What's my best move next?

[rz19950223]

Hey guys! I need your collective wisdom to help me figure out what my next move should be. I just got my LSAT score back and got a 172. Not the best performance but a decent score. I'm going to give it another shot in October since I've been PTing at 175+. The October score doesn't come back until the end of that month. My undergrad GPA is a 3.59 and I think I have a pretty strong personal statement and will be able to get 2-3 strong rec letters. I should be able to get all these materials in order by September. Also by the time I apply I will be a little more than one year out of college.

Right now, I can apply in Sept or early Oct with this score because I was told the earlier you apply the better (not sure if it's too early though). The schools I want to apply to are Harvard, Columbia, NYU, Michigan, Northwestern, and Georgetown. I'm not sure with all the credentials I mentioned above if I should apply with the current score, maybe get in or waitlisted by some schools, and with a potentially higher October score, argue for some money with schools I get into or get those schools that waitlist me to get me off the waitlist. Alternatively I can apply with my Oct score since it'll still be early in the cycle.

Sorry for the long post but I do need some help with this. I'm not sure if the strategy I mentioned above (applying with 172 and arguing with the schools with a possibly higher Oct score) is a sound one. Would greatly appreciate your advice! Thanks y'all.

[James Finch]

Hi RZ,

First off, congrats on the 172! That's an excellent score, and will be tough to top. That said, the October results should be back by November 1st, which is still relatively early in the application cycle, so if you're confident that you can score 175 or above, it may be worth it to wait the extra month or two to hit send on the applications. This blog post, while a couple years old, might help you weigh the time-versus-score issue; it shows that, for the T14 schools you'll be looking at applying to, even a 1-point score increase generally outweighs a one-month-earlier application. So if you can increase the score 2-3 points, you're better off waiting.

Hope this helps!

[rz19950223]

Thank you very much for your response! I guess my question is - it is possible to send in the application early, take the Oct test, and then report the new score back to the school? In that case, would the adcom still look at my application?

[Adam Tyson]

If at the time you send in your application you are registered for a future LSAT, the schools you apply to will have that info as part of your LSAC package, rz19950223. Let's look at the scenarios that might play out from there:

1) They see that you have another LSAT coming up and decide to sit on your application until they see that score. They may or may not look at it, but they don't make a decision. Your having gotten it in that early is nice, but no great advantage compared to waiting until after the next test results come out (which is still plenty early in the cycle). No harm done by having submitted early, so long as it is complete and is the best application you could submit other than perhaps a higher LSAT score. (If it is not the best that it could be, then under no circumstances should you apply until it is ready)

2) They see that you have another LSAT coming up and decide to offer you an acceptance anyway. Doubtful, but no harm there if it happens, and if your score goes up you could use that to negotiate as long as you hadn't committed to them already (and there is little reason that you would commit so early).

3) They review your application and deny you admittance, even though they see that another LSAT is coming up. Again, doubtful, unless there is something else in your application so heinous that even a 180 wouldn't overcome it, in which case it wouldn't matter whether you applied early or later, so there's no use worrying about it.

In the end, I think there is no real advantage to applying before your application is the best that it can be, and no real harm either if it's just the LSAT score that will differ. Just having an earlier postmark on it by a month or so isn't going to be a deciding factor. If you are planning to retake (and I assume if you are talking about October that you are taking it overseas and not in the U.S., where there is no October test this year but instead one in early September and another in mid-November), you may as well wait. But, if you're super eager to get it out the door, what the heck, go for it.