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Please argue this
LSATisJustLikeDarkSouls
Alum Member
I'm not sure I'll be ready for the June test. I've been practicing for three weeks, mainly LR and have seen roughly +5 improvement there. Haven't given as much time to LG or RC because I'm stronger in those. But there is still room for improvement everywhere. I'm shooting for a 180, want 170+, and 160+ wouldn't be the end of the world. Anyway pleas argue:
If I am not confident that I can achieve a score I want in July is there any reason I should postpone knowing I can take the LSAT as many times as I want?
Thanks guys
Comments
It depends on what you're scoring currently. It depends on what your career goals are. It depends what school you want to attend. It depends on whether you're shooting for scholarship money.
The answer to your question, however, is usually to postpone.
It's just time and money, really. Do you want the experience of having done it officially and see where you are from there, and you have money to get another testing date? Then why not? Since the rules were lifted about multiple attempts, I personally don't see any harm.
There's less of an argument now for postponing than there used to be previously. However, I would still say that if you are nowhere near your target (say, scoring consistently on PTs in the 140s-150s) then there's no good reason to take it either.
There are a handful of schools out there that will average your scores (Yale known to be 1, I've heard of others anecdotally). Every school will still be able to see every score. Even if a higher score later would negate a lower one, there's not great reason to take it. If you were to improve your score by a large margin (say 10+ points between official scores) you should also expect to write an addendum explaining the difference. Schools will raise an eyebrow at score discrepancies.
Basically, if you know your score will be subpar, then why would you want to have that and send it to schools? There's no advantage and maybe a slight disadvantage to having a low score on record. I would advocate for putting only your best foot forward to schools.
However, if you are consistently PTing in a range that you are somewhat comfortable with (at least in the 160s, like you mentioned) then I would say you could/should go for it.
Whats your PT average
There are a couple good arguments for postponing.
Some schools(Yale) still definitely look at all the scores. So why have one there that is lower than it could have been?
Additionally, if you come in underprepared you may underperform making the next time more stressful.
Worse yet, you could do well enough that you settle for a score that is beneath your potential and lose out either on the school of your dreams or some serious potential scholarship money.
Taking the LSAT also literally costs money. So why take it more times than you need to?
If you think you are pretty close to ready though, the benefits of taking quickly begin to outnumber the costs because of unlimited retakes.
I will not argue anything. I've seen literally thousands of arguments on the LSAT; there are way too many of those already. I refuse to give birth to another.
Seriously though, isn't it a little too early to be thinking about throwing in the towel? Why not study until early May or so, and then reconsider your options?
Thanks for your input everybody! I'm currently averaging 153 on PTs. I will probably postpone because I like the idea of having one good score on my record and know that I can score 170+ once I get "into the mind of the test" so to speak. I decided to go for law school less than a month ago, so I'm not that well practiced yet. Then I found 7sage about a week ago and this is where I feel like my improvements have all come from. Once I finish the CC here and have another handful of PTs under my belt I'm sure I'll be in the 160s. Then it's just getting familiar with this opponent. Got to get in shape first then you learn how your opponent fights, right? Bringing in a little boxing philosophy here. Thanks again LSAT friends, really appreciate having people to talk to about this.
While breaking into 160s from 150s is easier than breaking into 170s from the 160s, it still isn't an easy task. Instead of forcing yourself to finish by a certain deadline, why not take the exam while you are comfortably averaging in the 170s. Even people with diagnostics in the high 150s to low 160s took 5 to 6 months before they go the score you desired. Getting the right LSAT score may take a while depending on how you are
You could be right, but don't assume improvement will come that easilly. Often there is a significant improvement at first but then improvement slows. To really do as well as you can, you are going to have to make it through some periods where progress is rather slow.
Good luck!
Agreed. I'm not even sure I'll want to take the September test at this point.
Thank you! The only thing I'm assuming at this point is that it will come.