@ Same with me- I do better on some tests but generally tend to stay in the mid to high-ish 160s range, so that's around where my average is. That makes me feel better, I think it's definitely possible to do your best on test day, especially if it's not that far out from your PT range... I just worry because of how many people say you go down at least 2-3 points on test day, but I guess maybe that's a risk that's worth taking (at least so close to the test).

Thanks!

@ @ I'm in a similar situation at the moment. I'm currently PT'ing around 166-167 average and I'm aiming for 170+ (I BR around 175-176, so seems like timing/thinking clearer under pressure is what I really need to work on). I already took the LSAT once last year when I didn't feel nearly as ready as I do now (160) but I still don't think I have reached my full potential. Now that we no longer have a limit on how many times we can retake, my thought process is that I already have one relatively low score on my record and I've already worked pretty hard for the December test that I might as well take this test and then reassess whether I want to keep studying for that 170+ after we get our scores back (like @ said, I told myself I won't retake if I get a 168, which I think might be a reasonable statement considering test day adrenaline and luck and all). I hadn't even considered withdrawing until

very recently, and now I'm not sure if I'm even considering it because I really think that would be the best plan of action, or if I'm just having pre-Test anxiety.

Thoughts/advice/general comments? Any and all advice would be much appreciated!!! Thank you in advance!

@ said:

@ said:

@ @ @

I have a related question - I have one academic LOR lined up from my professor who supervised my honors Thesis class, and for my second LOR, I was planning on asking my TA who I worked closely with on my thesis as well (it helps that she also went to Harvard Law before pursuing a PhD at my University). Does it matter that she just was a TA at the time?

On a separate note, I have been out of school for a year and am planning on asking one of the attorneys I work with often to write me an additional LOR, so that is also an option for me.

Any thoughts/advice/general comments would be much appreciated!! Thank you in advance!

@ nailed it - and that Yale blog is sooo helpful. Although of course it is specifically geared toward Yale admissions, it's generally good and accurate advice for all schools.

I think it wouldn't necessarily hurt to have a LOR from a boss as a backup for maybe a 4th letter if a school wanted that many, but since you've only been out of school a year, they are going to want to see academic recommendations. Law school admissions really want to know about what kind of student you are for their purposes.

Thanks for the feedback! My main 2 are definitely going to be academic (professor + TA), I was just toying with the idea of a third additional one being a professional one, particularly for some schools like Northwestern that may actually give some weight to work experience (or so I've heard). Not sure where you are in the application process, but have you asked for LORs yet? If so, is there anything special to note (or anything you'd recommend) about asking for law school LORs in a way that makes it different from any other LOR? Like any additional information I'd want to give them on top of the basic resume/background on myself?

@ said:

And this is her reply to a comment:

"TA recommendations are OK. We understand that at most undergraduate institutions, classes are not always small enough that the person evaluating you will be the professor him- or herself. So a recommendations from a TA who can speak in detail about your work is preferable to a tenured professor who doesn't remember your face.

With that said, I think that if you do submit one rec from a TA, ideally the other one will be from a professor...the professor rec has will have the added benefit of providing some context for the evaluation (e.g., "this person is in the top 3% of the approximately 1,000 students I have taught in my career") that can only come with more experience."

This is super helpful, thank you!! So it would work if I had one from a tenured professor and the other from the TA in question (especially since my thesis was very hands on so I did work very closely with both the professor and the TA).

I know most schools only require 2 LORs, but I kind of wanted to have a third as a back-up, just in case. With that in mind, do you think it would be better to have a 3rd backup LOR from a professor that didn't know me as well (large lecture sizes, etc), as opposed to someone I have worked with for over a year and am currently working with?

@ @ @

I have a related question - I have one academic LOR lined up from my professor who supervised my honors Thesis class, and for my second LOR, I was planning on asking my TA who I worked closely with on my thesis as well (it helps that she also went to Harvard Law before pursuing a PhD at my University). Does it matter that she just was a TA at the time?

On a separate note, I have been out of school for a year and am planning on asking one of the attorneys I work with often to write me an additional LOR, so that is also an option for me.

Any thoughts/advice/general comments would be much appreciated!! Thank you in advance!

@ said:

@ said:

I'm in the same boat. I just called them and they said there are absolutely no exceptions (I have no idea why they got rid of the late registration period, but so it goes). I'm feeling really irresponsible and stupid for not even realizing the deadline passed, but I guess there's literally nothing we can do at this moment except use this as a motivator to study really hard once and for all for the November test. On the bright side, the November test is early enough that we can get scores back by early December and apply by early-mid December, which I think is still a decent time to apply and still be a competitive applicant. With this sudden change in plans, I'm aiming to have all my apps done ASAP so they are ready to go the minute I get my scores. Good luck!! I'm sure it'll all work out for both of us.

This is a great approach and attitude. One other thing to know, you can actually apply before you have an LSAT score. The school will likely review your application and then as soon as the score is available, LSAC sends it over and they can make a decision. That can have a faster turn around time than waiting to turn in an application later.

Thanks! I'm definitely considering this option as well, especially for schools that I'm fairly confident I'm a good candidate for (I already have one okay LSAT score). I'm just nervous about going in blind for some of the reach schools, especially if I end up needing to write an addendum or something to explain my next LSAT score... Do you have any thoughts/advice on whether it's better to just pull the trigger and submit even if my score doesn't end up where I want it to be, as opposed to waiting those few extra weeks to submit a full application? Do you think a few weeks from November to December makes that much of a difference in terms of chances of admission?

@ said:

@ said:

I'm in the same boat. I just called them and they said there are absolutely no exceptions (I have no idea why they got rid of the late registration period, but so it goes). I'm feeling really irresponsible and stupid for not even realizing the deadline passed, but I guess there's literally nothing we can do at this moment except use this as a motivator to study really hard once and for all for the November test. On the bright side, the November test is early enough that we can get scores back by early December and apply by early-mid December, which I think is still a decent time to apply and still be a competitive applicant. With this sudden change in plans, I'm aiming to have all my apps done ASAP so they are ready to go the minute I get my scores. Good luck!! I'm sure it'll all work out for both of us.

Good luck! You have a great attitude about it. At this point its all said and done so study more and kill that stupid, shitty test :poop emoji: :smiley:

Thank you!! Good luck to you too!

I'm in the same boat. I just called them and they said there are absolutely no exceptions (I have no idea why they got rid of the late registration period, but so it goes). I'm feeling really irresponsible and stupid for not even realizing the deadline passed, but I guess there's literally nothing we can do at this moment except use this as a motivator to study really hard once and for all for the November test. On the bright side, the November test is early enough that we can get scores back by early December and apply by early-mid December, which I think is still a decent time to apply and still be a competitive applicant. With this sudden change in plans, I'm aiming to have all my apps done ASAP so they are ready to go the minute I get my scores. Good luck!! I'm sure it'll all work out for both of us.

I'm in basically the same situation - taking the LSAT in November and aiming to have apps done and submitted shortly after we get our scores. Since I'm in the same boat, maybe I'm not the best person to be answering this (lol) but personally, it seems like the application process won't be anywhere near as time consuming as the LSAT (depending on how many schools you're planning on applying to). Considering a lot of schools don't have supplements, completing the applications for most schools should only really be a matter of filling out the actual application and making sure your other components match up to that school's requirements, which I think will take a decent amount of time but not so much that it's not possible to complete by end of December.

Personally, I'm trying to have my Personal Statement/Diversity Statement/Resume basically done by the LSAT, and spend the rest of my time studying for LSAT as much as I can. Since the Personal Statement/Diversity Statement seem like the largest chunks of the application, I'm hoping the time between the LSAT and end of December will be enough time to fill out all the applications themselves/finalize any additional supplements. Maybe I'm underestimating the time/effort it'll end up requiring, but this is the boat we're in so for now, just trying to stay positive and remember it'll all work out. Good luck!

@ said:

athletes was real -- I only had 2 LR and that was one of them. yes on the bonobos, i had that one too. nothing on evergreens that I can remember... my brain is FRIED!!! but congrats everyone! :)

Do you remember any other questions from the bonobos section?

Unfortunately, I can’t remember anything specific this second but I do remember the end of the section I thought was experimental (with bonobos I think) having quite a few really long parallel questions towards the end.

Does anyone know if the LR section that started with bonobos was real?

@ that’s super helpful/reassuring, thank you!

@ thanks for your input! This makes me feel better, and I’m taking it at the same local test center I’ve taken it at twice before and I’ve never seen them being excessively difficult about anything in the past, so hopefully this won’t be something they pick on. So do you think keeping my normal real analog wrist watch as a back up will be sufficient?

@ is there any watch you’d recommend that I’d be able to find at a radio shack or Best Buy or something? I usually wear a standard analog wristwatch anyway to actually tell time so would there even be a point in buying another watch, if it sounds like this is basically the only watch they’ll 100% allow anyway?

Thank you! @

@ said:

Hi! I'm in a similar boat as you. I'm applying to schools in 2 batches. For the schools that my LSAT score is okay, I'm applying now. For the schools that it is not, I'm waiting. I did have to indicate on each application that I'm planning to take the January test. I'm going to email the schools that I'm applying to now and request that they go ahead and review my application as long as it isn't against their policy. Hope that helps!

That did help, thank you! So did you call the schools that you wanted to wait for and ask if they would be able to begin reviewing your application, noting that you are hoping to have a better score to send them at a later date? I would love to take that route, but just want to make sure I’m not risking applying too late for the chance at a slightly higher LSAT. Thanks so much for your input!

@ Thanks, that's what I was thinking too. I officially just canceled so can't go back now! Good luck to you too.

@ That makes sense. Basically it's not necessary but could only help, if anything.

@ I'm not applying this cycle, I'm planning to apply next cycle (which is why I have a bit more time to actually make this next retake worthwhile). I just wanted to get started with the LSAT as early as I could.

@ Thanks for the advice. I gave myself a few days to think it over rationally, and I think I'm going to cancel my score. Like you said, a high score would help a lot but I'm feeling pretty confident that at best, this new score might be a few points higher than my first test. I have no idea why I had such a hard time with the games when normally I have little to no problem completing them on time. No matter what, I'm taking the test again because I know this Dec test was not reflective of my true abilities.

That said, do you think I would have to write an addendum to explain why I cancelled my score? I've heard that's not necessary for just one cancellation, but I'm worried law schools will consider a cancellation to be worse than just a low score. I know in the big picture, when considering the rest of the application, neither a cancellation nor a lower score on second retake will be all that significant, but just trying to consider all potential consequences before making a decision.

Thanks again for your feedback!