If you took the June LSAT a few weeks ago, you are probably repeatedly refreshing your email account in anticipation of receiving the score. The Law School Admission Council says scores will be sent electronically by the end of the month, although you may receive them sooner. Once you receive your score, you might have to consider whether to retake the LSAT, which is not at all uncommon.
Many prospective law school students will opt to retake the test in September, the test’s next administration. But just because this is common practice doesn’t necessarily mean this decision is right for you. In this week’s post, we focus on two advantages and one disadvantage to retaking the test in September rather than during other test administrations.
[Understand lower-than-expected June LSAT scores.]
— Advantage: You have time in the law school admissions cycle. Because the law school admissions cycle is rolling, you can submit applications starting as early as Sept . 1 and as late as June in extreme cases. Most applicants, though, aim to submit applications by early January at the latest.
If you aren’t satisfied with your June LSAT score, you can take the September LSAT knowing you can use your new score to apply at the early end of the law school admissions cycle. You will receive your September score in mid-October, giving you time to see it before submitting applications. Even then, you will still be applying far ahead of most applicants.
This is not true of the December LSAT. If you wait to retake the LSAT in December, you will receive your score by early January, putting you significantly behind in the rolling application process that almost every law school uses.
Keep in mind, though, that the benefit of even a few points of improvement on the LSAT outweighs the advantages of applying earlier in the cycle. But all things equal, retaking the LSAT and still applying early is better.
[Learn more about the law school admissions timeline.]
— Advantage: College students will have lots of time to prepare. The most intense period of LSAT preparation should be the 4-6 weeks leading up to the test. For the September exam, that means studying the most starting in mid-August.
For college students, this timing is ideal: By mid-August, you will have likely completed any summer job or internship and are preparing to start a new semester. From an academic perspective, September is often the light part of the semester, with relatively few minor papers, exams and assignments that contribute to your final grade.
As such, you can devote significant time to LSAT preparation without losing much ground in terms of your semester grades. Compare this to taking the LSAT in December; in the weeks leading up to that exam, you will likely be writing term papers, preparing for final exams and completing other assignments that make up significant portions of your final grades.
[Learn to study effectively when retaking the LSAT.]
— Disadvantage: There’s a lot of time between tests. At first glance, weeks of extra time to prepare may seem like an advantage — who wouldn’t want that? I also encourage students to plan to spend an average of four months preparing for the LSAT.
In this case, however, we’re discussing retaking the test — not taking it for the first time. You already significantly prepared for the June LSAT. The 12 weeks between receiving your June score and the September test can be too much time to study.
If you start immediately after receiving your June score, you may run out of practice materials as well as risk burning out. If you take significant time off, you will likely be rusty and need a few weeks to get back into the mindset you had in early June.
Compare this timing difference to the gap between the September and December exams and the December and February exams. In each case, you have 8-10 weeks between the test administrations, which is approximately the amount of time you would want to devote to preparing to retake the LSAT.
However, you can overcome this disadvantage. Plan to take a few weeks off after receiving your June score to confirm your decision to retake the test, and then spend approximately eight weeks before the September LSAT preparing. To reacquaint yourself with the test, use the first few weeks to take practice tests — a few each week — and review materials from any coursework or tutoring you did in advance of the June exam.
Receiving a less-than-desirable score in June can be disappointing. But by using your time over the summer wisely, you can retake the test in September feeling fully prepared and still submit your application early in the admissions cycle.
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Pros, Cons of Retaking the LSAT in September originally appeared on usnews.com
