Despite your best efforts, your LSAT score just isn’t what you wanted it to be. Maybe it’s significantly below your practice tests, or perhaps you weren’t feeling well or just know that you had a bad day.
Should you retake?
You should only consider retaking the LSAT if two things are true.
When to Retake the LSAT
First, you need to be sure you can do better the next time.
If you’d been consistently scoring ten points higher on your practice tests and happened to wake up on test day with a sore throat and a fever, your chances of doing better the next time are quite high.
If, however, you scored about what you’d been scoring on practice tests, you felt fine, and the test center had no major distractions, it’s unlikely you’re going to do much better the next time.
Before you decide to retake in this scenario, you’ve got to get real about whether a new study strategy will improve your score.
Without a clear plan and a different approach, you’re unlikely to do much better.
Do You Really NEED a Higher Score?
Second, do you actually need a higher score?
If you’re already at or above the median for your target schools, what’s the point?
In my case, because I was woefully underprepared I probably could have gotten a higher score with more practice, but I decided it wasn’t necessary. Despite not being perfect, my score was good enough, so I opted to live with it.
This decision, or course, went against all of my perfectionist tendencies, but I simply couldn’t justify devoting more time and effort to the LSAT!
How to Craft a Law School Application That Gets You In
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- Perfect Your Personal Statement
- Perfect Your Law School Résumé
- Sample Law School Résumé Teardown
- Get Great Letters of Recommendation
- When to Include an Addendum
Return to Applying to Law School 101.
Wondering whether you should retake the LSAT? Leave questions in the comments!
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Hi Alison. I have been studying for the last three months (the last two have been fairly intense). After I attended a Powerscore Weekend Prep Class I knew what I had to do. So far I have completed PS LR and PS RC Bibles, having only completed 1/2 PS LG Bible. I registered for Dec, but the more I think about it my best shot may be in Feb. As soon as I am finished with LG, I am going to revisit all for outlining/note-taking. The remaining time will be spent taking practice exams (real LSATs of course) in order to increase my speed accordingly. (Even though Feb is 3 months away, I feel as if it is in a few days.)
By the way, your website if GREAT!!!!! Thank you so much.
Good luck! Sounds like February might be your best bet, since ideally you’d only have to go through the experience once. Not a lot of fun!