Thoughts and Advice for February Retake Forum

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throwitbby

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Thoughts and Advice for February Retake

Post by throwitbby » Fri Dec 29, 2017 4:33 pm

Hey TLS fam,

I'm here with a problem and would like some suggestions on how best to approach it. Like many of you, I am applying for law schools this application cycle and am starting to submit some apps to target schools. I have a 3.45 GPA and am currently sitting on a 162 LSAT score. This gets me into a couple of schools I'm really interested in according to myLSN, but there are several others (including UT, my alma mater) I would kill to go to and am at risk of being wait listed or straight up rejected due to my stats alone. I am planning on submitting apps for these target and safety schools ASAP, but I'm also signing up for the February LSAT so that I can get a higher score and have better chances at admission with my reach schools.

Here is my problem: I have taken the LSAT in June, September, and December of this year and have received scores of 162, 160, and 160 respectively. I I didn't study much before the first test, so I got a 162 to start and told myself I still had September and December to improve. Due to some unavoidable work related and personal events, I had an insane work schedule the month and a half leading up to the September LSAT and didn't study at all. The week of the actual LSAT, I also packed up my life abroad and moved halfway around the world to be with my boyfriend for his first year of law school. In hindsight, I was still unprepared, absolutely jet-lagged and exhausted, and ultimately should have canceled my score for September. I didn't cancel and instead I resigned up for December, thinking my score could only improve. While I still had quite a bit of work to do, I had much more free time to study than before. The two months leading up to the December LSAT, I took around 20 pts. My pts averaged in the high 160s and low 170s with the lowest pt score being a 165, still significantly higher from the 160 in September. I had high anxiety throughout the test and felt totally burnt out, but although I hoped I had done well (at least better than my 162), I was left just feeling uncertain and worried. Then we got the scores released early last week, and low and behold my fears are confirmed with another 160.

Although I was super busy and stressed leading up to this exam, I really worked hard to maintain higher pt scores and am now pretty disappointed and unsure of how to prepare for February. Although I'm nervous, I still think that retaking is my best option if I want to have a shot at my target schools. I know that if I want to have a better chance I need to make a more serious study effort and not let work/other personal things get to me, but I'm sure there are other ways that I can shape my mind/attitude or study methods to see better results, especially on test day. With regards to the exam, I'm mainly concerned with increasing my speed while maintaining that sharp focus to see through the subtleties thrown into the more recent exams. Any suggestions or advice you guys could offer for the February retake would be greatly appreciated.

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