LSAT Retake, Several Years Later Forum

[tractata]

Has anyone retaken the LSAT years after previously prepping for and taking it? If so, how did your diagnostic compare to your previous diagnostic and test day score, and your retake score?

I took the LSAT several years ago and got a 172. My diagnostic is under 172 but higher than it was previously. I am wondering in particular about LG; how did your diagnostic and progress compare to your previous LG diagnostic and progress?

[QContinuum]

Not directly on point, but assuming your LSAT score is still valid/usable (i.e., hasn't expired), why are you looking to retake? There's relatively limited upside after 172, unless you also have a commensurately high GPA (~3.85+) and are targeting Y/S/H.

[tractata]

My score is no longer valid/usable. There's quite a bit of upside to getting a 176+, particularly if one's GPA is low.

My score is no longer valid/usable. I have not thought about or engaged with the law school admissions process in a long time but I am confident there's an upside to getting a 176+ rather than a 172, particularly when one's academic record is below-average. 176+ and an applicant so situated isn't an auto-reject or very likely reject everywhere t15-t25 (with the exception of a program that is unusually forgiving to bad GPA's, like Wash U).

[cavalier1138]

My score is no longer valid/usable. There's quite a bit of upside to getting a 176+, particularly if one's GPA is low.

My score is no longer valid/usable. I have not thought about or engaged with the law school admissions process in a long time but I am confident there's an upside to getting a 176+ rather than a 172, particularly when one's academic record is below-average. 176+ and an applicant so situated isn't an auto-reject or very likely reject everywhere t15-t25 (with the exception of a program that is unusually forgiving to bad GPA's, like Wash U).

You should obviously shoot for the highest score you can, but having a low GPA is precisely when getting a >99th percentile LSAT starts to matter less. 173+ is 75th percentile pretty much everywhere except HYS, and HYS won't accept you with a low GPA. So you would see effectively the same results with a 173/3.4 and a 177/3.4.

[tractata]

I strongly doubt that those numbers would yield the exact same results across the entire sub-HYS to say, T25, range. I believe I can get a 178+ but I can't imagine a 176+ wouldn't yield better numbers than a 172 in that entire range.

[cavalier1138]

I strongly doubt that those numbers would yield the exact same results across the entire sub-HYS to say, T25, range. I believe I can get a 178+ but I can't imagine a 176+ wouldn't yield better numbers than a 172 in that entire range.

Why can't you imagine that? Take a few examples with a hypothetical 173/3.4, and ask yourself what difference it would make to have a 175/3.4:

NYU: 75th LSAT is 172; 25th GPA is 3.63.
Michigan: 75th LSAT is 170; 25th GPA is 3.56.
UT: 75th LSAT is 169; 25th GPA is 3.48.
GW: 75th LSAT is 167; 25th GPA is 3.39.

At each of those schools, your 173 is above the 75th percentile, and only 1,000-1,500 students will have a 173+. Outside of HYS (where, again, your 3.4 is likely to keep you out), I promise that there's no difference.

[B90]

I strongly doubt that those numbers would yield the exact same results across the entire sub-HYS to say, T25, range. I believe I can get a 178+ but I can't imagine a 176+ wouldn't yield better numbers than a 172 in that entire range.

Why can't you imagine that? Take a few examples with a hypothetical 173/3.4, and ask yourself what difference it would make to have a 175/3.4:

NYU: 75th LSAT is 172; 25th GPA is 3.63.
Michigan: 75th LSAT is 170; 25th GPA is 3.56.
UT: 75th LSAT is 169; 25th GPA is 3.48.
GW: 75th LSAT is 167; 25th GPA is 3.39.

At each of those schools, your 173 is above the 75th percentile, and only 1,000-1,500 students will have a 173+. Outside of HYS (where, again, your 3.4 is likely to keep you out), I promise that there's no difference.

OP, you need to understand the difference between "median" and "average"
The reason HYS (H in particular) might not prefer say a 178 over a 175 is because those extra 3 points don't help the school's rankings.
If, for example a school's median is 174, that means a 175, 176,177, and 178 all equally help the median stay at 174, since ALL those scores are above median.