Re-taking LSAT in December (original score October 2015)

stephen63

Hi everyone,

I'm signed up for the LSAT this month. I already have a score from October 2015, but am considering postponing until December 2016. If I do this, I'll miss early decision and won't have complete applications until late December, presumably.

1.) Do you think that timeline puts me at a disadvantage for Northwestern, Cornell, and Georgetown range schools? Or is it better to have a potentially lower score and apply RD before Thanksgiving?

2.) Do people get into ED programs with slightly lower LSAT scores?

nessa.k13.0

From the advice I've received from Sages, Mentors, and webinars on this site, the answer to your first question depends on your score. If you can score above a high enough percentile (depending on your gpa and other factors) applying with a higher LSAT score in December/January rather than October/November could make you a stronger applicant to T14 schools. During the Spivey Consulting webinar they did note that applying earlier (before Thanksgiving) can give you an advantage in the sense that people have been admitted to top schools with LSAT scores that they would not have had they applied in January, so it's a bit of a trade off. I'm in your boat and am taking the LSAT in December because I wasn't consistently PTing above my target score to take the exam this month. Just gotta PT hard and master good habits, speed, and accuracy to give ourselves the best shot we can at slaying the Dec LSAT!

Sprinkles

Spot on @nessa.k13.0 ! Hope your LSAT prep is going well

stephen63

@nessa.k13.0 said:
people have been admitted to top schools with LSAT scores that they would not have had they applied in January

Thanks! So to clarify, there isn't reason to believe admissions committees look more favorably on applications that are complete in November versus applications that are complete in January, all else equal?

desire2learn

I would personally rather take the LSAT when I felt ready versus rushing things to "get in early" but that is more about my personality and wanting to feel good about what I did on my end of things and has nothing to do with what is most advantageous from an admissions strategy standpoint.

inactive

@stephen63 said:
So to clarify, there isn't reason to believe admissions committees look more favorably on applications that are complete in November versus applications that are complete in January, all else equal?

Not sure if it's a matter of favoring, but more of a lack of seats come January+. (At least that's my understanding, I could be wrong!)

Jules802

Spot on. I also have an old LSAT score on file and have decided to wait to take in December. The advice I received especially for T14 schools is that if you think your December could be even a point or two better to wait and take it then/apply in early January because that difference can take you from below the median to the 75 percentile. All else being equal, it seems applying earlier is better, but if you think your December score would be better, that factors more favorably than an earlier application.

nessa.k13.0

Thanks @montaha.rizeq ! I hope yours is as well!

@stephen63 @"Dillon A. Wright" put it best, it is more about available positions than it is about favorability. Personally, I agree with @desire2learn and @Jules802 it seems it is much more advantageous to worry about scoring higher on the LSAT than applying early just to apply early. I say this because you don't know what scores you will be competing against at that point and it would drive me crazy to know that I could have applied with a much better score. It's all up to what you deem is more important!