URM AA Female (poor) 158 2nd lsat - retake? Forum

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YouKnowWhat?

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URM AA Female (poor) 158 2nd lsat - retake?

Post by YouKnowWhat? » Mon Oct 01, 2018 10:04 am

In 2016 in my senior year I got a 153. I was really bummed about the score and decided to not go to law school at that time. Went to work at a government sector job in the mental health Field.

Just retoke LSAT - studied for damn near 2 years and got a 158. I feel more depressed than I did the first time I took it.

At this point I don’t know if I should just apply or or retake in November. I have utilized all of my resources on test prep and classes and can’t really afford those resources anymore.

I can’t really afford to retake ($190) either but I also don’t qualify for fee waive lmaooo oh well. I will pay up if I have to though - no choice.

My uGPA is 3.15. I know it sucks but I spent most of undergrad working/was homeless up until my senior year

I would love to go to a school that actually can get me a job afterwards. Not too picky on the location just on the job prospects. Not very interested in big law. More interested in alternative law careers such as undergrad education or administration, federal government or public interest.

At this point I am just really confused about where to go from here. My application are done and just waiting to be paid for and submitted. But this retake is constantly in the back of my mind.

I have 7 days to decide. My biggest hesitation is I don’t know if I am able to score any higher. I have used up all my resources. I work full time so I don’t have many hours to dedicate. The test is in about a month. I don’t know if it’s worth it.

Someone please help me I’m so stuck.

albanach

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Re: URM AA Female (poor) 158 2nd lsat - retake?

Post by albanach » Mon Oct 01, 2018 11:15 am

Whatever course you were taking clearly wasn't working. If you want to succeed on the LSAT there are guides here that can help you. You will need some resources - there are books you're going to need. You need to get copies of past exams - lots of them.

At the moment, as a URM you might be able to get accepted into a half decent school ranked somewhere between 20-50 on the US news rankings. The trouble is, you'd very likely be paying sticker and that's a huge burden. I cannot overemphasize how many people on here would recommend against that.

If you can get that LSAT up into the 164 range, schools like Emory could be throwing a $100,000+ scholarship in your direction. Above that and the T14 could open up.

You're probably not going to get to that point in time to apply this year. Sorry. Do WHATEVER you can to improve your GPA this year - that's still in your control. That would strengthen your personal statement when you talk about homelessness. At the same time start looking at the boards here to figure out what you need to succeed on the LSAT.

YouKnowWhat?

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Re: URM AA Female (poor) 158 2nd lsat - retake?

Post by YouKnowWhat? » Mon Oct 01, 2018 11:27 am

OP here - sorry I should have mentioned I am no longer in undergrad! I graduated in 2017 and have been working full time since then.

Thank you so much for you response! I did want to add a little more context, though.

As for resources - I used BlueprintLSAT. I took the $1600 classroom course in 2016. For this round, I reactivated that account, used every resource on their website (books, videos, practice questions). I also used 2 Kaplan books, kaplan flashcards, I bought 2 books from LSAC - one with 10 practice tests and one with lessons and 3 practice test.

I took every practice test between Preptest 48 - 83. My PTs were placing me in the high 160s (sometimes I even hit over 170). But test day was obviously not a reflection of that lol. At this point, I dont really know how to translate those PT scores into actual.

Are there any schools that would give $$$ at this point? You are absolutely right, I do not want to pay sticker price. But, I am also not really into the whole t14 or bust. (Trust me, its a dream! But, I can come to terms with that not happening).

albanach

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Re: URM AA Female (poor) 158 2nd lsat - retake?

Post by albanach » Mon Oct 01, 2018 3:25 pm

YouKnowWhat? wrote:OP here - sorry I should have mentioned I am no longer in undergrad! I graduated in 2017 and have been working full time since then.

Thank you so much for you response! I did want to add a little more context, though.

As for resources - I used BlueprintLSAT. I took the $1600 classroom course in 2016. For this round, I reactivated that account, used every resource on their website (books, videos, practice questions). I also used 2 Kaplan books, kaplan flashcards, I bought 2 books from LSAC - one with 10 practice tests and one with lessons and 3 practice test.

I took every practice test between Preptest 48 - 83. My PTs were placing me in the high 160s (sometimes I even hit over 170). But test day was obviously not a reflection of that lol. At this point, I dont really know how to translate those PT scores into actual.

Are there any schools that would give $$$ at this point? You are absolutely right, I do not want to pay sticker price. But, I am also not really into the whole t14 or bust. (Trust me, its a dream! But, I can come to terms with that not happening).
There are likely schools that would give you $$$, but I think there's a big opportunity cost to doing so. A 10ish point drop can happen to folk on test day but that's fairly big - more practice should result in more confidence. If those practice scores were under test like conditions, you could attend an amazing school.

Even if your goal is not biglaw, it will open opportunities for you that will be much harder to come by at a lower ranked school. Have you reviewed your answers to see where you went wrong on the two tests you have taken? Is there any pattern? Are you at least hitting -0 in logic games, as if you dropped a sizable amount there, you would have a completely learnable section to focus on. Was there a particular type of logical reasoning question that you were missing?

Another course is unlikely to help. You need to focus down on what you were getting wrong.

If you decide to go ahead regardless, use mylsn.info (selecting URM - AA only) to guide you on what schools to apply to. Please also familiarize yourself with outcomes before committing by looking up the schools on law school transparency.

L_William_W

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Re: URM AA Female (poor) 158 2nd lsat - retake?

Post by L_William_W » Mon Oct 01, 2018 5:02 pm

YouKnowWhat? wrote:In 2016 in my senior year I got a 153. I was really bummed about the score and decided to not go to law school at that time. Went to work at a government sector job in the mental health Field.

Just retoke LSAT - studied for damn near 2 years and got a 158. I feel more depressed than I did the first time I took it.

At this point I don’t know if I should just apply or or retake in November. I have utilized all of my resources on test prep and classes and can’t really afford those resources anymore.

I can’t really afford to retake ($190) either but I also don’t qualify for fee waive lmaooo oh well. I will pay up if I have to though - no choice.

My uGPA is 3.15. I know it sucks but I spent most of undergrad working/was homeless up until my senior year

I would love to go to a school that actually can get me a job afterwards. Not too picky on the location just on the job prospects. Not very interested in big law. More interested in alternative law careers such as undergrad education or administration, federal government or public interest.

At this point I am just really confused about where to go from here. My application are done and just waiting to be paid for and submitted. But this retake is constantly in the back of my mind.

I have 7 days to decide. My biggest hesitation is I don’t know if I am able to score any higher. I have used up all my resources. I work full time so I don’t have many hours to dedicate. The test is in about a month. I don’t know if it’s worth it.

Someone please help me I’m so stuck.
The elite law schools love feel-good stories, including triumphing over adversity. If you can get a 165 on the LSAT and write an excellent personal statement which mentions your life experience then you MIGHT get into Columbia or NYU. With your current stats and life experience, you have a 95% chance of getting into CUNY Law School in NYC (I graduated from CUNY and had worse stats). You can also get into Brooklyn and Fordham.

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YouKnowWhat?

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Re: URM AA Female (poor) 158 2nd lsat - retake?

Post by YouKnowWhat? » Thu Oct 04, 2018 8:35 pm

Thanks to you both for replying!

I went ahead and applied to a couple of my safe schools BUT basing that decision entirely on $$$. I have come to terms with possibly sitting this cycle out, retaking in 2019 and applying to my dream schools in 2019.

As my dad put it, I’ve got my whole life to go to school Lol

Is there any specific advise you all have re: LSAT prep? I know for a fact my biggest issue is timing. I can sit there and get every single answer right with just 5 extra minutes, but the timing absolutely crushes me. On test day, LR is what absolute destroyed me because I ran out of time.

Aside from that, I am thinking about a career change as well in the interim. I currently within the government health field. I’m not necessarily looking for a switch to boost my application, I just honest to god hate my job. Possibly considering getting back into a law firm. I’m also considering capital fellows as well. Is this a good move in you all’s opinion?

Also my bad if I’m asking too many questions! I’m a first gen so legit no one in my circle can talk me through and of this and I no longer live in the city i went to college in so a lot of previous network is inaccessible at this point. I really appreciate all of you-all’s help thus far.

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Wild Card

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Re: URM AA Female (poor) 158 2nd lsat - retake?

Post by Wild Card » Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:59 pm

That sucks. I know a URM AA F with a 4.0/159 who got $90k from Chicago.

Unfortunately, because your GPA is low, but fortunately not below 3.0, you'll need to spend more time to raise your score.

Your dad is a very wise man, and you should listen to him. Law school will always be there for you. My family pressured the hell out of me, yet they had no idea what they were talking about. You're very fortunate.

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