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Hey, just wondering if I should take a gap year and retake the LSAT. I've got a 3.8 GPA and a 157 right now, and I've gotten into good state schools that I would be comfortable attending. However, I didn't put nearly as much work into the LSAT as I could have, and I would love to go to a school like Duke or another T14. Is it worth waiting a year to retake? I'm sure most of you will suggest a retake, but if I bring the score up to 165-170 do I have a realistic shot for next year?

Welcome to TLS! Your instinct is correct: you should absolutely retake. It would be a shame to waste your 3.8 GPA on a sub-160 LSAT, especially when you know you didn't study properly for the test.

Ideally, you would want to go as high as possible. With a 3.8, if you break a 170 you'd be looking at six figures of merit aid from Michigan through Cornell, and would be a lock for admission from NYU on down, with about a coin flip's chance of getting into at least one of Chicago or Columbia.


Even a 168 gets you into Berkeley, Duke and Cornell, and possibly NYU or Michigan, and likely $70-90k in merit scholarship funding.

Hi - We have a podcast episode on the subject that may help you: https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/podcast/2/