LSAT retake Forum

[Lawdood]

Do T14 law schools care if you retake the LSAT? Would it hinder your chances at ANY of them? What is the limit for number of retakes?

The reason I ask is because business schools give 0 fs how many times you take the GMAT/GRE and you can submit your highest score. Does LSAC work the same way?

Thanks in advance

[jumbo2016]

You can only take it 3 times in 2 years. Within that, they don't really care. Some average scores, most take the highest.

The more times you take it, the more it starts to send red flags. Don't take it 10 times. There also isn't really evidence that multiple retakes will improve a score that much, so there isn't a point to it anyway.

[Lawdood]

You can only take it 3 times in 2 years. Within that, they don't really care. Some average scores, most take the highest.

The more times you take it, the more it starts to send red flags. Don't take it 10 times. There also isn't really evidence that multiple retakes will improve a score that much, so there isn't a point to it anyway.

Ok Thanks

[UpandDown97]

You can only take it 3 times in 2 years. Within that, they don't really care. Some average scores, most take the highest.

The more times you take it, the more it starts to send red flags. Don't take it 10 times. There also isn't really evidence that multiple retakes will improve a score that much, so there isn't a point to it anyway.

Ok Thanks

This has some inaccuracies in it. Because of a change in reporting requirements by USNWR, they will only look at the highest.

Yes, sometimes it is ridiculous to retake the LSAT. Sometimes, it is not. It depends on your score. You can get better if you study right. If you can go up 3 points, that might be the difference between a rejection and a small scholly at a T10.

[Clearly]

You can only take it 3 times in 2 years. Within that, they don't really care. Some average scores, most take the highest.

The more times you take it, the more it starts to send red flags. Don't take it 10 times. There also isn't really evidence that multiple retakes will improve a score that much, so there isn't a point to it anyway.

Wut.

[Lawdood]

You can only take it 3 times in 2 years. Within that, they don't really care. Some average scores, most take the highest.

The more times you take it, the more it starts to send red flags. Don't take it 10 times. There also isn't really evidence that multiple retakes will improve a score that much, so there isn't a point to it anyway.

Ok Thanks

This has some inaccuracies in it. Because of a change in reporting requirements by USNWR, they will only look at the highest.

Yes, sometimes it is ridiculous to retake the LSAT. Sometimes, it is not. It depends on your score. You can get better if you study right. If you can go up 3 points, that might be the difference between a rejection and a small scholly at a T10.

On the HLS FAQs it says that they'll use the highest score, so I'll assume every T14 would do the same, with the exception being Yale, of course.

[jumbo2016]

You can only take it 3 times in 2 years. Within that, they don't really care. Some average scores, most take the highest.

The more times you take it, the more it starts to send red flags. Don't take it 10 times. There also isn't really evidence that multiple retakes will improve a score that much, so there isn't a point to it anyway.

Ok Thanks

This has some inaccuracies in it. Because of a change in reporting requirements by USNWR, they will only look at the highest.

Yes, sometimes it is ridiculous to retake the LSAT. Sometimes, it is not. It depends on your score. You can get better if you study right. If you can go up 3 points, that might be the difference between a rejection and a small scholly at a T10.

I didn't say there's no point in retaking it at all. I said multiple retakes are pointless. One retake even two might make a difference if something happened when you took the test or you really buckled down and studied more effectively this time but once you get past that? Taking it like 6 times just won't be helpful.

And there are still some schools that average scores. Most (as I said) take highest, but some still average and it's best to look up the individual schools to check their policies. I've read this on multiple sites here is one: http://lawschooli.com/do-law-schools-co ... at-scores/

[jumbo2016]

Here is a post on TLS that lists schools that average scores, which have a holistic approach (i.e. don't average but still take lower scores into account) and which only consider highest. http://www.top-law-schools.com/retaking-the-lsat.html

Harvard recently changed to highest

[UpandDown97]

You can only take it 3 times in 2 years. Within that, they don't really care. Some average scores, most take the highest.

The more times you take it, the more it starts to send red flags. Don't take it 10 times. There also isn't really evidence that multiple retakes will improve a score that much, so there isn't a point to it anyway.

Ok Thanks

This has some inaccuracies in it. Because of a change in reporting requirements by USNWR, they will only look at the highest.

Yes, sometimes it is ridiculous to retake the LSAT. Sometimes, it is not. It depends on your score. You can get better if you study right. If you can go up 3 points, that might be the difference between a rejection and a small scholly at a T10.

I didn't say there's no point in retaking it at all. I said multiple retakes are pointless. One retake even two might make a difference if something happened when you took the test or you really buckled down and studied more effectively this time but once you get past that? Taking it like 6 times just won't be helpful.

And there are still some schools that average scores. Most (as I said) take highest, but some still average and it's best to look up the individual schools to check their policies. I've read this on multiple sites here is one: http://lawschooli.com/do-law-schools-co ... at-scores/

Wouldn't "it" refer to "retaking?" And even if it doesn't, your post was vague, misleading, and potentially harmful.

[Clearly]

That just doesn't jive with the data though, nor my own experience.

[jumbo2016]

That just doesn't jive with the data though, nor my own experience.

I'm just posting what I've seen the school's stated policies to be. And I've seen in other threads that a school might raise an eyebrow at like 6+ LSAT takes which is why I said that. I just can't see a score improving after a certain amount of takes.

[BigZuck]

That just doesn't jive with the data though, nor my own experience.

I'm just posting what I've seen the school's stated policies to be. And I've seen in other threads that a school might raise an eyebrow at like 6+ LSAT takes which is why I said that. I just can't see a score improving after a certain amount of takes.

Believing things adcoms say has to be on the very shortlist of biggest mistakes you can make when applying to law schools

[Clearly]

I have multiple friends at T14s, several of which claim to take an average, that didn't do well until their fourth take.

[Clemenceau]

While we're at it... I think the "most retakers don't improve" line mentioned above is stupid. I get that its probably an lsac study or something that came to that conclusion, but it's still stupid. Here's why

The average lsat score is a 151. I'm sure a vast percentage of retakers are people that got a shitty score, retook without really studying more, and got another similarly shitty score. Believe it or not, people like this represent a huge percentage of lsat test takers. They skew the data such that it suggests "most retakers don't improve". However, if you're on tls, you're probably not one of these people. You are very likely capable of finding and using the resources you need to improve, and then going out and having a successful retake.

Sorry for the rant.

[everton125]

You can only take it 3 times in 2 years. Within that, they don't really care. Some average scores, most take the highest.

The more times you take it, the more it starts to send red flags. Don't take it 10 times. There also isn't really evidence that multiple retakes will improve a score that much, so there isn't a point to it anyway.

Ok Thanks

This has some inaccuracies in it. Because of a change in reporting requirements by USNWR, they will only look at the highest.

Yes, sometimes it is ridiculous to retake the LSAT. Sometimes, it is not. It depends on your score. You can get better if you study right. If you can go up 3 points, that might be the difference between a rejection and a small scholly at a T10.

I didn't say there's no point in retaking it at all. I said multiple retakes are pointless. One retake even two might make a difference if something happened when you took the test or you really buckled down and studied more effectively this time but once you get past that? Taking it like 6 times just won't be helpful.

And there are still some schools that average scores. Most (as I said) take highest, but some still average and it's best to look up the individual schools to check their policies. I've read this on multiple sites here is one: http://lawschooli.com/do-law-schools-co ... at-scores/

Some schools may claim they average or are holistic in their approach, but evidence largely suggests they are not, or, at the very most, they care only on the margins (e.g., if comparing two otherwise very similar applicants, a previous lower take may matter). It just does not make all that much sense for them to consider multiple takes since they only need to report the highest.

NYU claims they average, but if someone scores a 160 and 175, considering their LSAT score as a 175 rather than a 167.5 is going to be much more predictive of their chance at getting into NYU.

Yale is probably an exception to the rule, however.