January Too Late?

Qualia88

Hi everyone,

Was looking for a bit of advice. Just got my November score back and unfortunately it wasn't what I was hoping for. I ended up with a 166 while straight up bombing the games. For comparison my last 3 practice tests had been 178 (definitely an outlier but a score nonetheless), 169, and 172 so I know I'm capable of better. After getting my score back I had basically written off this cycle which is discouraging since I'm already 30 and had delayed a previous cycle. I want to do public interest stuff and would like to go T-14 (preferably with money) or get a large scholarship from a T-20.

Anyways, as I said I'd basically written off this cycle but I just saw some of the experts over at Powerscore advising people to apply with a January score. They were saying it should be a slow cycle and it's not too late. I was wondering if anyone had thoughts? All things being equal I'd like to go this year but I don't want to put myself at a sizeable disadvantage. Is it worth trying to take the January LSAT and if I do well sending in apps quite late or is that just putting me at too big a disadvantage? And does anyone have recommendations on consultants or experts that I could try and do a super quick consultation with to get their perspective? Thanks so much!

ExcludedMiddle

Last cycle was really competitive and had more apps, so I think the later tests were regarded as being too late. That shouldn't necessarily be true of this cycle, based on what the admissions people are saying. I don't think it'd be "quite late" at all. In my opinion, since your PTs are already at that level, you are likely already pretty well prepared for a retake and might as well give it another shot in January since it's the last test on time for this cycle. And if you get your goal score you'll have it way early for next cycle if you end up disappointed in your results this cycle.

ScrappyNotPerfect

I just posted a similar question! I am in the same boat as you and conflicted because I feel like I hear competing advice all the time about how much it matters to apply by December.

PineapplePizzaSucks

@Qualia88 said:
Hi everyone,

Was looking for a bit of advice. Just got my November score back and unfortunately it wasn't what I was hoping for. I ended up with a 166 while straight up bombing the games. For comparison my last 3 practice tests had been 178 (definitely an outlier but a score nonetheless), 169, and 172 so I know I'm capable of better. After getting my score back I had basically written off this cycle which is discouraging since I'm already 30 and had delayed a previous cycle. I want to do public interest stuff and would like to go T-14 (preferably with money) or get a large scholarship from a T-20.

Anyways, as I said I'd basically written off this cycle but I just saw some of the experts over at Powerscore advising people to apply with a January score. They were saying it should be a slow cycle and it's not too late. I was wondering if anyone had thoughts? All things being equal I'd like to go this year but I don't want to put myself at a sizeable disadvantage. Is it worth trying to take the January LSAT and if I do well sending in apps quite late or is that just putting me at too big a disadvantage? And does anyone have recommendations on consultants or experts that I could try and do a super quick consultation with to get their perspective? Thanks so much!

Hey, where did you see this info from Powerscore?

Qualia88

@"Michaela.Pratt1" said:

@Qualia88 said:
Hi everyone,

Was looking for a bit of advice. Just got my November score back and unfortunately it wasn't what I was hoping for. I ended up with a 166 while straight up bombing the games. For comparison my last 3 practice tests had been 178 (definitely an outlier but a score nonetheless), 169, and 172 so I know I'm capable of better. After getting my score back I had basically written off this cycle which is discouraging since I'm already 30 and had delayed a previous cycle. I want to do public interest stuff and would like to go T-14 (preferably with money) or get a large scholarship from a T-20.

Anyways, as I said I'd basically written off this cycle but I just saw some of the experts over at Powerscore advising people to apply with a January score. They were saying it should be a slow cycle and it's not too late. I was wondering if anyone had thoughts? All things being equal I'd like to go this year but I don't want to put myself at a sizeable disadvantage. Is it worth trying to take the January LSAT and if I do well sending in apps quite late or is that just putting me at too big a disadvantage? And does anyone have recommendations on consultants or experts that I could try and do a super quick consultation with to get their perspective? Thanks so much!

Hey, where did you see this info from Powerscore?

The stuff about it being a slow/less competitive cycle is here. https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/this-will-be-a-slow-cycle/

The stuff about January not being too late was based on that but also Dave Killoran's Twitter feed. You can see in the replies to his pinned tweet he was advising people that January LSAT wasn't too late.
https://twitter.com/DaveKilloran