Hi all, I just got back my Oct score yesterday, which turned out to be very disappointing157, 6 points below my average score, 163. I've never gotten below 162 on my PTs for the past two months, so this was devastating and unexpected. I don't know what happened, but I guess I was especially nervous during the first section, RC, on which I got almost half of the Qs wrong, twice as many as what I typically get. On LRs, I typically range between -7~-10 and I got -15 on the real one. Usually, when I do well on the RCs, I do poorly on the LRs and vice versa so it balances out. This time, it appears that I under-performed on almost all the sections. I'm considering to retake in Dec but with barely a month left to prep with full-time schooling, I'm afraid I will make the same mistake and get a similar result. Re-taking in February would be better because I graduate this December and I'll have two months to prep for the LSAT full-time at home. However, this would mean that I'll have to possibly wait a year and apply next cycle since my dream school fills almost all of its class before the February LSAT results are released. If I decide to apply next cycle, which I prefer not to, I'd like to save up my LSAT attempts and take the February and June exams.
My target score is 166, but anything more than 160 would guarantee my acceptance to all the schools except my top-choice school. I've never thought I'd get anything below 160 and looking at my score on the real one, I'm uncertain whether to see it as a true reflection of myself or just an outlier. Since I felt that I put in a decent amount of time and efforts into studying for this exam, I've never thought I'd be worried about not getting into any of the schools on my list. I spent the entire evening yesterday thinking about whether I have the capability to do well on a standardized exam or go to law school. My fellow classmate who spent much less time than me studying for the LSAT pulled off a 170 even though he said that he "bombed" it. It's quite discouraging to see that this entire process is slow and that I haven't seen much progress even in my PT score. It's really difficult to keep out the negative thoughts.
Sorry, if this post makes anyone feel uncomfortable. Any advice on how to tackle the issue and when to re-take would be appreciated.
PS - I took the 7sage ultimate course and studied with the Trainer book...
Comments
I'm in the same boat as you my friend, with the accompanying self-doubts last night. I've been studying since May whereas my colleagues have only been studying for 2 months max and fared far better than I did. I scored 6 points below my average PT as well and now I'm considering whether I should push for December or take more time until my PTs are in the 170s so I have a safety net to fall back on just in case something unexpected happens on test day.
One of the most valuable words of wisdom I ever got was "law school is no rush". Your time will come. Your circumstances might be different from mine but my plan is to spend the next two weeks studying hardcore, take a practice test the first week of November, and if my score is nowhere near my target I'm pulling the plug, getting my refund, and taking the LSATs next year. I'd rather have two more chances than rush in to my next test still unprepared, and risk my last attempt producing the same result.
Who knows what kind of great things you can accomplish within the gap year. Your application might turn out to be a lot stronger the second time around!
Good luck!
I've been studying for a year and a half off and on and I didn't do as I wanted this October. I was going to write in December but..... why? If I don't make the necessary progress in that time I have no business sitting for the exam. No. Rush. must remind myself of that.
With the December test a month away, it's probably not wise to rush it, especially with finals and graduation coming up for you. Keep prepping now when you have the time, ramp up after December, and reevaluate. If you're happy with where you're at, then take the Feb test! If not, use all of the extra time you'll have to aim even higher for June or Oct.
Good luck!
One last question: do you think I should still apply this cycle and see where I get in? I live in Canada and the applications are due Nov 1st. All the schools that I'm applying to accept the Feb test results, although they discourage it.
And a year and a half is not a long gap period. It is pretty short actually so I wouldn't worry about that too much. You can do a lot of amazing things in that time and learn what non-campus-based life is like for a bit, try different things you've always wanted to do, get work experience, travel, build networks. All things you don't get to do while in law school really. Why not have an extra year of that? Again, I'm not a person to advocate studying for the LSAT for 2 years or taking 10 years off before going to law school but a year and a half sounds perfect. But again, your choice if that year seems worth it.
You are super young, so I would recommend taking a year or two off and getting some work experience to bring a bit more to the table than the average K-JD... Law school will be there when you are ready and when you have more time to dedicate to prepping for the LSAT and everything else that goes along with it...
Aside from that I would second pretty much everything my fellow mentors have said in this thread.