I got my first LSAT score from Aug. back today and scored a 172. My original goal for admissions was 173+ and anything below I would retake, but this is just close enough I feel concerned about retaking/tempted to not retake. I’m already registered for October. I'm not sure if it's worth it compared to starting on my essays now and applying in Nov.

I was honestly fortunate to get the score I did. I didn't feel as well-prepared as I could have been study-wise (crammed for 4-5 weeks, totally my bad). I was averaging ~169/170 in the weeks leading to the test, highest PT was 174, BRs 175/6. However, I didn't -0 the LGs on the day-of, which had been my goal and which I am capable of doing on PTs (ran out of time toward end and guess-timated a few Qs on last 2 games).

If I really buckled down in the next month, I think I could do a bit better in Oct. I don't want to have any admissions/scholarship regrets down the line, but I'm just not sure if it's worth what seems to be a few points increase at best. I work 40-50 hours a week, so I couldn't focus on both LSAT prep and essays.

uGPA is 3.77, T3? softs (prev. grad degree, 2-3 years work exp. in policy/law, a few publications). My dream would be to get into NYU for PI, but aiming for T14s in general.

Any advice would be appreciated! (Also s/o to the 7Sage curriculum for even getting me here at all!)