting.

Besides, realize that law school is a lot like the LSAT in a sense that its a bunch of preparing for one test. Maybe its a mental thing that gets worked out but if you choked(sorry to use that phrase but I admit that I choked) in that situation three times, what makes you think you wont do it come exam time in law school. Your settling for a school with much fewer job prospects.

The only exceptions i can think of is if you already have a job lined up or you want to go to your Big State school and practice law in that state.

+1

use those two years to work on your softs and/or earn some money and then get back on the LSAT grind - you clearly have the potential, don't sell yourself short.

[arac22]

175 up from a 169 on the October 2011 test. Good luck to all of those who are going to retake, it is definitely worth it!

[John_rizzy_rawls]

Got a 164 with about 15 hours of prep, which puts me at the 75th percentile for UW Madison, my state school where I was hoping (planning) to go...but I think, after browsing around TLS I kind of got the impression that retaking might not be a bad idea.

However if I have to take a year off, I would probably want to go teach ESL abroad, since (1) it would be fun and (2) I don't exactly have a plethora of job options available with a Spanish major. Anyone know if it's possible to take the test in Latin America? If not, would it be worth it to retake in June if I studied really hard, like 8+ hours a day starting when school gets out in May (like 3 weeks total)?

If you got a 164 with no prep and you don't retake I will personally punch you in the face.

[A → B ⊨ ¬B → ¬A]

Got a 164 with about 15 hours of prep, which puts me at the 75th percentile for UW Madison, my state school where I was hoping (planning) to go...but I think, after browsing around TLS I kind of got the impression that retaking might not be a bad idea.

However if I have to take a year off, I would probably want to go teach ESL abroad, since (1) it would be fun and (2) I don't exactly have a plethora of job options available with a Spanish major. Anyone know if it's possible to take the test in Latin America? If not, would it be worth it to retake in June if I studied really hard, like 8+ hours a day starting when school gets out in May (like 3 weeks total)?

If you got a 164 with no prep and you don't retake I will personally punch you in the face.

fair

[bogydog]

Hey, don't call that no prep...those 15 hours were painful. I skipped a track meet, part of the Superbowl, etc to squeeze it in... I wasn't planning on prepping at all, but I saw a LSAT book in the library one day and thought, hey, why not? Then I tried a logic game, which I thought sounded fun and easy, and after getting only 4 right out of 6 decided I better start cramming...if only I had started earlier, since I didn't really do anything all winter break...


Whoever got the 158 after averaging 170 and wasn't sure where you went wrong...maybe you just misbubbled a section? I'm always paranoid about that.

[xjcsa]

Hey, don't call that no prep...those 15 hours were painful. I skipped a track meet, part of the Superbowl, etc to squeeze it in... I wasn't planning on prepping at all, but I saw a LSAT book in the library one day and thought, hey, why not? Then I tried a logic game, which I thought sounded fun and easy, and after getting only 4 right out of 6 decided I better start cramming...if only I had started earlier, since I didn't really do anything all winter break...


Whoever got the 158 after averaging 170 and wasn't sure where you went wrong...maybe you just misbubbled a section? I'm always paranoid about that.

Hey, I'll give you credit for the 15 hours of prep - it's about 13 hours more than I did. I just took the free practice test once and then went over a few questions the morning of the test to get my mind in gear.

[ducks]

[Holynorth]

.

[mdn]

I got a 158 with about 2 weeks of prep and took only 3 or 4 PTs - you guys are saying I can push this up to possibly a 170 with a lot of prep?

I'm not trying to go to a top school....the simplest way to put it is i'm trying to go to the best school that i can for the cheapest that i can - is it really worth it to retake it and have to wait for fall 2014 to start school?

also...i did run out of time on LG (normally my strongest section by far) and had to guess 5 questions

[John_rizzy_rawls]

Hey, don't call that no prep...those 15 hours were painful. I skipped a track meet, part of the Superbowl, etc to squeeze it in... I wasn't planning on prepping at all, but I saw a LSAT book in the library one day and thought, hey, why not? Then I tried a logic game, which I thought sounded fun and easy, and after getting only 4 right out of 6 decided I better start cramming...if only I had started earlier, since I didn't really do anything all winter break...


Whoever got the 158 after averaging 170 and wasn't sure where you went wrong...maybe you just misbubbled a section? I'm always paranoid about that.

That's all good and well, I'm still decking you right in the kisser if you don't retake and aim higher than freaking UWMadison.

[Holynorth]

.

[John_rizzy_rawls]

I got a 158 with about 2 weeks of prep and took only 3 or 4 PTs - you guys are saying I can push this up to possibly a 170 with a lot of prep?

I'm not trying to go to a top school....the simplest way to put it is i'm trying to go to the best school that i can for the cheapest that i can - is it really worth it to retake it and have to wait for fall 2014 to start school?

Yes. Higher ranked schools, huge schollies at lower ranked ones, ending up employed at somewhere that doesn't involve wondering if one would like fries with that... all that stuff.

Study and retake.

[WokeUpInACar]

I got a 158 with about 2 weeks of prep and took only 3 or 4 PTs - you guys are saying I can push this up to possibly a 170 with a lot of prep?

I'm not trying to go to a top school....the simplest way to put it is i'm trying to go to the best school that i can for the cheapest that i can - is it really worth it to retake it and have to wait for fall 2014 to start school?

also...i did run out of time on LG (normally my strongest section by far) and had to guess 5 questions

Please retake. Please. A high LSAT will get you big $$$$ at lower schools just like it will get you into higher ranked schools.

[wannabelawstudent]

Hey, don't call that no prep...those 15 hours were painful. I skipped a track meet, part of the Superbowl, etc to squeeze it in... I wasn't planning on prepping at all, but I saw a LSAT book in the library one day and thought, hey, why not? Then I tried a logic game, which I thought sounded fun and easy, and after getting only 4 right out of 6 decided I better start cramming...if only I had started earlier, since I didn't really do anything all winter break...


Whoever got the 158 after averaging 170 and wasn't sure where you went wrong...maybe you just misbubbled a section? I'm always paranoid about that.

I'm actually gonna go against the norm and say that if you didn't retake it would be ok. Keep in mind youou stated that you wanted to go to Wisconsin specifically and a 164 puts you at their 75th. You're in state so you're likely to get a almost full tuition scholly. (Something like 15k a year). So retaking wouldn't get you too much more than what you can already get(given I don't know your Gpa.)

You could retake if you wanted to see what other prospects you have, but Wisconsin is also well known for practicing yeild protection. So even if you get a 170....they might waitlist you assuming that you'll get better offers.

All of this is assuming that Wisconsin is where you wanna go(as you stated)

[Clearly]

So relieved

[wannabelawstudent]

I got a 158 with about 2 weeks of prep and took only 3 or 4 PTs - you guys are saying I can push this up to possibly a 170 with a lot of prep?

I'm not trying to go to a top school....the simplest way to put it is i'm trying to go to the best school that i can for the cheapest that i can - is it really worth it to retake it and have to wait for fall 2014 to start school?

also...i did run out of time on LG (normally my strongest section by far) and had to guess 5 questions

At this point your applying so late in the cycle that its best to wait and retake in June and get your apps in by October.

[bogydog]

Yeah studying during school is tough! If I can't take the LSAT while abroad though, maybe it would be worth it to slack off in my classes and let my GPA drop to a 3.8 or 3.9?? Though it would be embarrassing considering how easy they are...I don't go to a super competitive school.

But any feedback? Do you guys think 3 weeks of really hard core, 8 hours a day prep be enough to bump me from a 164 into the 170's? I've always been in the top 1% of standardized tests in the past...What other option do I have if I go abroad, short of paying to fly back to the U.S. just to take the test later?

[bogydog]

I'm actually gonna go against the norm and say that if you didn't retake it would be ok. Keep in mind youou stated that you wanted to go to Wisconsin specifically and a 164 puts you at their 75th. You're in state so you're likely to get a almost full tuition scholly. (Something like 15k a year). So retaking wouldn't get you too much more than what you can already get(given I don't know your Gpa.)

You could retake if you wanted to see what other prospects you have, but Wisconsin is also well known for practicing yeild protection. So even if you get a 170....they might waitlist you assuming that you'll get better offers.

All of this is assuming that Wisconsin is where you wanna go(as you stated)

Thanks for the feedback! I'm not dead-set on Wisconsin, but if I was offered a full-tuition scholarship there, it would take a lot to lure me away...either admission to Stanford (in my dreams...) or almost full tuition at a top 14 school, which probably wouldn't happen either!
That's really interesting about yield protection, I've never heard of that before...
Do you think that if I did apply to start in the fall, applying this late in the admission cycle would hurt my chances of getting a good scholarship? I'm also surprised that you think they would give around 15k/year...is this something schools really do for an entire fourth of their students??

[Jack86]

153->163, 56% to 87% - thank you all for the help along the way especially with the ps, cheers!

[CristopherG]

178!

**** yeah!

[WokeUpInACar]

Yeah studying during school is tough! If I can't take the LSAT while abroad though, maybe it would be worth it to slack off in my classes and let my GPA drop to a 3.8 or 3.9?? Though it would be embarrassing considering how easy they are...I don't go to a super competitive school.

But any feedback? Do you guys think 3 weeks of really hard core, 8 hours a day prep be enough to bump me from a 164 into the 170's? I've always been in the top 1% of standardized tests in the past...What other option do I have if I go abroad, short of paying to fly back to the U.S. just to take the test later?

They have test centers in almost every country. Also a 170+ would get you into places like U Chicago, which would be pure gold for Wisconsin.

Also can you really not spare any extra time from your admittedly easy classes to prep gradually instead of just cramming at the end?