Should I Retake the LSAT?

You’ve taken the LSAT an . . . you’re not happy with that LSAT Score.
Or maybe you’re thinking, “I’ll just take the October LSAT and then take it again in December. I’ll get a great score the second time.” Do not “plan” to take the LSAT more than once. That is planning to fail…Plan to succeed! Prepare properly so that you do well the first time. Enough said.

Now let’s examine your situation and make a decision.

Evaluate your LSAT Prep

During the months of practice prior to the LSAT should have given you an idea of your realistic expected score. During this time you learned your weak points and some strategies to achieve your targeted LSAT score. Use this knowledge now to figure out why you didn’t score as well as you expected to. Were you not feeling well, was the center noisy, were you easier on yourself during practice tests without realizing it? For example, were your practice test sessions full length, without breaks—mimicking as much as possible actual test center conditions. Did you use the bubble sheet, etc.?

Were you close to your expected score? Honestly evaluate your preparation to decide if it was deficient. Do you have the time, energy and resources to go through the process again? The answer should not be a simple, “I had some bad luck.” That is an excuse and it will prevent you from making a plan that will correct your situation.

LSAC Statistics

LSAC keeps track of all LSAT scores. The data indicates that most people who retake only improve their score by a few points. They also indicate that the higher your first score, the more likely it is that your subsequent score will decrease. So you must be cautious with this decision.

Evaluate your test day

If you prepared and analyzed your progress during your prep time, you should have some ideas as to why you did not perform as well as you had hoped. Was there one section where you knew you had totally blown it for a variety of reasons? Were you surprised at the difficulty, noise or stress factors?

Was your LSAT score close to your average practice score?

If you can live with the restrictions the lower score creates, maybe you call it quits. Unless, you did not prepare as well as you could have. Be honest with yourself…To get a different result, you will need to take different actions. Allow sufficient time to prepare properly for the second test. See some preparation tips here:

Maybe you’d been scoring greater than a 170 on your practice tests, and you are crushed by your score of 168. Increasing the score even a few points would be great, although a 168 isn’t bad!

Do you have time and resources to retake the LSAT?

Re-taking the LSAT is costly. Not only the charge for the administration, but because…”Time is Money” and you will need time to adequately prepare! You must completely understand why you scored lower than you expected to.

How do Admissions Offices look at the two scores?

Most law schools will take your highest LSAT score, not the average of the two. But they have access to both of the scores. If your score doesn’t improve you have hurt the application. On the other hand, if you can improve even a point, you could potentially help your application a great deal. Admissions will expect your score to increase, simply by familiarity with the test. The highest score is the one that the school uses and this becomes a part of their statistics…so they look better if your score is a 168 as opposed to a 167.

Know the admission qualifications of the schools you really want to attend. If your score is in the high 140s to mid 150s, even a 2 point increase in score could place you in a higher quality school. See https://schools.lawschoolnumbers.com/ for some stats on your target schools. You’ll see how others in your statistical range fared. Sometimes even one point can lead to big scholarship dollars, so if your score can increase enough to qualify for scholarship money, it’s definitely in your best interests to retake!

See More about the LSAT and Law School Admissions.

What if my 2nd LSAT score decreased?

“I’ve taken the test two times already. I had hoped that the 2nd time was the last, but that score was even worse than the first!”

Evaluate and reconsider what your options. Should you take it a third time? Be honest…Was your study as focused as possible? Were your practice tests taken using real testing conditions?  Taking the LSAT the third time is risky. You’re out of chances, and some schools may view you in a bad light if the LSAT score doesn’t significantly improve.

If you are confident that you can boost your score enough, take it one last time. Consider taking the June exam in the year that you’re enrolling. Perhaps you can use that score to negotiate for scholarship money or to get off the waitlist.

A transfer after Year One?

Your LSAT score is much less significant when attending a lower-tier law school. Consider this: Attend a lower-tier school and do really well there year one. Now, try to transfer to a higher-tier school that takes transfer students…but where your lower LSAT score would have excluded you. Here’s why this works:

• You now have a proven record of academic achievement. The LSAT score becomes a lot less important when you can diminish its value measured against actual first year grades.
• Law schools want to keep their statistics looking really good. They don’t need to report the LSAT score of transfer students in their profile of a given class year. These schools want to appear to be more selective than they actually are.
• Law schools do want your money. They operate within a budget and if they’re falling below their enrollment projections, or need to raise additional dollars, they can go to the transfer students to make up for their shortfall.

If you’ve decided to re-take the LSAT, see LSAT Prep Tips, LSAT Study Schedule, Conditioning for LSAT Success for help preparing as well as tips for eliminating test day stress.

Tags: last advice, LSAT Stress, Re-take LSAT