Would retaking the LSAT increase my chances at T14? Forum

[Ayeshabelle]

Hey, I have a 167 and 3.83 and am considering retaking the LSAT. My apps are in and complete, but I think I can do better on the LSAT since I caught the flu and had a panic attack/meltdown right before the September LSAT (probably should have explained this in an addendum but I figured law schools would think I was an excuse-maker)

Do you think it would be worth it to wait a year to apply and retake the LSAT in June? Would law schools look unkindly upon me if I submit identical personal statements in the next admissions cycle?

[bees]

You seem pretty sure that you'll do better if you take it again. What were you PTing at?

You would have to write a new personal statement (I'm not sure if it's actually required or just very frowned upon).

With your GPA the sky's the limit for the T14 so if you don't mind waiting a year and are confident you can improve your score a bit I'd say waiting would probably be a good idea.

[vanwinkle]

Since your apps are in already, go ahead and wait to see if you get into any T14, but with your numbers that's highly unlikely. 167 to 170+ is a huge huge leap in terms of T14 acceptance rate; UVA accepts practically 0 applicants who have a 169 or lower, unless they have a 3.85+ GPA. Your GPA isn't quite high enough to justify taking your sub-170 LSAT to a lot of T14s. You might make it into Cornell or GULC, but 170+ could make you easily possible with that GPA at UVA, Michigan, Penn, etc., and the higher your score the better the school you'll get into. 173+ could get you into Columbia or NYU.

So, if you don't get an acceptance you're happy with this cycle, your plan is: Study, retake, apply early next cycle. I really don't think it matters if you use the same PS or not; you're the same person, the only thing that's changed is your LSAT, so that's the only thing that needs to be different. The PS is there to reinforce your numbers and show that you belong in their law school, and as such I can't imagine why you'd want a different PS than the one you've already written if it's already the best you have at showing that.

EDIT: Wait, are you a URM? Looking at your previous posts it came up, but I didn't see a definitive answer either way. If you are URM then you are probably in at several solid T14s with your stats. This is an important distinction to understand.

[grifter]

Since your apps are in already, go ahead and wait to see if you get into any T14, but with your numbers that's highly unlikely. 167 to 170+ is a huge huge leap in terms of T14 acceptance rate; UVA accepts practically 0 applicants who have a 169 or lower, unless they have a 3.85+ GPA. Your GPA isn't quite high enough to justify taking your sub-170 LSAT to a lot of T14s. You might make it into Cornell or GULC, but 170+ could make you easily possible with that GPA at UVA, Michigan, Penn, etc., and the higher your score the better the school you'll get into. 173+ could get you into Columbia or NYU.

So, if you don't get an acceptance you're happy with this cycle, your plan is: Study, retake, apply early next cycle. I really don't think it matters if you use the same PS or not; you're the same person, the only thing that's changed is your LSAT, so that's the only thing that needs to be different. The PS is there to reinforce your numbers and show that you belong in their law school, and as such I can't imagine why you'd want a different PS than the one you've already written if it's already the best you have at showing that.

EDIT: Wait, are you a URM? Looking at your previous posts it came up, but I didn't see a definitive answer either way. If you are URM then you are probably in at several solid T14s with your stats. This is an important distinction to understand.

I hope you didn't type that with a straight face; URM or not, 167 is a solid lsat score and it does not make him/her a highly unlikely candidate for a T-14. Could he/she be in a better position? sure. Could upping his/her score considerably improve his/her chances? sure. But 167 coupled with a GPA like that, is no auto reject either; just saying

[stratocophic]

Since your apps are in already, go ahead and wait to see if you get into any T14, but with your numbers that's highly unlikely. 167 to 170+ is a huge huge leap in terms of T14 acceptance rate; UVA accepts practically 0 applicants who have a 169 or lower, unless they have a 3.85+ GPA. Your GPA isn't quite high enough to justify taking your sub-170 LSAT to a lot of T14s. You might make it into Cornell or GULC, but 170+ could make you easily possible with that GPA at UVA, Michigan, Penn, etc., and the higher your score the better the school you'll get into. 173+ could get you into Columbia or NYU.

So, if you don't get an acceptance you're happy with this cycle, your plan is: Study, retake, apply early next cycle. I really don't think it matters if you use the same PS or not; you're the same person, the only thing that's changed is your LSAT, so that's the only thing that needs to be different. The PS is there to reinforce your numbers and show that you belong in their law school, and as such I can't imagine why you'd want a different PS than the one you've already written if it's already the best you have at showing that.

EDIT: Wait, are you a URM? Looking at your previous posts it came up, but I didn't see a definitive answer either way. If you are URM then you are probably in at several solid T14s with your stats. This is an important distinction to understand.

I hope you didn't type that with a straight face; URM or not, 167 is a solid lsat score and it does not make him/her a highly unlikely candidate for a T-14. Could he/she be in a better position? sure. Could upping his/her score considerably improve his/her chances? sure. But 167 coupled with a GPA like that, is no auto reject either; just saying

That 167/3.83 combo is pretty much auto admit for most T-14s... if and only if you have URM status. van winkle is correct in his assessment. For non-URM status those numbers are good, but still borderline for T-14 schools. This late in the cycle, WLs are the most realistic expectation without ED magic at UVA or Gtown.

[grifter]

Since your apps are in already, go ahead and wait to see if you get into any T14, but with your numbers that's highly unlikely. 167 to 170+ is a huge huge leap in terms of T14 acceptance rate; UVA accepts practically 0 applicants who have a 169 or lower, unless they have a 3.85+ GPA. Your GPA isn't quite high enough to justify taking your sub-170 LSAT to a lot of T14s. You might make it into Cornell or GULC, but 170+ could make you easily possible with that GPA at UVA, Michigan, Penn, etc., and the higher your score the better the school you'll get into. 173+ could get you into Columbia or NYU.

So, if you don't get an acceptance you're happy with this cycle, your plan is: Study, retake, apply early next cycle. I really don't think it matters if you use the same PS or not; you're the same person, the only thing that's changed is your LSAT, so that's the only thing that needs to be different. The PS is there to reinforce your numbers and show that you belong in their law school, and as such I can't imagine why you'd want a different PS than the one you've already written if it's already the best you have at showing that.

EDIT: Wait, are you a URM? Looking at your previous posts it came up, but I didn't see a definitive answer either way. If you are URM then you are probably in at several solid T14s with your stats. This is an important distinction to understand.

I hope you didn't type that with a straight face; URM or not, 167 is a solid lsat score and it does not make him/her a highly unlikely candidate for a T-14. Could he/she be in a better position? sure. Could upping his/her score considerably improve his/her chances? sure. But 167 coupled with a GPA like that, is no auto reject either; just saying

That 167/3.83 combo is pretty much auto admit for most T-14s... if and only if you have URM status. van winkle is correct in his assessment. For non-URM status those numbers are good, but still borderline for T-14 schools. This late in the cycle, WLs are the most realistic expectation without ED magic at UVA or Gtown.

Granted. However, in my opinion, borderline is not tantamount to highly unlikely

[stratocophic]

Since your apps are in already, go ahead and wait to see if you get into any T14, but with your numbers that's highly unlikely. 167 to 170+ is a huge huge leap in terms of T14 acceptance rate; UVA accepts practically 0 applicants who have a 169 or lower, unless they have a 3.85+ GPA. Your GPA isn't quite high enough to justify taking your sub-170 LSAT to a lot of T14s. You might make it into Cornell or GULC, but 170+ could make you easily possible with that GPA at UVA, Michigan, Penn, etc., and the higher your score the better the school you'll get into. 173+ could get you into Columbia or NYU.

So, if you don't get an acceptance you're happy with this cycle, your plan is: Study, retake, apply early next cycle. I really don't think it matters if you use the same PS or not; you're the same person, the only thing that's changed is your LSAT, so that's the only thing that needs to be different. The PS is there to reinforce your numbers and show that you belong in their law school, and as such I can't imagine why you'd want a different PS than the one you've already written if it's already the best you have at showing that.

EDIT: Wait, are you a URM? Looking at your previous posts it came up, but I didn't see a definitive answer either way. If you are URM then you are probably in at several solid T14s with your stats. This is an important distinction to understand.

I hope you didn't type that with a straight face; URM or not, 167 is a solid lsat score and it does not make him/her a highly unlikely candidate for a T-14. Could he/she be in a better position? sure. Could upping his/her score considerably improve his/her chances? sure. But 167 coupled with a GPA like that, is no auto reject either; just saying

That 167/3.83 combo is pretty much auto admit for most T-14s... if and only if you have URM status. van winkle is correct in his assessment. For non-URM status those numbers are good, but still borderline for T-14 schools. This late in the cycle, WLs are the most realistic expectation without ED magic at UVA or Gtown.

Granted. However, in my opinion, borderline is not tantamount to highly unlikely

I agree that it's not highly unlikely. I'd say that getting even 2-3 more points would make a very large difference, however. Being at/above the 75% mark for several T-14s is worth much, much more than being at/above the 75% mark for only a few of them. Each point differentiates you from hundreds or even thousands of other applicants, and will consequently get you in over a person with a lower score and slightly higher GPA if all else is equal.

[gochrisgo]

_

[vanwinkle]

That 167/3.83 combo is pretty much auto admit for most T-14s... if and only if you have URM status. van winkle is correct in his assessment. For non-URM status those numbers are good, but still borderline for T-14 schools. This late in the cycle, WLs are the most realistic expectation without ED magic at UVA or Gtown.

+1. otherwise, this whole "if you have such-and-such score, you're out/in" is only accurate to an extent.

i'm 3.79/169 (applied in late november) and already in at Mich and Gtown (plus a smattering of #15-20 schools). you can give guidelines for the scores/grades that schools generally look for, but why would you all mislead someone into thinking that's the only thing that matters?

+1