Am I screwed? Advice needed (160 March test--didn't cancel, retaking in August/October, NYU hopeful)

acd2179-1

Hi all,

I'm having a bit of an existential crisis and could use some words of wisdom. I took the March 2022 LSAT and got a 160 with very little studying (~30 hours total). At the time, I didn't know whether I wanted to apply to top schools -- I likely have an opportunity to live with my parents and attend a T-60 with a good-sized scholarship, which would obviously leave me in a better financial position than a T-14 with loans, even taking advantage of an LRAP -- and wanted to use a real test as a diagnostic, to gauge how much studying I would have to do in order to make myself a competitive applicant at top schools. (There were some other considerations, including financial ones -- e.g., I make enough money to be ineligible for fee waivers but not enough to have much discretionary spending, and I didn't want to pay for an LSAT prep program if a top score was way out of reach. Trust me, I am now well aware that this strategy was misguided.)

After getting the score, I was encouraged that a 170+ seemed within my grasp with a reasonable amount of prep, which prompted me to look much more seriously at the T-14. I want to be a PD and already have 2 years of WE in NYC courts as a criminal defense paralegal, so I figured out not long after that NYU is an ideal pick to apply ED. However, I decided not to cancel my March score in part because I didn't know that NYU explicitly says they average reported LSAT scores when evaluating candidates. That'll teach me not to do exhaustive research before committing to a strategy to the exclusion of all others.

I'm scheduled to retake in August and I'm PT-ing around 172. Even if I improve another 2-3 points before test day and submit an LSAT addendum describing the errors in my strategy that led to the March score, I'm worried that I still won't have a good enough score, or that I will have a big red flag attached to March. Any thoughts on that?

Assuming I score around my average in August, would you advise retaking in September or October as well, in order to get (hopefully) 1-2 points higher than the August score? If so, would you recommend September or October? And would you advise submitting apps before or after the September/October score is released? In my view, retaking after August (1) would demonstrate that the 160 is the outlier and (2) would bump up my average score significantly. But of course, there are also risks, including: (1) that I won't improve in October, or will even score 1-2 points lower, (2) that the adcom would reject me outright if I submitted while still waiting for the score from the post-August retake, and (3) if I retake in October, that I would be applying too late in the ED cycle if I waited to submit until getting the score in early November.

There's also the question of what to do if I score below my PT average in August. It seems that if I get a 169 or below, I almost certainly need to retake before submitting, and I think I wouldn't have enough time to prep meaningfully between August and September, especially because I need to use that time to focus on refining my PS and other written materials (I work full-time, so I have limited ability to do law school stuff during the weeks). Am I definitely applying too late in the ED cycle if I wait to submit until early November (after getting the October score back)?

For context, I went to a T-5 undergrad with a 3.8-mid (no Latin honors) and have Tier 3 softs (see aforementioned 2 years WE as a very hands-on criminal defense paralegal). And the deadline to register for September is in 5 days. I'm freakin' out!

Any advice deeply appreciated.

-ad

acd2179-1

Question for those who responded that it is too late in the NYU ED cycle to apply in early November -- why is that?

5Fennel LSAT

In short:
Almost certainly not screwed - almost certainly NYU doesn't average, at least arithmetically
Should not overthink and worry
Should focus on improving - that's the biggest factor under your control.
Ask for some time off if possible and make the most of it
Keep October on the table if you need it - 11/2 release is before the 11/15 deadline
But might be competitive for the regular decision pool anyway
Will probably get other excellent offers at great schools too
Will probably have a fine PD career no matter what

To elaborate, based on information gathered from every admissions podcast I heard and article I read in the last year or so:

Based on current available information, the possibility that NYU currently arithmetically averages of multiple LSAT scores is not supported. Here's an article from a likely credible source (Powerscore and Spivey) on the question of LSAT averaging (written 2017):
https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/do-law-schools-average-lsat-scores-or-use-the-high-score/
Whatever reference to NYU's averaging that the Powerscore article referenced in 2017, there is no indication of it now.
The current applicant NYU application FAQ: https://www.law.nyu.edu/jdadmissions/applicants/jdapplicationfaq
Sure, requiring the submission of all LSAT scores could be consistent with score averaging, but if they did indeed average, would they not state it on their own informational materials? And the receptivity to omit an aberrant score suggests quite the contrary to any score averaging.

More strongly supported is that admissions makes inferences and preferences based on the pattern of multiple scores - as evidenced by this interview with a former NYU Law admissions officer for example:
https://7sage.com/podcast-episode-54-columbia-law-and-nyu-law-with-jill-steier/
Her response to the hypothetical suggests that admissions officers do indeed make inferences and preferences based on the pattern of an applicant's scores, but no indication is given that any scores are arithmetically averaged. Sure, patterns can raise a red flag if they are abnormal or suspicious, but a pattern of improvement over time can hardly be regarded as abnormal or suspicious. For your situation, hardly a red flag, at most a question mark to be addressed with a brief addendum (as stated in NYU's own FAQ).

In addition, operating in the current system of top score only reporting, it would likely be mathematically impossible for NYU to maintain its competitive medians and ranking if it were to throw out stacks of lower-arithmetic average multiple-take applications, especially in recent years as LSAC data indicates a rising proportion of repeat-takers. Just some personal speculation here based on my non-scientific interpretation of that data.

As the October score release is on 11/2/2022, an entire 13 days before NYU's ED deadline of 11/15/2022, might be prudent to register for October and keep it as a backup. Perhaps you might risk your registration fee if you decide you don't need it before the test and after the refund deadline, but it would provide a helpful buffer to some psychological pressure. And seems like your stats are going to be at or above their medians anyway, so you will likely be competitive even if you are in the regular decision pool. So there is more time if you need it.

And if you are having trouble finding time to study, perhaps look into reducing your other commitments if possible. Maybe your colleagues at the PD office will sympathize, even be encouraging regarding your efforts toward your own legal career. Why let a temporary current commitment hold back your larger long term goals?

Perhaps all this is moot. If you do score around what you are able to practice testing now, you'll very likely receive multiple excellent offers from various fine institutions, any one of which could lead to a fine career as a PD.

Good luck, take care of yourself, and all the best,

Sincerely,
Somebody in a similar situation and on a similar schedule to drastically outperform an unsatisfactory score from early LSAT days, learned to stop worrying about it, focused on trying to get better at the test and writing more convincing essays.