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Should I wait until June?
kipamadden
Free Trial Member
Hey All,
I scored a 146 on the November 2019 LSAT with three weeks of preparation. My target score is a 165. I took December off and started studying again 6 weeks ago. I have been studying about 2-3 hours everyday and the highest practice score I have reached is a 152. My question is: Even though I’m registered for the March LSAT should I cancel by registration since my PT’s are not higher than a 152 and take the June LSAT instead? I want to start law school in the fall of 2019 and it seems like the March LSAT is my last chance to gain acceptance in the fall. Can I make significant gains in 45 days or should I simply wait till June? Thank to all!
Comments
Given that you're not scoring close to where your target is, I'd say you should probably wait until June or later and keep studying. 45 days really isn't enough time for you to get your score to jump almost 15 points, and to get it to stay there consistently. Test day usually comes with jitters as well, so even if you do get close to a 165, that score can vary by a few points when you take the actual test.
As someone who withdrew multiple times from the test for not scoring close enough to my target score on PTs, I know it's hard to put it off! I wanted to apply for Fall 2019 as well, but it's better to prepare for the score you want, rather than preparing for a certain test date. If 165 is where you really want to get to, keep going until you get a score that you're content with. That way, you can apply to the schools you're interested in and feel confident in sending your score
Thanks for the advice. Would it look bad for law school admissions if chanced it and took the March LSAT as well as the June LSAT?
Possibly. The less the number of LSAT attempts, the better.
It would be better for your stamina too.
"Law schools only care about your highest score" - Thinking LSAT
"We had a client who took the LSAT 6 times...he's now at CLS" - Spivey Consulting
Also consider economic costs just saying
I'm in a very similar situation and am thinking of just trying the March LSAT since I have already registered. Ultimately if you end up getting a good enough score (whether in March or June), I don't think the law school you're applying to will care if you gave it 2 or 3 times. Provided it is a good enough score to get you in, that is... (well that's my logic on it at least, but who knows!)
Honestly, I don't think you should take the March LSAT. I agree with GeeVee. For your goal, you, ideally, need to get your PT average up about 10 points. I just don't see that being all that likely in 5 weeks when you're doing 2-3 hours a day. There'd be no sense in wishfully approaching the March administration. I'll tell you as someone who's made that mistake that you are better off going off of your data from your PTs and waiting until you're at/above your goal on multiple PTs.
I don't know about everyone else, but to me scoring a 175 with just one or two attempt(s) ($180 or $360, plus other fees and opportunity costs) sounds far more efficient than scoring, say, 176 after six attempts ($1080, plus fees and costs), other factors notwithstanding.
I think it could look bad because it'll seem you're taking it when you aren't ready. While there's no longer a limit on how many times you can take the test, you don't want to take it a bunch of times just for the sake of taking it. I hear you with wanting to "chance it," but it's almost inevitable that your test day score will be whatever you're getting on your PTs, assuming your score doesn't drop because of nerves.
It's tough, but I would definitely recommend waiting until you're ready to get a score that is close to whatever you're PTing.
Great advice. Thank you for everyone who took the time to chime in! Good luck to everyone in their studies....
You can get to a 165, but to do it within 45 days would be a minor miracle. I don’t see any point in taking the March LSAT if you are serious about that number. People don’t magically score 8-10 points higher on test day. The only reason I would take the March test in your shoes is if you absolutely have to apply this cycle and just want any score increase you can get. However, if you are seriously about the 165 then I think you
should wait a year to apply and focus on the LSAT.