October or December?

Roy Jacobs

I Started 7sage in June and have been really pleased with the program so far. I couldn't be more pleased with my friends suggestion to use 7sage especially since he used it last year, scored well and got into the school I am attempting to get into. That being said my friend had the luxury of not working at all during his LSAT preparation and while my job is only for the purpose of paying bills until I move to wherever I will be going to Law School, I am closer towards the spectrum of full time than I am part time and especially after purchasing the course cutting back my hours is not an option. While I have kept pace with the study schedule 7sage created for me in preparation for the October LSAT so far, I am feeling constrained and as the material thickens I haven't been able to throw myself into the lessons because of my limited window to study each day. Particularly this past week I caught myself working to get lessons completed as opposed to ensuring I fully understood each lesson before moving on. My goal is to be able to apply to Law School for Fall 2016 and while I am certain that taking it in December instead of October would improve my score immensely I was wondering if it would hurt my chances of getting in?

nicole.hopkins

@"Roy Jacobs" said:
My goal is to be able to apply to Law School for Fall 2016 and while I am certain that taking it in December instead of October would improve my score immensely I was wondering if it would hurt my chances of getting in?

Let's put it this way. Timing aside, having a score that doesn't represent your maximum potential WILL likely hurt your chances of getting in, and even if the school you want to go to has only middling medians, you'll be selling yourself short by not doing all you can to max out your LSAT score. Higher LSAT score = more scholarship money, too. Only you can decide when you're ready to take the test, but if you only just started studying in June, that's only 4 months of study if you take in October. I'm coming up on my one year studying anniversary and I feel I'll only just be ready in October.

Pacifico

I would prep with the intensity of an October goal, and reassess by the late registration deadline. Take it in October or don't. Then maintain that same intensity and smoke it in December if you didn't already. December tests do not hurt applications. Bad LSATs hurt applications.

nicole.hopkins

@Pacifico said:
I would prep with the intensity of an October goal, and reassess by the late registration deadline.

Dig—this is what ended up getting me in gear for October (thought I was gonna take in June for the longest time). While I did pay the $175 (got a cool $51 refund ... whatever, the gearing up was worth it for me, I suppose), I, of course, wish I had not and instead had just done what Pacifico is saying to do. If you had told me that eight months of solid, hardcore LSAT prep (often 35-40+ hours per week on top of working FT and my PT gig, and life, u know) was what would be necessary, I don't know what I would have done with that information. But thinking I only had 4 months got me into high gear and very accustomed to devoting much (!@!@!@!) of my life to LSAT. So the additional 4 months of PT/BR between June and Oct is actually much easier than it would have been if I'd taken it easy during those first four months on insanity.

Likewise, the first 4 crazy months would not have been possible without 6 months of ~20 hour per week ramp-up, but I'm several years out of school so it was necessary to get back into the study habit.

ENTJ

Octember! Kidding... But really, it depends on how comfortable you are with the progress you've already made. From the last portion of your post, you seem to be leaning toward December. I recommend that you examine your inclination. Do you think you'll honestly be ready by December? Or are you just certain that you won't be ready by October?

nicole.hopkins

@ENTJ said:
Do you think you'll honestly be ready by December? Or are you just certain that you won't be ready by October?

Great question!!

LSAT04164

I'm in the same position! I was thinking of doing it in October and again in December. But is there a point to do it in October if I know I'm not going to do my possible BEST? So confused atm

Roy Jacobs

Thanks guys. I will definitely increase my efforts until the deadline before I make a decision

nicole.hopkins

@ronniexo said:
But is there a point to do it in October if I know I'm not going to do my possible BEST?

Probably not, in my opinion. If nothing else—why waste $175?

DumbHollywoodActor

It might be a good idea to do it for both the October and December test if you can do it in the same place for both tests and that you’re worried you might succumb to the terrors of “test day anxiety”. Based on the comments I’ve seen on the boards both after the February and the June test, Billy Joel got it right with that whole “Pressure” thing. It might be worth the $175 to have a solid dress rehearsal under your belt.