Now that the September 2014 LSAT scores have been released, many test-takers are asking themselves whether or not to retake the LSAT in December. This question essentially boils down to two separate considerations: how thoroughly you prepared for the previous LSAT and how many scores you now have on your score report.
What constitutes thorough preparation is different for each test-taker, but I generally recommend that prospective law school students spend at least two to three months preparing for the test, during which they should undergo a systematic review of the areas of the test that give them difficulty, and take about 30 timed practice tests.
[Learn to excel at the LSAT as a second-time test-taker. ]
If you did not prepare thoroughly for the September LSAT and received a score you were not happy with, you should strongly consider retaking the test. Without enough practice, it is nearly impossible to maximize your LSAT score and you are almost certainly leaving valuable points on the table and should retake the test.
If you did feel adequately ready for the September LSAT, deciding whether to retake the LSAT becomes a bit more complicated. You need to consider whether your September score was an accurate reflection of where you were at in late September when you took the test. I recommend that students to look at the average of their five most recent LSAT practice tests they took before the actual exam with the score they got on the actual exam. This diagnostic method is most valuable if you consistently took practice tests in similar conditions to the real test. That consists of three 35-minute sections in a row, followed by a 10-minute break, followed by the fourth section. There’s no need to add an experimental section or do the writing sample.
[Find out how to get into law school with an LSAT score in the 160s.]
If the average of your five scores leading up to the September test was more than three points higher than your September score, you did not perform up to your potential and should strongly consider retaking the test.
For example, a student of mine from last fall, who had prepared thoroughly and was scoring consistently in the 167 range leading up to the September 2013 test, ended up scoring a 166 on her real LSAT. I advised her that she would likely at most improve by one or two points if she took the December 2013 test, and that her time was better spent preparing her application. This also enabled her to submit her applications earlier than she would have been able to had she waited until her December score was released.
The second consideration is whether the September test is the first score on your score report or the second. The LSAC allows students to sit for no more than three administrations of the LSAT in a rolling two-year period, so if the September score is the third time you have taken the test in the past two years, you will have to wait to take it again.
If the September test is the first score you have on your score report, retaking the test in order to score a couple more points is less valuable because many schools will average two scores that are relatively close to each other instead of taking the higher of the two scores. If the September test is your second score, then you should be more inclined to take the test again.
[Here are five tips for the week leading up to the LSAT.]
If you decide to retake the LSAT, you should consider whether December or February makes more sense for you. If you are committed to applying to schools this cycle to begin law school in fall 2015, it is best to take the December LSAT so that you can submit your application before schools, many of which offer rolling admissions, have filled up most of their classes with applicants whose applications they have already received.
If you are not planning on applying this cycle, the decision about whether to prepare for December or February depends to a large degree on the amount of time you have available to devote to LSAT preparation. In general, I recommend that students spend the four weeks before taking the LSAT studying for 15 to 20 hours per week, so students and those with full-time jobs will often have to balance their work and school responsibilities to find the time to adequately prepare.
Preparing for the December exam is generally difficult for students because November and early December usually coincide with end-of-semester work such as paper writing and final exam preparation. The February exam, on the other hand, is often ideal for students because they can use winter break and the beginning of the semester to do their most intense preparation.
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Evaluate Your September LSAT Scores When Debating a December Retake originally appeared on usnews.com
