Waitlist question

hlkoo1212

I have a hypothetical situation-question:

I'm waiting to hear back from a bunch of schools, but let's say that I get waitlisted at some of them. Do waitlist reviews by the schools still go on at at the end of June/during July? Would taking a June 2018 LSAT and scoring higher than my current highest score help me get off the waitlist? If anyone has experienced something like this or knows more about the waitlist process during the summer, please chime in! This is all a "maybe" for me and I hate the thought of retaking the LSAT but I'd like to prepare for different scenarios. I don't want to take the February LSAT because I heard weird stories about those and undisclosed tests scare me.

Thank you~

OlamHafuch

Yes, for many, many schools people can be admitted from the waitlist until right before classes start. The number and the likelihood of this happening varies from school to school.

I think that you should rethink your February LSAT position. Many February LSATs have eventually been released, and there's nothing fundamentally different about them.

hlkoo1212

@uhinberg said:
Yes, for many, many schools people can be admitted from the waitlist until right before classes start. The number and the likelihood of this happening varies from school to school.

I think that you should rethink your February LSAT position. Many February LSATs have eventually been released, and there's nothing fundamentally different about them.

Really? I always had a bias against them-- I thought they used the february exam to "test out" questions so that it could either be much harder or much easier than other tests (less consistent). On the other hand, the june/sep/dec questions have all already been exposed as experimental sections so they can gauge the difficulty of each question before putting them on real exams.

OlamHafuch

@hlkoo1212 said:

@uhinberg said:
Yes, for many, many schools people can be admitted from the waitlist until right before classes start. The number and the likelihood of this happening varies from school to school.

I think that you should rethink your February LSAT position. Many February LSATs have eventually been released, and there's nothing fundamentally different about them.

Really? I always had a bias against them-- I thought they used the february exam to "test out" questions so that it could either be much harder or much easier than other tests (less consistent). On the other hand, the june/sep/dec questions have all already been exposed as experimental sections so they can gauge the difficulty of each question before putting them on real exams.

@hlkoo1212 said:

@uhinberg said:
Yes, for many, many schools people can be admitted from the waitlist until right before classes start. The number and the likelihood of this happening varies from school to school.

I think that you should rethink your February LSAT position. Many February LSATs have eventually been released, and there's nothing fundamentally different about them.

Really? I always had a bias against them-- I thought they used the february exam to "test out" questions so that it could either be much harder or much easier than other tests (less consistent). On the other hand, the june/sep/dec questions have all already been exposed as experimental sections so they can gauge the difficulty of each question before putting them on real exams.

I'm happy to tell you that you are 100% wrong! The February exam and all other undisclosed exams are constructed in exactly the same way, using experimental material from previous administrations. The only reason they're undisclosed is that LSAC wants to be able to reuse those tests in other situations. Indeed, many undisclosed exams are ultimately used as regular exams. For example, the Sabbath Observer exam from Sept. 16 (undisclosed) was the regular LSAT from Sept. 17.

hlkoo1212

@uhinberg said:

@hlkoo1212 said:

@uhinberg said:
Yes, for many, many schools people can be admitted from the waitlist until right before classes start. The number and the likelihood of this happening varies from school to school.

I think that you should rethink your February LSAT position. Many February LSATs have eventually been released, and there's nothing fundamentally different about them.

Really? I always had a bias against them-- I thought they used the february exam to "test out" questions so that it could either be much harder or much easier than other tests (less consistent). On the other hand, the june/sep/dec questions have all already been exposed as experimental sections so they can gauge the difficulty of each question before putting them on real exams.

@hlkoo1212 said:

@uhinberg said:
Yes, for many, many schools people can be admitted from the waitlist until right before classes start. The number and the likelihood of this happening varies from school to school.

I think that you should rethink your February LSAT position. Many February LSATs have eventually been released, and there's nothing fundamentally different about them.

Really? I always had a bias against them-- I thought they used the february exam to "test out" questions so that it could either be much harder or much easier than other tests (less consistent). On the other hand, the june/sep/dec questions have all already been exposed as experimental sections so they can gauge the difficulty of each question before putting them on real exams.

I'm happy to tell you that you are 100% wrong! The February exam and all other undisclosed exams are constructed in exactly the same way, using experimental material from previous administrations. The only reason they're undisclosed is that LSAC wants to be able to reuse those tests in other situations. Indeed, many undisclosed exams are ultimately used as regular exams. For example, the Sabbath Observer exam from Sept. 16 (undisclosed) was the regular LSAT from Sept. 17.

Wow!! This is great to know!! Maybe I should just take the february...

OlamHafuch

Personally, I think you'd be much better off doing so, provided that there's enough time for you to do as best as you can. Yes, not seeing the questions afterward is annoying, but the benefits far outweigh that.

TheMikey

Yup, they can literally let you in off the waitlist like a few days before class, lol.

Taking the June test can help you get off the waitlist, and I have known people who took the June test for $$$ increases as well.

But taking in Feb. (thus having a score earlier than July obv.) may be better for your chances.

westcoastbestcoast

Before you consider retaking, do you think you have something tangible that you could work on to improve your LSAT. How much time have you spent studying and what went wrong for you on test date. As others mentioned earlier, applying with an updated score can only help you get off the waitlist. However, if you believed you hit your practical ceiling or if you dont have the space for more studying, writing LOCI would definitely be effective. You could also consider visiting the schools and this should help you draft those LOCIs as well as signal your intetest.

hlkoo1212

These are all informative comments, guys! thank u I think I'll end up taking the February test.

hlkoo1212

@TheMikey said:
Yup, they can literally let you in off the waitlist like a few days before class, lol.

Taking the June test can help you get off the waitlist, and I have known people who took the June test for $$$ increases as well.

But taking in Feb. (thus having a score earlier than July obv.) may be better for your chances.

For those people that jump ship to a different school few days before classes start, I'm assuming that they get a full refund on their fall semester tuition?

TheMikey

@hlkoo1212 said:

@TheMikey said:
Yup, they can literally let you in off the waitlist like a few days before class, lol.

Taking the June test can help you get off the waitlist, and I have known people who took the June test for $$$ increases as well.

But taking in Feb. (thus having a score earlier than July obv.) may be better for your chances.

For those people that jump ship to a different school few days before classes start, I'm assuming that they get a full refund on their fall semester tuition?

I would assume so, but I honestly have no idea about that tbh with you.