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So i am about ready to apply to law school, waiting on only one more LOR to be processed. Should be complete by first week in september. I would love to attend UVA.

I have a 4.0 GPA and great softs
Problem is i scored a 160 on the LSAT

I was consistently scoring 168-169 on PT's (in testing situation).

Something very big came up with a close relative a week before the test. It messed up everything pretty bad, and is just clearing up. I have forgotten much of what i learned in LSAT prep, and dont think a month is enough time to re-prep. Took a Free PT and scored 158.

Do i stand a chance at Virginia if I ED by Sept. 10th or so. How about Berkeley (no early decision). Duke? i got a fee waiver from Duke, what does that mean?

I dont want to retake in December because that puts me applying so late. And this semester is going to be very tough.

Any advice would be very helpful.

Might as well try to retake, I think even if you take in December and get high 160's you would be invariably better off than you are now.

Maybe retake in December and take a year off? Most people I have talked to are glad to have taken a year off between UG and LS.

bk187 wrote:Might as well try to retake, I think even if you take in December and get high 160's you would be invariably better off than you are now.

+1

You didn't get a 4.0 without putting in a lot of hard work, and it would be a shame to waste that on a fluke exam. And it's not like retesting in December makes you an auto-reject, so I'd just retest and get your true score - apply only to your top choice schools this year, and reapply next year earlier and more broadly if you don't get an offer.

jt1341 wrote:I was consistently scoring 168-169 on PT's (in testing situation).

Something very big came up with a close relative a week before the test. It messed up everything pretty bad, and is just clearing up. I have forgotten much of what i learned in LSAT prep, and dont think a month is enough time to re-prep. Took a Free PT and scored 158.

... And this semester is going to be very tough.

Caveat: 168-169 is your true score, and your family issues are the factor that's preventing you from succeeding both on your first exam and then on your PT - so, retesting isn't going to help if you can't clear your head. It would take some pretty serious family stuff to drop your score ~10 points twice in a row, and I would recommend seeing someone about it if your PTs don't start going up.

Applying late sucks, that's for sure but applying in Dec with high 160's is better than applying in September with a 160. Alternatively you could take a year off and have a retake and be able to apply in September. Applying late is most detrimental for those with weak numbers (mainly splitters), you would be in way better stead, as mentioned, via a retake.

Relatively serious. Basically I was at the hospital, and went straight to the test. My Diag was 155, everything is fine now as nothing turned out bad.

Problem is taking a year off really isnt an option (unless i want to pay for school myself) so i am just hoping my GPA and an ED can pull me into a T10. Honestly i dont care where, i would take Berkeley over CCN and Virginia is probably my #2 choice, but they have an ED and Berkeley doesn't.

EDIT: posted my Diag so as to say i didnt start out that high, i studied every day, hours a day, for over 3 months. RC is my worst section by far which i feel is the hardest to improve.

jt1341 wrote:Relatively serious. Basically I was at the hospital, and went straight to the test. My Diag was 155, everything is fine now as nothing turned out bad.

Problem is taking a year off really isnt an option (unless i want to pay for school myself) so i am just hoping my GPA and an ED can pull me into a T10. Honestly i dont care where, i would take Berkeley over CCN and Virginia is probably my #2 choice, but they have an ED and Berkeley doesn't.

EDIT: posted my Diag so as to say i didnt start out that high, i studied every day, hours a day, for over 3 months. RC is my worst section by far which i feel is the hardest to improve.

I think your chances for UVA even with ED are slim (but you have a shot), if your LSAT score was 164+ you'd have better than even odds of getting in.

Maybe you didn't study in the best way for you. A 5 point jump really isn't that high and a 155 diag isn't bad. How high were your PT's prior to your actual LSAT?

Most of us are paying for school ourselves. Are you implying that your parents will fully finance your legal education if you go now and don't wait a year or something like that? If so then I understand not reapplying. In any case, I think even an ED isn't going to bump you up to acceptances at Berkeley or UVa. Thus, I think your best bet is to study really hard, maybe take a class or private tutor or use different books, and retake December. Getting into the mid 160's and at least above schools' 25th's will make a world of difference, if not getting above their median will make you golden.

jt1341 wrote:So i am about ready to apply to law school, waiting on only one more LOR to be processed. Should be complete by first week in september. I would love to attend UVA.

I have a 4.0 GPA and great softs
Problem is i scored a 160 on the LSAT

I was consistently scoring 168-169 on PT's (in testing situation).

Something very big came up with a close relative a week before the test. It messed up everything pretty bad, and is just clearing up. I have forgotten much of what i learned in LSAT prep, and dont think a month is enough time to re-prep. Took a Free PT and scored 158.

Do i stand a chance at Virginia if I ED by Sept. 10th or so. How about Berkeley (no early decision). Duke? i got a fee waiver from Duke, what does that mean?

I dont want to retake in December because that puts me applying so late. And this semester is going to be very tough.

Any advice would be very helpful.

i can say from experience that if you truly were at 168-169, you could get this back by a few weeks of hard studying. it's not as though you're learning from scratch. you already built the skills to get that 169, and they're still somewhere in your brain. i think you could be ready by october potentially if all you need is a 169.

i can say this: a 160 will not get you into UVA. if you look at the #'s, every yr there are many people who apply with 4.0's, and below 25th percentile LSAT scores, and are happily rejected across the board. if you had a 169, i'd certainly bet on you getting in with that 4.0 as the guesstimation is a pt on the LSAT before 172 has as much value as a pt on the GPA.

I definitely understand what everyone is saying.

I took a prep class, and will start studying for the October LSAT i guess, if I am scoring highly on practice tests in 2-3 weeks i will take. Is it to late to sign up for October? I hope not, i signed up for the June test over 2 months prior too.

Thanks for everyones insight (though i was hoping someone would say i have a shot haha), hopefully the fee waiver from Duke means something. Do fee waivers mean you have a decent shot at the school?

jt1341 wrote:I definitely understand what everyone is saying.

I took a prep class, and will start studying for the October LSAT i guess, if I am scoring highly on practice tests in 2-3 weeks i will take. Is it to late to sign up for October? I hope not, i signed up for the June test over 2 months prior too.

Thanks for everyones insight (though i was hoping someone would say i have a shot haha), hopefully the fee waiver from Duke means something. Do fee waivers mean you have a decent shot at the school?

Fee waivers mean nothing. They send them to pretty much everyone because they want to increase their selectivity scores.

How many timed PT's did you take before your first test and what was your average on them?

bk187 wrote:

jt1341 wrote:I definitely understand what everyone is saying.

I took a prep class, and will start studying for the October LSAT i guess, if I am scoring highly on practice tests in 2-3 weeks i will take. Is it to late to sign up for October? I hope not, i signed up for the June test over 2 months prior too.

Thanks for everyones insight (though i was hoping someone would say i have a shot haha), hopefully the fee waiver from Duke means something. Do fee waivers mean you have a decent shot at the school?

Fee waivers mean nothing. They send them to pretty much everyone because they want to increase their selectivity scores.

How many timed PT's did you take before your first test and what was your average on them?

according to my info (various law schools... albeit ones my original score are above the 50th percentile at)-- nobody gives a shit about one cancellation. overall, if you cancel, you still have the 160. if you take it in December, and get a 170, they're not going to speculate too much into the canceled score. you'd be a 170. but yeah, if u get a 155 in October, the 170 won't quite have that 170 affect that you're after.

call LSAC about the last cancellation date without a notation if you'd like.

bk187 wrote:

jt1341 wrote:I definitely understand what everyone is saying.

I took a prep class, and will start studying for the October LSAT i guess, if I am scoring highly on practice tests in 2-3 weeks i will take. Is it to late to sign up for October? I hope not, i signed up for the June test over 2 months prior too.

Thanks for everyones insight (though i was hoping someone would say i have a shot haha), hopefully the fee waiver from Duke means something. Do fee waivers mean you have a decent shot at the school?

Fee waivers mean nothing. They send them to pretty much everyone because they want to increase their selectivity scores.

How many timed PT's did you take before your first test and what was your average on them?

sorry i misquoted you to respond to OP. newbie here. my bad.

bk187 wrote:

jt1341 wrote:I definitely understand what everyone is saying.

I took a prep class, and will start studying for the October LSAT i guess, if I am scoring highly on practice tests in 2-3 weeks i will take. Is it to late to sign up for October? I hope not, i signed up for the June test over 2 months prior too.

Thanks for everyones insight (though i was hoping someone would say i have a shot haha), hopefully the fee waiver from Duke means something. Do fee waivers mean you have a decent shot at the school?

Fee waivers mean nothing. They send them to pretty much everyone because they want to increase their selectivity scores.

How many timed PT's did you take before your first test and what was your average on them?

Damn, I started with a 155. I took 10 timed PT went 155-159 first 3. 4-6/7 were 165 and the rest were 168/169

But i have also done every released test besides 5 through practice and activities. Not much new material left

jt1341 wrote:

bk187 wrote:

jt1341 wrote:I definitely understand what everyone is saying.

I took a prep class, and will start studying for the October LSAT i guess, if I am scoring highly on practice tests in 2-3 weeks i will take. Is it to late to sign up for October? I hope not, i signed up for the June test over 2 months prior too.

Thanks for everyones insight (though i was hoping someone would say i have a shot haha), hopefully the fee waiver from Duke means something. Do fee waivers mean you have a decent shot at the school?

Fee waivers mean nothing. They send them to pretty much everyone because they want to increase their selectivity scores.

How many timed PT's did you take before your first test and what was your average on them?

Damn, I started with a 155. I took 10 timed PT went 155-159 first 3. 4-6/7 were 165 and the rest were 168/169

But i have also done every released test besides 5 through practice and activities. Not much new material left

retake the practices, starting with ur 1st tests

Wont my results be greatly skewed in my favor since i have seen all the questions before? I mean, i do not remember them exactly but they will feel semi familiar at least

1 month of "reprep" should be fine.

So i got into UVA ED. Im very happy my cycle is over. The only school i would rather have attended would have been Coumbia, which even with my previous PT's i wouldnt have been guaranteed in.

I am very happy the cycle is over and im done! guess there is hop out there for "reverse splitters" after all

jt1341 wrote:So i got into UVA ED. Im very happy my cycle is over. The only school i would rather have attended would have been Coumbia, which even with my previous PT's i wouldnt have been guaranteed in.

I am very happy the cycle is over and im done! guess there is hop out there for "reverse splitters" after all

It's great when these threads end like this. Congrats, and see you next fall.

Damn, UVA's ED game strikes again!

There you have it folks. If either your LSAT or GPA numbers are problematic, you can bank on uber early app UVA ED to cover your ass. Well played.

dissonance1848 wrote:Fuck, UVA's ED game strikes again!

There you have it folks. If either your LSAT or GPA numbers are complete shit, you can bank on uber early app UVA ED to bail your ass out. Un fucking believable.

U mad?

sundance95 wrote:

dissonance1848 wrote:Fuck, UVA's ED game strikes again!

There you have it folks. If either your LSAT or GPA numbers are complete shit, you can bank on uber early app UVA ED to bail your ass out. Un fucking believable.

U mad?

Seriously, what gives? OP seemingly beat the odds on this one and got in to his first-choice school. Good for him (and congratulations OP).

Yeah, didn't realize I was being so inflamatory, just awed by UVA's hardass playbook.

dissonance1848 wrote:Yeah, didn't realize I was being so inflamatory, just awed by UVA's hardass playbook.

Gotcha. As they say though, don't hate the player, hate the game...

haha thats right! and yes i am very happy about getting the acceptance!