Thanks 7sage /a hard decision

full.moon.howler94

First off, I wanted to thank 7sage and its awesome community for its support through this LSAT endeavor. It hasn't been a smooth and silky road, but i've made it through thanks to some webinars, lessons, and chat discussions. Thank you all.

I took the feb LSAT, and the re-take was a moderates success. I ended up with a 165, froze on the games and had to blindly guess on i think 8-9 questions. Still, I got into the University of Washington with that score, and i'll soon find out about scholarship info.

Im happy that I was accepted, but because i was scoring 170-172 on my PT's, (and feeling like I could still improve), my aspirations were a bit higher. So now, I'm deciding whether to just accept this route towards UW or wait one more year to take one last crack at the LSAT. My s/o was accepted at her ideal university, also here in Washington, and my whole family is here as well, so there is that additional consideration of even if I do get a higher score on another take and get accepted to a goal school, would I really be emotionally able to leave? It's also just still kind of hard thing for me to swallow to accept this last take as final, as i've figured out (as much as i can) the anxiety issue that made me freeze.

These thoughts have just been bouncing around in my brain for a while, and mostly I think just writing/posting this will help the decision making process. But still, any thoughts/opinions?
Thank you all again for being such an awesome community these past months.

dennisgerrard

Congrats!! I would say UW is an excellent choice for Washington state. If you want to practice here, you could have no better school. Are you waiting for other school(especially, T14) offers?

Since you hit 170s in PTs,I would think you better cool down a little and look for another try on LSAT and see how it's goes.

PM me if you need a study buddy in Seattle/Bellevue;)

NotMyName

FullMoon, thank you for sharing your situation will the community. It really sucks when you don't meet your expectations.

I understand that you are feeling down at the moment, but I want to point out that you scored within the 91+ percentile. That is a tremendous accomplishment and I hope you allow yourself to be proud of that.

I was in a similar position as you are now after my first take. Regrets, test day flashbacks, and anxiety about the decisions that laid before me rattled around my head incessantly. One thing I can say for sure is that that is not a good mindset to be making important decisions from. If you haven't already done so, I would suggest taking 2 weeks of a complete LSAT vacation -- no 7Sage, no LSN, etc. Try to give your mind some space from the topic of Law School; take a road trip, read all the Harry Potter books, join a protest, paint your room, learn to whistle with your fingers, learn to juggle, or throw yourself into exercise. It sounds like you worked really hard. You deserve this break. The LSAT is a gruelling marathon of gauntlets and your mind could probably use some rest.

OK. Now that you've returned from your break, how was your road trip to D.C. and juggling Harry Potter books while marching against The Man there?

There is some information that would help us provide feedback.

What were your target schools?
What was the average score of your last 10 fresh PTs?
What was the average BR score of your last 10 PTs?
How did you prepare?
What are your career plans for after Law School? ("None yet" counts )
Can you financially afford to retake and postpone law school?

Just remember that you're not alone in this. This community is filled with students who experienced similarly difficult decisions. Me for instance : )

I think I can relate a bit to your current situation. I left my business career (Fortune 500 management job with plenty of security) of 4 years in Jan '16 to travel. During the course of my travels, I decided to pursue Law upon my return. I studied HARD, ineffectively, but HARD. When the score came back, it was a 159. That would be good enough for my local city's school (U of Pittsburgh), but I knew I was capable of a much higher score. I really beat myself up for a few weeks. My head was reeling with flashbacks to test day and the mistakes I made. I kicked myself for all the mistakes I made during prep which were so obvious then. I questioned my intelligence and if I was cut out for Law at all. I cringed at the thought of failing.

After a few weeks had passed, I took an honest accounting of how I had prepared. I did this without the neurosys that I mentioned above. I compared my prep to what 7Sage recommended and found that I hadn't BRed or instilled skipping/timing strategies among other things.
I decided to rededicate myself and be smarter in my prep through 7Sage. I also found a flexible, part-time job I could do online and that doesn't interfere with my prep.

You achieved something great in scoring a 165. Try to remember that. I'm happy to provide some specific for you, but I am hesitant without the info I mentioned above. I'm sure the Sages/Mentors would find that helpful too.

Alex

I think if you were scoring in the 170+ range you should consider a retake. It might be hard emotionally to leave, but with a 170 and a good GPA you could have many more doors open to you. I guess it depends on what job you are gunning for essentially and what the scholarship will amount to. But, if you don't feel like you did your best; retake! A year is nothing when you're staring down the barrel of a potentially 50+ year long career.

I always remember Allison (an old Sage/mentor) telling me she would have been happy going to her local law school where she lived and only needed a 16x or something. In the end, she ended up not settling for anything but her best, scored a 173, and is now at HLS. So a year can make a big difference. I guess family, career considerations, and the ability to take a year to study more all factor in.

Good luck on your success and whatever you may decide!

full.moon.howler94

Thank you all for your comments. I really appreciate the time and effort just to hear my case haha!

@dennisgerrard Thank you for the congratulations. UW definitely isn't anything to sneeze at, especially considering that my goal is environmental law and this is a great area for that. I'll let you know if I do decide to continue to study for the LSAT.

@jkatz1488 To answer you're questions
My target schools were, UW for one, Cornell, and possibly U of Michigan.
My last 10 PT average (going back to November) is 169
BR PT average 173
I feel like I prepared well after my first take. While PT-ing now I'm getting 178's, so I think I comprehend the material fairly well, its more a mentality factor for me now.
Carrer plans afterwards are to move towards becoming an environmental attorney
Yes I can financially afford another year, as i've got at least one part time job now.

I will and have been taking a break from the LSAT for sure. Thank you for your well thought out response and sharing your experiences with me, it helps to know others have gone through this too.

@"Alex Divine" Allison was also the one who directed me towards 7Sage in the beginning of my study funny enough, small world!
Thanks for your well wishes. I think I'm going to wait and see what the financial situation is going to be in terms of aid and loans, and then go on some soul search-y long runs and just kind of ruminate on everything.

JustDoIt

Hi!

I know what you are going through and it can be a really tough decision. But ultimately, you need to do what is best for you and have confidence that everything will work out with those closest to you too. I would 100% advocate that you never settle on what you want. You never want to look back feeling "what if." I know you may not believe but I was in your exact same position last year and I ended up turning down a really good school because I didn't want to settle (feel free to PM for exact details). If you can retake in June, you get the best of both worlds because if you do great you can turn it down. But if you do poorly you can go. It's a win win either way.

All in all, I would say yes it's tough now, but it's even tougher to settle and if you are doing as good as you say you are, I would advise you to keep pushing toward achieving what YOU want to achieve.