Take January LSAT or Wait?

Harvard2020

Hello,

My name is Alec. I started studying for the LSAT in early November 2018 on a full time basis. My diagnostic score was a 150. After a month and a half of studying (CC completed and 4 PTs) I have raised my average to ~161. I am debating whether to sit for the January LSAT or wait a cycle and take it this march or this summer. I graduated with a 4.0 gpa with a degree in philosophy. Any advice or input would be appreciated. My gut tells me that it would be in my best interest to slow things down, get the best possible LSAT score when I'm ready, and apply early next fall. However, it's hard to know how much improvement can be expected in another 5-6 weeks.

Yours,

Alec

MissChanandler

I would definitely wait. A few months is really hardly any time when it comes to studying for the lsat. In my opinion, if you don't give yourself a fair shot at getting to the upper 160s/170s, you're wasting the potential of your amazing gpa. You worked hard for four years to get that, so what's a few more months on the LSAT?

bianca1010

Depends.

Have you been using any other form of study materials besides CC and PTs like PowerScore or LSAT Trainer? If so, definitely take the wait. I didn't mind the CC as an introduction to LSAT prep but I didn't start to feel like I was really getting it so it felt natural until I picked up other resources alongside PTs and CC.

If you feel like you're not confident in any of the sections (I'm assuming your strongest sections are logical reasoning given your philosophy degree, feel free to correct me), wait for a couple of months.

If you're panicked at the idea of taking the LSAT in 5-6 weeks, wait.

If you think that taking the test digitally is a better fit for how you like to test, wait.

If you just graduated and are feeling college burnout, then please wait and give your brain a chance to heal. Like wait a year, if need be.

I graduated undergrad in 2014, went to grad school, and have been working now for three years so don't feel obligated to rush to law school if you need a break or want more life experience under your belt before focusing on the law school process. Yale/Harvard/Penn/Stanford are not going anywhere.

If you are sure about waiting to apply to schools until 2019-2020, wait because you've got plenty of time to study at a leisurely pace. At the very least, you can use the time to work on your PS, get recommendation letters lined up, or improve your softs for when you do apply.

However, if you feel like you're just not quite where you want to be with your scores and feel like you can get there in 5-6 weeks - which is a personal assessment only you can make - and are willing to focus on nothing but studying through the holidays coming up (who needs family/friends when you've got PTs to keep you company, am I right?), then you might want to consider taking the LSAT in January.

If you get to the testing center and find yourself thinking, "Oh my great goodness, I'm so not ready for this...I feel like today's the day I die," then cancel the score and take the whole thing as an expensive learning experience for next time.

keets993

I didn't see a goal score listed anywhere in this post. That's a big part of the component for whether to delay or not.

Harvard2020

Hi all, thank you so much for the responses. I'd like to clarify a few things that each of you said in one post. Frankly, I'm shooting for 168+. I am slowly raising my average PT score to ~163-164. My best section is LR (-4.7 avg.), followed by RC (-5.6 avg.), followed by LG (a sad -7.8 avg.) Clearly, I am focusing most of my time on LG for the next few weeks. Also, 7sage is the only resource I have used.

I am prepared to spend the next 5 weeks doing nothing but studying for the LSAT with the goal of raising my score 4-6 points. However, if i'm not 100% sure on applying this cycle, it seems that the best thing to do would be to wait until the March administration and apply next cycle. Additionally, it is my understanding that if I should not do as well as I would hope in March, the June test would allow me to cancel after seeing my score, which sounds like a free shot. These things, combined with the fact that I would be applying at the end of this cycle, compels me to wait.

I did just graduate from undergrad in May (actually did so in 3 years so I'm only 22 right now). I have also been working on an MBA program since graduation. Waiting to apply till next cycle would also allow me to finish the MBA before heading to law school.

Now, in writing this I have stated a lot of reasons to wait. However, I should mention that I would be happy with getting a 165+ (which I think I can accomplish in January) and applying this cycle to schools outside the top 5-8. So, I guess I'm struggling with two questions: 1) is it worth it to wait another year to possibly go to a top 5-8 school versus a top 20 school, and 2) is it worth it to delay my life a year to possibly do better on the LSAT after a few more months of studying?

sortastressedbutokay

With a 4.0 in a philosophy program, I think you probably have potential to score pretty well. You seem to have many things you can accomplish in another year, outside of the LSAT. It's not like your life will be at a stand still while you work on your LSAT. But one thing to consider is where you want to practice and what you want to do. That can influence your decision about what type of law school will fit your needs. Do some research on what you may want to do. Visit a few law schools during your studies to see what may fit you best. Start writing your personal statement. Giving yourself another cycle may help you have a stronger application beyond just getting a higher LSAT, depending on how you spend your time. And getting that 168+ will put you in pretty good standing to get some great scholarships at some great schools.

And I think its the July test that allows you to cancel.