To Sit in December or withdraw and extend studying by multiple months?

bornsinner123

I've been studying off and on for a month and am on the fence about sitting for December. I took my first test prep a couple weeks ago and scored a 156. I'll have the Ultimate Package kick in for 15 months soon and could really see it being beneficial to hone in on some of the drills that were previously locked. I also purchased the LSAT Trainer and have yet to go through that.

But I'm also not currently working until the December test date, so I don't know if it's worth giving it a shot in this concentrated amount of time and if it'd be possible to improve 5-9 points within 6ish weeks with no other responsibilities. I'm teaching English abroad under a Fulbright for ten months starting in January, and my host country doesn't offer the February date. I was also an accounting major and am done with 1/4 cpa exams with a retake coming up on the 20th. So I've been torn about whether to go all in on the LSAT or to look to take a 3rd section test before I leave. Any advice/guidance from my fellow 7Sagers would be greatly appreciated.

My target schools would be USC, UCLA, Arizona State, or Northwestern if I could possibly possibly bump my scores up. I had a 3.98 GPA and some solid EC's, but I haven't been in test-taking mode in quite some time. So not sure what I should realistically set my target scores for.

Alex

With that LSAT score you should be aiming for a top school such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, or a top T6 school with $$$. A Fulbright is an incredibly prestigious soft that will help for admissions.

All that to say, you don't want to waste such an amazing GPA/soft by rushing to take the LSAT.

It's nearly impossible to predict how fast someone will improve since everyone improves at different speeds. My advice would be to work on completing the core curriculum and then take a PT once you've finished and evaluate where you are. I've seen people improve 10 points in 2 months while others take 6 months for the same improvement.

The good news is that 7Sage and The LSAT Trainer are great study resources and if you put in the time, you'll be certain to see improvements.

Good luck!

AllezAllez21

Tough call. Like Alex said, it seems like you're really smart and the sky is the limit for you. I think you could and should shoot for 170+ on the LSAT, and that will probably take several months. I would probably start studying at a sustainable pace and see if you can find a way to take the June test.

bornsinner123

@AllezAllez21 said:
Tough call. Like Alex said, it seems like you're really smart and the sky is the limit for you. I think you could and should shoot for 170+ on the LSAT, and that will probably take several months. I would probably start studying at a sustainable pace and see if you can find a way to take the June test.

@"Alex Divine" said:
With that LSAT score you should be aiming for a top school such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, or a top T6 school with $$$. A Fulbright is an incredibly prestigious soft that will help for admissions.

All that to say, you don't want to waste such an amazing GPA/soft by rushing to take the LSAT.

It's nearly impossible to predict how fast someone will improve since everyone improves as different speeds. My advice would be to work on completing the core curriculum and then take a PT once you've finished and evaluate where you are. I've seen people improve 10 points in 2 months while others take 6 months for the same improvement.

The good news is that 7Sage and The LSAT Trainer are great study resources and if you put in the time, you'll be certain to see improvements.

Good luck!

Thank you both so much for the help! I guess I was just torn because I didn't know if it'd be worth it to try to get a 160+ score down in December and then retake later on. But I guess I really shouldn't rush into it. I was starting to get so stressed thinking about how many practice tests I would've had to do leading up to December.

My other concern was also having to pick it up again with some time off and whether or not I would've been wasting this past month or so of work I've put in. But I guess it's different with a skills-based test like this.