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I have taken the LSAT once, 159 (156-162 score band) 78th% and have an LSAC gpa of 3.44. I have decent softs (plenty of volunteer experience, internships, some leadership activities, part time job all through undergrad) and all my letters are from Professors. I am not a URM, however I am of middle eastern descent and felt like I wrote a pretty decent personal statement. I am graduating this semester from University of Iowa and would rather not take time off so I applied to a host of schools that I thought were worthwhile. However, depending on which schools I get into/if I don't get into any of them at all I would be willing to take a year off and study the crap out of the LSAT (I studied for a couple weeks but know with a month or more of preparation I could max out in the 163-165 range). I have a few questions, first off the only school that has responded (I applied to all of them in early January) is American University and they have 'wait listed' me. My question is do I still have a legitimate shot at getting in there? 50/50? Less? I don't know anything about the 'wait listing' process/chances so any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I was also hoping I could get some feedback about my chances at the other schools I applied to (which I will list at the end of this post)?? Is being wait listed at American a good sign for my chances at lower ranked schools?? Lastly, with the current economic climate and all would I be better off taking a year off and re-applying to some higher ranked schools with a better score?? Or by the time I graduate 3 years from now will the climate be much improved?? The only reason I haven't retaken the test yet is because I wanted to see where I'd get in with this score and because the LSAT was 4 of the most stressful hours of my life that I'd rather not re-live.

Here are all the schools I applied to:

UC Hastings (long shot...visited there..love SF...love their school)
American (wait listed)
Loyola LA (no response yet)
Santa Clara (no response yet)
USF (no response yet)

I also applied to Miami as more of a 'safety' school (based off their 25th-75th% I should have a pretty good shot)

Thanks in advance

Hi, I was waitlisted in American too. My foreign GPA is 4.0., LSAT (149 and 160), I have 2 LLM degrees and a foreign JD degree + English is not my native language.
I was told by others that I have nothing to do in DC, unless my LSAT is above 165...
Sounds sad...but it is what it is, I hope for best.

retake and apply early.

Monica66 wrote:Hi, I was waitlisted in American too. My foreign GPA is 4.0., LSAT (149 and 160), I have 2 LLM degrees and a foreign JD degree + English is not my native language.
I was told by others that I have nothing to do in DC, unless my LSAT is above 165...
Sounds sad...but it is what it is, I hope for best.

If your LSAC GPA is 4.0 then I would think you could prob pull off PT at GMU. Out at GW and GULC unless you retake.

You should be fine at USF and SCU with your current numbers. However, if your heart is certainly set on American or a tier 1 then go give the LSAT another shot. Sounds like you have room for improvement. People say the second time around is less stressful and generally return higher scores. That said, a score of just 3-4 more points and applying early next cycle will 1) allow you to have a shot at higher ranked schools and 2) good $$$ at schools like SCU and USF.

It's truly a personal decision whether or not you want to wait a year or not. many people on TLS will tell you to retake, apply next cycle, and work for the year. So, unless you a dire need to go to school this fall then I'd have to agree and suggest you to wait.

Hey i dude i suggest you to retake the test and apply as early as possible......