Thanks for all the feeback and info! @ I just listened to that webinar, great resource, thank you!

Spot on. I also have an old LSAT score on file and have decided to wait to take in December. The advice I received especially for T14 schools is that if you think your December could be even a point or two better to wait and take it then/apply in early January because that difference can take you from below the median to the 75 percentile. All else being equal, it seems applying earlier is better, but if you think your December score would be better, that factors more favorably than an earlier application.

Does anyone else have experience with this situation? Thanks!

@ congrats on your success thus far! I think Alex may have been suggesting to sit out for September and wait until December to take. I'm in a very similar boat, I took the LSAT a few years ago, minimally prepared and now have been diligent this year in my studies. I made the tough decision to postpone until December even though my score range was similar to yours because I was still doubting some of my capabilities and felt that having a little bit longer to prep would be beneficial. I think it depends on what schools your most committed to attending, if you'd be happy with a mid to higher 160's score then go for it in Sept, you've come so far and prepared for so long! However, if you'd like to try and see/believe your score can climb anymore I might hold off until December. A tough call...

From what I understand, taking in Sept and December would be bad as even though it is over a longer than two year period, schools generally start to get skeptical with anything more than 3 takes. In any case your work ethic and perserverance are impressive!

I think complete all your apps for a wide range of schools but wait to submit until your LSAT score comes back. That way you'll have everything ready to go and then based on your score you can choose which schools to actually pay/submit apps at.

On a similar note, would this same advice, to wait until you get your score to submit apps, apply to someone that has a previous much lower LSAT score and hopes to score at the medians of schools with a December score?

@ Haha, thanks for the reply! Appreciate your feedback and advice :)

@ Haha TLS in high school...I wish I was that ahead of the game!

So if I do submit earlier in the cycle without a new score would it be too presumptuous to write an addendum explaining my previous score and thens saying I expect my new score to be very different? I feel like schools would want an explanation for a major discrepancy,but also realize that while PT's are a good indication, anything could theoretically happen on test day, so don't want to come off as too confident or entitled.

Also, while only a few T14 schools seem to accept February scores I do plan on taking the February test if I don't reach my full potential in December. This is definitely a last resort option, but I did hold off on the September test (even being only 2 points away from my target) to have February as a fall back. After submitting applications/getting my December score could I e-mail schools and indicate I planned on taking the Feb test? Will any of the T14 that say you need to take the test by December still consider a Feb score?

Thanks!

Bumping this...any other comments/views appreciated!

@ Thanks for the quick reply!

I do recognize that, but I suppose I was leaning the other way for a few reasons. While I have really committed myself to this test over the past year and am confident I will do substantially better on the December test than I did on my first take, I'm hesitant to submit before that score gets released because at the end of the day the people looking at apps are still people with judgement and I'm worried that they will look at my previous score (without seeing a new competitive score) and not give my app the full consideration it would get with a new improved score included. I also plan on writing an addendum as I expect/hope that there will be a significant difference in my two LSAT scores but I wouldn't be able to write that until I actually got my new score back.

Thoughts? Thanks for all your contributions on the forums!

I'll be there!

@ thanks for the reply! Do you know if taking the Feb exam would put me at a scholarship/admissions disadvantage at schools where I think I am a competitive applicant with my current score but that say they will not review an application until all future LSAT scores are received?

@ thanks so much for the ideas! This is very helpful!