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[chargers21]

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[trebekismyhero]

so is everyone of the opinion that I should take a year off? And as for taking the June test, that would require a complete commitment to sitting out a year, which I'm finding hard to sell to both myself and my parents. Also, since I'm graduating in December, I feel like the beginning of February is a good time to retake the test. I would simply just not get a job during that month and a half time period, giving myself plenty of time to do nothing but focus on practicing for the test. I think the June test would end up giving me troubles with competing with work similar to my first tests. I feel like February with nothing else going on is my best chance.

No harm in applying now. But if you get 170+ it would probably be better to sit out and reapply next year.

[blackmamba8]

I'm in a similar position as you (always planned on being KJD, now I'm taking a year). My parents still aren't on board with it, and they probably never will be, but it's my life and I have to do what's best for me. Unless your parents are footing the bill you're going to be the one responsible for the loan payments. Sitting out a year will put you in a much better position than rushing and trying to apply this cycle would. Crush your retake and go to a T14 on a nice scholarship instead of settling for IU.

[chargers21]

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[zeglo]

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[Clearly]

I got flack from family too, but in the end it worked out so much better than it would have and they've remarked that they're glad I didn't listen to them etc. Your debt, your future, your decision.

[chargers21]

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[trebekismyhero]

So should I tell the schools that I apply to this cycle to wait for my new score or to give me a decision based off of my current score?

Obviously not IU since you would probably get a full ride either way. The rest I don't think it really matters, maybe if you apply to t6 schools cause otherwise you would probably get rejected pretty quickly.

[chargers21]

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[blackmamba8]

Good luck! Just curious, is being from a very rural area a good or a bad thing in law schools' eyes?

[chargers21]

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[cavalier1138]

Good luck! Just curious, is being from a very rural area a good or a bad thing in law schools' eyes?

Thanks! And it's apparently a good thing. My pre-law advisor told me that the pool of applicants from extremely rural areas is so small, that it's essentially another form of diversity that some schools are interested in. Also, something about succeeding in a science field in spite of being from an extremely conservative location and school (that had sub-par academics, especially science) is seen as a plus. But that is just what my advisor told me. It's probably not a huge bump, but it was worthy of being one of my primary focuses in my personal statment.

There may be something to the rural diversity idea. But the October Sky narrative is bull. It's a worthwhile PS topic, but I guarantee that adcomms are not looking up the relative emphasis in specific educational fields when they look at your background.

[chargers21]

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[cavalier1138]

There may be something to the rural diversity idea. But the October Sky narrative is bull. It's a worthwhile PS topic, but I guarantee that adcomms are not looking up the relative emphasis in specific educational fields when they look at your background.

I genuinely believe that I succeeded in spite of my background from a poor farming/manufacturing family in a rural location with bad schools that didn't really buy into the whole "evolution" thing. It made it easy to talk about in my PS, because I really do feel like it has had an impact on me academically and as a person. I hope schools don't see it as bull, but that's about all I had to talk about.

Oh, I totally agree that it's a great topic for a PS, and I am personally inclined to like you more for having succeeded in that area. I just disagree with your counselor's assessment that admissions departments care about it independent of your statement. They aren't going to give your GPA any more or less weight because of what an area's educational policies are.

[chargers21]

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[chargers21]

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[chargers21]

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[whodareswins]

In at Duke, for those curious.

Congrats. We are numbers twins so that's good to know that Duke is a possibility.

[chargers21]

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[cantyoloforever]

I'm in a similar position as you (always planned on being KJD, now I'm taking a year). My parents still aren't on board with it, and they probably never will be, but it's my life and I have to do what's best for me. Unless your parents are footing the bill you're going to be the one responsible for the loan payments. Sitting out a year will put you in a much better position than rushing and trying to apply this cycle would. Crush your retake and go to a T14 on a nice scholarship instead of settling for IU.

You're doing the right thing. My parents were pissed too (they wanted me to go to SLU or SIUC), and now that I'm starting to get acceptances from highly ranked schools, they see I did the right thing.

Though it can be annoying when studying to hear them complain about you wasting time lol.

[blackmamba8]

In at Duke, for those curious.

Congrats! Are you still planning on retaking in February?

[chargers21]

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[lauren22]

Large public school, Psychology BS, neuroscience certificate, biology minor, animal behavior minor. Softs limited, just some basic summer jobs and a volunteering in biology related things. Not a URM. 167 LSAT after a 156 LSAT on first try. 3.88 GPA. Graduating early in December and working in spring/summer semesters.

What are my chances at the T14 schools? What kind of money could I expect? I would love to ED to NU for the money and because I like the area, would I be competitive? I have gotten fee waivers to many of the T14 schools, so applying to them is very enticing.

Thanks for any help, and if anyone has any suggestions for personal statements for someone who hasn't done much during college except go to class they would be appreciated.

If any other details are helpful, just ask.

P.S. the deadline for the December LSAT has passed, and I have a very important prior obligation the day of that test to attend to so I didn't sign up. Plus I wasn't prepared for such a big jump in my scores. Is a February LSAT useful to take, for admissions or monitary reasons? I could probably get a higher score if I didn't get a job until after the test and just practiced for a long time.

I had a similar situation to you. The first time I took my test, I got a 167 and I retook it in Feb. and got a significantly higher score. I applied to schools and asked most of them to hold my application until I got my score back. Before I took the Feb. test, I got into WSTL and Vanderbilt. After Feb., I got into UCLA and Northwestern. I was also WL at UC Berkeley, Cornell, and NYU. I then decided to wait another year before law school and apply early in the 2017 cycle, which I did. I've been accepted into UC Berkeley, so I think that proves that applying earlier in the cycle instead of at the very end can have a huge impact.

It depends on what school you really want to go to. If you think you can improve your score, then I would say take it in Feb and you have a good chance of getting into NU, even if you don't apply until March, like me. You have a higher GPA than me. If you want to get into an even higher-ranked school, than just wait until next year to apply with a higher score. Applying at the end of the admissions cycle sort of sucks, but you can make it work!