Should I retake a 174?

Mikx2020

Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy about my score and I'm aware it's above the median for my target schools (Columbia, Harvard, Penn, NYU) but my GPA is weak (3.6 from an Ivy, not in the sciences). I did do an honors thesis, though I'm not sure how much that even counts for and I've been working already for four years if that's a plus.

This is my third time taking the lsat - first round I choked in September during the infamous flowers game and came out with a 164 and second time was the June flex and I had technical difficulties but still released my score to get a sense of how I did on the other sections.

I'm currently signed up for August but I'm debating whether it's risky to retake?? I have been PTing 173-178 consistently but not sure if it's worth it. Do I have a decent chance of getting into my target schools with my score/GPA?

open ears

I am in about the same place as you are––just received a 173 on July and have similar GPA/academic background. Personally, I am not retaking it. This was my first LSAT, and I was PTing mid-170s consistently before the exam. I know I could have done better on the LSAT I took in July. In fact, right after the test I was fairly confident I knew two questions I definitely got wrong and what the right answers were. However, I am not confident about how well that would translate to a new LSAT in August, which may play to different strengths and weaknesses, especially at such a narrow margin of error of maybe 1-2 more correct answers depending on curves. I also understand the strong urge to retake it to further make up for our lowers GPAs, and I don't think it is a bad decision by any means. I just came to the conclusion that it's already a great score above most medians, and my time would be better spent working on strengthening the rest of my application (essays, my job for the year, trying to publish my undergrad research in a journal, etc.)

I could be wrong, but I think schools only care about your highest reported score, so I don't think it's risky. Rather, I think the real question is if it's worthwhile given your confidence in potential improvement and time commitments. Congrats on the incredible score and good luck!