168, 3.72 Dilemma- Reapply? Forum

[piscola]

Apologize in advance for a similar posting I've made below, but I have a different question this time.

So far I've applied to Penn (rejected), Michigan, Georgetown, GW, Columbia, NYU, and Cornell; also planning on applying to UTexas, UCLA, Northwestern, Duke, Vanderbilt, Fordham, BU and UVA. As noted, my LSAT score was a 168. That was within my practice test band, but was on the low end of it (167-175; typically 171). So I know I CAN do better. Problem is I already delayed this for a year, and am getting antsy to go to law school- I'd be willing to take the LSAT again, but I don't know if I can handle another year off. Plus theres always the chance that I'm not going to rescore significantly higher (for the record, I thought I aced the test when I got the 168- big disappointment).

Right now I think I've got a good shot at Cornell (maybe even with some money), and an outside chance at Georgetown and Michigan. Not so sure about the other T-14s; I'm kinda in this bermuda triangle of statistics.

Is the conventional wisdom of the board:
1) Accept whatever deal I get this cycle
2) Withdraw, retake LSAT and reapply next year
3) Take February (or June) LSAT and wait out the cycle; use it for waitlist/scholarship leverage

I know there are big arguments to made from a scholarship/school quality perspective, but there is also an opportunity cost of taking another year to not move forward with my career. Appreciate any and all insights.

[pupshaw]

Why not just let the cycle play out? If you're happy with the results, great. If not, retake and reapply.

[Mentlegen]

cerealdan is right but I'd also be gearing up for a retake in June anyways and not just for leverage in this cycle. You can drop all your acceptances if there's a big enough improvement to justify reapplying.

[piscola]

Thanks guys- you would definitely say June over February though, correct?

Thoughts from others?

[JoeMo]

I think you've got a decent shot at a pretty good cycle with those numbers.

TLS conventional wisdom would tell you to retake until you get a 176 so you can get in with some $$$ but sometimes that's not all that matters and the opportunity cost of sitting out a year might be more than any POTENTIAL scholarship $ you might get.

I say go for broke now, blanket the T14 now and see what happens.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Thanks guys- you would definitely say June over February though, correct?

Thoughts from others?

If you can be ready to go in February, take it then. If not, take it again in June.

Personal anecdote: I retook in June. Scored 8 points higher. Got off 2 waitlists within a few days of letting them know my score (and both offered significant money). Was able to weigh my options and decided to sit out a cycle and reapply with the higher LSAT score.

You can still affect your cycle with a feb. or June. I think February positions you better than June, but June can still have an effect (mostly for WL's and scholarship leverage though).

[Mentlegen]

February feels a bit too near now to study effectively depending on how busy you are and if I were in your shoes, I know those four extra months would raise dramatically my chances of a better performance. However if you're confident, and you feel that extra time is negligible, February would obviously be better if you strongly value starting law school next year. Maybe you can study with February in mind and then alter your plans if you're not feeling confident in January?

[piscola]

Sigh. I could be ready by February I believe; last test was in October- I contemplated doing December but I couldn't bring myself to go through it again. Now I feel refreshed enough that I could attack it. REALLY not looking forward to the whole process though.

If I do decide to do it in February though, I have to inform the Law Schools correct? I've got a feeling it wouldn't look good to let them know (or even not let them know, if it was bad) after the fact :p

Thanks everybody for the constructive thoughts.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Sigh. I could be ready by February I believe; last test was in October- I contemplated doing December but I couldn't bring myself to go through it again. Now I feel refreshed enough that I could attack it. REALLY not looking forward to the whole process though.

If I do decide to do it in February though, I have to inform the Law Schools correct? I've got a feeling it wouldn't look good to let them know (or even not let them know, if it was bad) after the fact :p

Thanks everybody for the constructive thoughts.

The issue of informing law schools depends on whether you think you will get in or at least be WL'd with you current score. If you think there is a decent risk of being rejected at a school, then I would ask them to hold your file until after you get the Feb score back. If you think you will already be accepted or at least just WL'd, then I would not inform the school. If you are currently WL'd at any schools, I would write a LOCI and include in it that you will be retaking in Feb.

[piscola]

Thanks Richie et al. Will be musing on all of this over Christmas. Happy Holidays.

[Virgil777]

Deleted.

[tdicks]

i definitely think you should retake if you know you could do better. when i was studying for it i was PTing at a 172-176 most of the time (lowest 169 and highest 180). i ended up getting a 166 in june (also thought i did really well coming out of the test) and debated just keeping it because i REALLY didn't want to take it again. i ended up retaking in october, and got a 174. those 8 points not only got me into the T14, but a 150k scholarship. two points would help you out tremendously! (both this cycle or next cycle)

and while waiting a year might be annoying, it just adds a year of work experience which will only help! best of luck with the rest of your cycle!

[piscola]

My plan right now is to retake it in February. After the initial slump of realizing I would have to start studying all over again, I've become pretty excited for the challenge. Hopefully this will get me off any theoretical waitlists and give me a solid scholarship. I am determined to get both T-14 as well as not becoming more than 50k in debt at the end of graduation. I realize that will a difficult needle to thread, but I'm not going to put myself through that stress of handling that financial obligation after graduation.

Thanks for all the input! Will let you know scores/admissions outcomes when they come in.