Self-study
I took the LSAT this past January (third-year college student) and scored a 167. My average 5 practice tests leading up to my official attempt averaged to just about that, with a highest recorded score of 170. My initial diagnostic was a 153, and I studied from March onward, though I could only dedicate about 5-10 hours per week to it during the school year and occasionally 10-15 in the summer. I am interested in BU, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, UCLA, & UC Berkeley, and I did not hit the median for those (which is around 170) but did exceed the 25th percentile. I am confident that the other components of my application will be strong. That said, I plan to take two gap years to teach before attending law school, and I am on the fence about my test timeline. I could study this summer and retake in September, but I will have an intense full-time internship for June and July that will take up a significant portion of my time. I do not want to study for or take the test again during senior year, as I will be writing a senior honors thesis. The other option for a retake would be to study full-time the summer after I graduate and retake it that fall, but then I would have taken about a year and a half off from studying before revisiting. I could also study while working full-time in a post-grad teaching role, but I think that would be challenging to manage. I think it makes sense to retake the test, but does anyone have advice on when I should? I also should mention that I took the test under particularly bad conditions (personal life crisis) that severely impacted my emotional state and sleep leading up to it.
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2 comments
so sorry to hear you've been dealing with a personal crisis :( hope you are recovering from it now and feeling better!
honestly, given that you want to take two gap years and are a junior in college, while it's a good idea to retake in general, i don't think you need to force yourself to retake in september 2026. if you're not scoring in your goal range *and* need to process the other events in your life, just taking a test because you feel obligated to may not be the most helpful. you have so, so much time ahead of you! but i don't think you have to wait until you're totally done with undergrad, either.
is there a way you can maybe really reduce your study schedule, but keep practicing for the LSAT in the background as you intern and work on your thesis? if you're able to maybe study for 3 - 5 hours a week consistently, you will probably be able to keep your skills fresh. you could then aim to sit for the test whenever you're scoring in your ideal range; i know it's non-ideal, but you could try to sit for the test over winter or spring break if you can get your scores high enough by then. or you could take it after your honors thesis is in.
or you could totally take time away from the LSAT if you think it'll let you do your best with your senior thesis and internship!
my two cents: as an undergrad, i didn't sweat about taking the LSAT too much/too early. my mindset was that while i could always retake the test, i'd never be able to re-do my GPA. i'm really, really happy i did that. i ended up grinding my butt off, getting latin honors, hitting median gpa for my dream law school, won awards for my thesis, and made good connections with the mentors at my summer internships. i felt like deciding not to invest anything into the LSAT at that time was the best move i could've made. i also appreciated having time to frolic with my friends and be totally relaxed during senior spring haha. while it may feel frightening to graduate without a LSAT score in your ideal range on file, it definitely isn't the end of the world ^^
@clubclassics Thank you so much! I really appreciate your opinion! I was getting so much conflicting advice that I got a little indecisive but this is really helpful. I think I will do just what you said, either reduce my study load to 3-5 hrs a week so I am studying lightly or just take some time away from the lsat during my internship and thesis. I also appreciate hearing about your experience, it always helps to be reminded that I have a lot of time to get my goal score! Best of luck to you in your law school endeavors!