Need Advice

zaimali

Hello everyone, I am currently a month and a half into LSAT studying. Just scored a 152 on a PT which is a 5 point increase from my diagnostic. I have been practicing a lot of LR and not much LG or RC yet. I am a senior, graduating in may and wanted to originally be applying for Fall 2018, but after reading about applying I do not want to apply until I am able to get 160+ on the LSAT. I just wanted to know if its a bad idea applying next cycle instead and focus on getting that 160+ score. The end goal is to go to law school without paying, but I cant shake the feeling that I'm wasting a year of time by applying next cycle.

paulmv.benthem

Are you writing the LSAT in North America and/or applying for law school in N.A.?

I'm not sure whether this would come as a relief or real downer, and it may be different for schools in the US, but I know for the schools I've researched in Canada, one would need an incredible GPA and LSAT score on the Feb LSAT, at the latest, (as well as a few connections with the school) in order to be considered for Fall 2018. Assuming that you don't already have an official LSAT score, and you're not registered to take the Feb LSAT, you might not have much of a choice. Sorry.

I found this out in December, and I ended having to adjust my plans for the next year. On the plus side, it afforded me additional time to increase my LSAT score, hopefully earning me more scholarship money.

zaimali

@"paulmv.benthem" said:
Are you writing the LSAT in North America and/or applying for law school in N.A.?

I'm not sure whether this would come as a relief or real downer, and it may be different for schools in the US, but I know for the schools I've researched in Canada, one would need an incredible GPA and LSAT score on the Feb LSAT, at the latest, (as well as a few connections with the school) in order to be considered for Fall 2018. Assuming that you don't already have an official LSAT score, and you're not registered to take the Feb LSAT, you might not have much of a choice. Sorry.

I found this out in December, and I ended having to adjust my plans for the next year. On the plus side, it afforded me additional time to increase my LSAT score, hopefully earning me more scholarship money.

Thank you for your comment! I actually am signed up for the February as I signed up back in early January. I realize now how much time and effort it takes to study for the test so clearly I am not ready for February and plan on canceling my exam. Also, I am applying to US schools.

Leah M B

Hi @zaimali! Welcome to the community, and to LSAT studying. If your goal is 160+ and not having to pay for school (which is absolutely a great goal to have) then you will be hard pressed to do that this year. The February test which is this coming weekend is typically the last exam that the majority of schools will accept in time for Fall 2018, an you'd have to really knock it out of the park for that to happen. I think it's a much more attainable goal to be able to do that for the following cycle. You really shouldn't worry about "wasting" a year; a lot of schools look favorably on students having full time work experience before attending law school. It would actually work in your favor to take a year or two between to do that.

The best plan is to not take the LSAT until you are ready - meaning, you are consistently scoring on PTs at or above what you want to score on test day. It's always better to push back than to have a less than stellar score.

Good luck!

zaimali

@"Leah M B" said:
Hi @zaimali! Welcome to the community, and to LSAT studying. If your goal is 160+ and not having to pay for school (which is absolutely a great goal to have) then you will be hard pressed to do that this year. The February test which is this coming weekend is typically the last exam that the majority of schools will accept in time for Fall 2018, an you'd have to really knock it out of the park for that to happen. I think it's a much more attainable goal to be able to do that for the following cycle. You really shouldn't worry about "wasting" a year; a lot of schools look favorably on students having full time work experience before attending law school. It would actually work in your favor to take a year or two between to do that.

The best plan is to not take the LSAT until you are ready - meaning, you are consistently scoring on PTs at or above what you want to score on test day. It's always better to push back than to have a less than stellar score.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for the advice! I will definitely try to look for some sort of work during my year off