First Time Taking Test- How to Progress?

taggy_64taggy_64 Core Member
in Law School Admissions 5 karma

I took my lsat this past August and scored a 156. I have a 4.0 gpa.

I did not put as much time into it as I probably should have due to some extremely stressful life events this summer. Is this even a good score? Obviously I would be taking it again but I am debating deferring admissions for another year due to this score/life events. Im not necessarily trying to get a 180 or anything, but I think my goal would be maybe around 165-170. Thoughts? Is this do-able within the next few months? Thanks.

Comments

  • hghicks04hghicks04 Alum Member
    3 karma

    I also did not score where I wanted to on my LSAT from August and am looking to retake in October. Is raising my score do-able in this time frame?

  • L up NorthL up North Live Member
    104 karma

    Hi! Your LSAT is not a bad score at all- it's actually above average, which is about 152-153 I believe depending on the test. And it is possible to get into the 160s with a few more months of studying depending on how much time you have to dedicate to it and the quality of studying you do in that time. I think what may be helpful in making your decisions regarding retesting for this cycle vs deferring till next year is asking yourself if you are ok letting your score choose the law schools you apply to, or are you ok with letting the schools you want to apply to dictate the score you need. If you know what school(s) you want to go to, use their medians as a guide. If you plan to go to a regional law school and have a career in that part of the country long term, you may not need a better score! If you want to have more school options to choose from or more mobility in where your career is based (the t-20s tend to be better for that) you'd likely need a better score and timelines for studying become secondary to getting that score. If you have a set amount of time you want to study or are very committed to going to law school in a particular year, you can let that time studying guide you and go with the score you get at the end of that time to determine which schools you apply to. Neither way is better than the other- it just depends on what you want. I deferred taking the test from last year to this year because I know what schools I want to apply to, and that dictated what score I need- I ended up needing more time to get there, and that was a good trade off for me in terms of my long-term goals. On the other hand, I have friends who wanted to go to law school and weren't very concerned about where they went to school because, bottom line, they knew they wanted to be an attorney in the region where they lived. So, they took the exam and applied to the law schools in their area that fell into that score range with their medians- they are very happily employed and successful lawyers. In summary, there are so many roads to get you to where you want to go as long as you know what your ultimate goal is! There is honestly no "wrong" decision here, so follow your gut!

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