Review the June LSAT, Retake in October?
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There's got to be a better way to decide whether or not to retake the LSAT
If you took the LSAT on June 6th and were less than pleased with the outcome, then consider attending our free online review of the exam next Monday night (7/11) at 8pm EST. Two of our instructors will be breaking down some of the harder questions from the exam and offering advice on whether or not retaking in October is a good choice for you.
Speaking of ‘the great retake debate’, here are a few questions you should ask yourself as you begin to make your retake considerations:
- Did I have a bad day? If June 6, 2011 was a bad testing day for you (e.g. the person next to you had a nervous twitch, severe halitosis, or uncontrollable flatulence that threw you off your game), you probably knew it upon leaving the exam. We train our students to practice predicting their scores. So ask yourself: did this feel like an awful exam during and after the test? If yes, chances are you won’t have a bad day again. Check to see your law school’s LSAT policy, keep studying, and prepare to rock the exam next time. If no, then it is likely that you have a lot of work to do to get where you need to be.
- Are the law schools I am applying to considering my top score only or an average of all recorded LSATs? For obvious reasons, this is a huge consideration! If your June score was fairly consistent with your practice test averages, and the school(s) you are applying to are going to average your LSAT scores, why risk posting a lower score?
- Did I dedicate enough time to LSAT prep? Many students underestimate the amount of work it takes to properly prepare for the LSAT. Did you give yourself enough time to study? Could you have done a bit more? If you answered “yes” to this second question, reevaluate your study regiment and consider taking the exam again. Keep in mind that most people don’t improve that much the second time around. The average person who re-takes the LSAT with a score between 150 and 160 improves only 2.4 points on the re-take (and the re-take improvement gets worse as you go up the score ladder).
For more on LSAT scores and the decision to retake, take a look at these past articles:
- Should I retake the LSAT?
- LSAT policies for the top 15 law schools (from jdMission’s blog)