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Should I take the LSAT
Hugewhale2
Free Trial Member
Hey All,
I have a M.S. I'm Chem. I've discovered new, exciting nanoparticle materials and written and published a thesis (pretty much a book- but not pursuing this in any way right now). I have 5+ years teaching at a nice university.
My undergrad GPA is only 2.8- which is higher than the Chem undergrad average. My grad GPA (which doesn't seem to be too relevant here is 3.7).
I registered for the Feb 10th LSAT and have spent 10 days studying. I've taken 3 practice tests under simulated testing conditions and gotten 159, 159, 160. I miss about half + of the logic games questions currently. Do I need to hold off and not take the test this Saturday or is it okay to go ahead with the test with these practice test scores? Additionally, I'm over 30 and I do want a J.D. and to practice. Your insights are appreciated.
- Should I take the test as is currently?30 votes
- Yes6.67%
- No93.33%
Comments
Hey there! I love nanoparticles so that has to be an awesome thesis. Where do you want to go to law school? If you're planning on trying to apply for Fall admission, then you have to take the Feb LSAT, and even then it might be difficult to get in depending on where you want to go because of the late cycle. If you're trying to apply this fall, then I would postpone because there is no benefit to taking it in Feb vs June and/or July if you're not applying until September anyways. But again, this has a lot to do with where you want to go and how much financial aid you're hoping your LSAT helps you with
Hi there! Can you give more insight into your goal score/school? If you are aiming for a T14, you may want to get a higher LSAT to offset your GPA. If your goal score is in the 150s/160s, I'd say go for it.
Also, you'll probably see this alot, don't get hung up on your age. If you need to push the test back, push it back. There is no need to rush.
I think it'd be a shame to settle for any score you can get after 10 days of studying. Whatever your abilities are, you're settling for way below your potential. I studied for nearly six months before my first test and barely beat you with a 163 on my first official take. So what could you do with six months?
They'll like seeing the high grad GPA even though it isn't part of the medians. I think your score will go up if you work at this and wait for the next administration.
I say hold off...if you are already scoring in the 160s missing half of the LG questions, you could relatively easily move up into the high 160s, maybe even 170s by just improving in that section along (don't know what your exact breakdown is).
You seem like a very attractive candidate and I think it would be a shame to let high LSAT potential go to waste. Not sure where you are thinking of applying, but with a pretty low GPA, having a high LSAT is definitely going to help offset that.
Delay,100%. LG is foreign for nearly everybody in the beginning, so missing half is common. It is also common for people to see progress in LG quickly. Within a month or two after doing the fool proof method you could quite literally go from approximately an 80 percentile score to possibly 93-ish perecntile score (assuming you maintain your skills in the other sections and get -3 in LG instead of -12).
Your diagnostic is high. And with guided practice through 7sage's core curriculum you should have no trouble shooting a high 160s or 170s score
If it were me? No way. Spend 3+ months and make your score jump up even higher. Worst case? You're only a few months down the road. Best case? You rock the test, get competing offers, don't have 10+ years of debt. 10 years of debt for a couple months? No brainer there.
Personally, I'm studying for the June test. I've only seen a few point increases so far, but have a lot to go on the 7sage program. I need 10+ more points or so than my last PT, and I'll be happy with it and know there are some scholarship offers out there.
If I have to retake again next year, no biggie (I'm finishing up my BA, so studying for classes and this is a lot).
Why? Because law school is insanely expensive, and I don't have that kind of money. It is worth a year of my time if it comes to it.
Hope that helps
Getting the logic games to perfect or at least -1 or 2 should be done before you test for the first time. With the 7sage foolproofing method that section is really just a matter of practice.
Once you get games perfect I imagine you will be scoring quite a bit higher possobly in range of 170 which I would recommend as your goal.
Don't take it!! Even studying for only a month and a half, my LG went up by like +7/8 questions. Progress in a short time is possible, ESPECIALLY for LG.
Delay, it's already too late to attend school this fall so whats the rush?
You have the potential to score very high after a few months of studying. And that would really significantly help your acceptance and scholarship chances. Your undergrad GPA is on the low side and though law schools will probably slightly factor in your major, it won't be much of a consideration. If you had a high LSAT to offset the GPA, it'll put you in a much better position. Give yourself the chance to study and crush the LSAT, don't take this week.
I didn't respond till now because I was preparing to go abroad and trying to prep as much as possible prior to the Feb 10th test. Also I woke up sick at 3am on the Wednesday before the test. I went ahead and took the LSAT. I got a 160, 80th percentile. Like I said, I've been in academia (and sports) for a pretty long time and I've had to learn how to learn. I considered all of your comments, and was very close to not taking the test- especially due to sickness and fear of losing a couple points due to that.
I also considered that practice test scores might tend to be higher than actual scores due to testing conditions, etc.
In the last few days leading up to the test, I could tell that I was getting better consistently. Even as I took the test, I felt I was still improving actually.
So now that I've taken the test, I feel that the outcome is about as good as possible considering the limited prep, etc. I'm happy, and satisfied with the outcome- but also I want more want a 170!
I'm going to go ahead and apply for Fall 2018 at schools that are still open to see if I can get any decent offers. Thanks for the advice, I pushed very hard in that short time for the score.
10 days studying is way too little. I believe that you should extend your study efforts to at least a couple months. Your diagnostic seems high for having studied very little and I'm confident you will do your score potential justice if you took more time to study for this exam. Keep in mind that the 4 hour LSAT examination is worth more than 4 years of undergrad career. It is important give the LSAT the proper respect it deserves and prepare accordingly
I wouldn't bother applying to schools this cycle. You might be able to get good offers, but they won't be anywhere near as good as if you foolproof logic games and get that 170. I'm sure you did push hard for ten days, but if you had pushed hard for 3 months you would have a masively better outcome.