To retake or not retake, 170 for T-14

LSATsovictoriacouldrun

Howdy everyone,

I am a June 2023 LSATer and got a 170 (yay!) but I want to go to a T-14 (Duke is my dream school). I’m a little disappointed since my average was a 173 (175,173,170,170,173,173,172), do you think it would be wise to retake? I am already registered for the August test, but I am trying to figure out whether I should get my refund. Until then, I am only able to dedicate weekends and the two weeks before I would take it to intense studying, so I am a little concerned with retaking it and getting the same score. Kind of in a middle ground, so any advice would be appreciated!

My GPA is a 3.83 since I graduated in three years and spent 2 of those years as STEM, and I am a non-URM wanting to go into public-interest.

raffygrullon

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Cant Get Right

Congrats on the 170! While that's an incredible score that will open lots of doors, a retake would certainly not "just be for vanity." There is a huge difference between a 170 and a 173. Every point matters until around about a 175.

I retested a 170 and had lots of reasons to believe my retake would improve. My 170 was a greater underperformance than yours, and I was also able to diagnose and correct my last major weakness. Your 170 is in your score range, but you clearly can outperform it even with your present level of ability. You don't have much time to improve, but if you were to make the most of it, do you know what you need to direct your efforts at? I think that would definitely tip the scales for me towards a retake: If you can find a way to meaningfully improve, then I'd say for sure go for it. If not, it's a lot closer. Your expectation to improve is not particularly unreasonable, but it is much more speculative than mine was. Another thing to consider is that improvement probably helps you more than non-improvement hurts you. So if it's close, might be worth a shot.

Also, non-URM status may not matter as of today given the Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's irrelevant, but it certainly is going to disrupt business-as-usual in admissions offices, and for now, it's hard to predict exactly what it will mean in practice.