DUN DUN DUN...With the test a week away, am I done for?! Wait until December or take it anyways?

seoconnor123

So, I stumbled upon 7Sage just but two weeks ago. Up until that point I was feeling confident with my self-study approach and had been scoring consistently in the 160-166 range with an absolute abysmal showing in the LG sections. When I read all the different approaches and the time spent preparing from users on here I felt ashamed and underprepared for the upcoming exam. My hope was to eventually to get above a 170 but I have not scored that once on any practice test. I feel that with an additional three months of studying and incorporating the approaches that I discovered on here I can reach my goal. With that being said, I am eager for next weeks test. Would it be terrible if I took the test and if necessary take it again in December? Will I be looked down upon if I do this? Just wanted to know what people thought. Thanks in advance.

Samar Khan

I'm in the same position. I found 7Sage in late September though, and have been preparing consistently since about early August. My average is about a 166, but I've been doing in the low-160s range for the most recent exams. I'm hoping for at least a 170. My main weakness is RC; when I go through the test, I feel confident, but get about 9 or 10 wrong in an RC section. I've been practicing increasing my reading speed over the past few days and am hoping for some sort of breakthrough as I go through my last few PTs.
I am planning to take the test next week, but I just registered for the December LSAT too today, just in case. Really don't want to have to retake, but I will if I have to. I'm nervous about applying to schools having two scores too. I've heard a lot of mixed things about how law schools look at multiple scores.
Any advice is much appreciated

johnscottwilsonsr499

I dont think it is too late to pick up new techniques until the night before the exam. While taking in new info that late is not a good strategy, I certainly do not advise against it. I had some good experiences with my tutor and now LG are my best and favorite section.

seoconnor123

I've read many mixed reviews as well which makes me nervous. My main motivation for taking it next week is that I have read that with rolling admissions the earlier you take the test the better off you are. Ideally, I would like to take in three more months of additional studying but not if it is going to decrease my chances with schools already assigning spots to people who took the June and October LSAT.

ajd0008

I was in a similar situation this June. I found 7sage about two weeks before the test and I was scoring around 160-165. An act of fate (a misspelling on my admission ticket) prevented me from taking the test in June, and I believe it is the best thing that could have happened. With the extra time I enrolled in a 7sage course and bumped my scores up to the 172-175 range. So I would say the extra time would definitely help your score.
However, it comes down to, in my opinion, whether you're willing to accept a score in the range you have been getting. If a 160-166 gets you in your target schools then taking the test next week would be smart to, as you mentioned, take advantage of rolling admissions.

ewb08640

I'm in the same boat! I've decided on writing the test this Saturday though and here's why: I read somewhere that a few years ago schools were granted the right to report only an applicant's highest LSAT score. I reckon this measure was introduced to cut stress from ranking obsessed schools faced with a smaller (and less competitive) applicant pool while making the admissions process a little more inclusive for students who would benefit taking the test a second time or so. I initially thought only mid Tier 1 schools downward would fully turn a blind eye to a lower test score but have read that really the only law schools that are still averaging are Harvard and Yale (sweethearts got that ivy swag and do what they want!). I guess the buying power is in our hands more now than it ever has been before. Knowing this, and knowing myself and personal anxieties, I figured it'd be best to have at least some sort of score this fall. I'm not in the financial position to take another year off school and betting it all on one day in December is too much of a risk. What if I got sick? What if I have a family emergency? What if the LSAC throws another Purple Dinosaur my way and I severely underperform? The small chance that the schools I'm applying to will hold a lower score against me does not outweigh what I think could be more probable events that would prevent me from performing on point in December. With that said, I'm neurotic as can be so maybe such ruminations won't speak to everyone. Ha ha!

steven appelbaum

ajd0008, as long as you prepare the rest of your application and have it ready to go by the time you get your December score, you should be fine. It becomes problematic if you wait until late January-Febrauary. But First week of January is still fine for enrollment. As for highest score vs averaged, you gotta look it up for each school. A lot of schools now do High score, but a bunch of T14 still do average so be careful. Either way, we're gonna crush this test!

J.Y. Ping

I've pretty much never run across any student who does well on their LR/RC but can't pull up their LG.

In other words, if LG is your worst section, please study more and harder. Your score will improve.

All things held equal, applying earlier is better than applying later. But, things are rarely ever held equal. Specifically, a December application with an LSAT score that's +4 points (or so) is superior to an October application. This is my opinion based on anecdotal evidence, so please take it with a grain of salt.