Taking the June LSAT or postponing

[mes08]

Hi,

I'm based in South Korea at the moment and so even though I'm registered to take the June LSAT, I won't be taking it until the 29th. I've already taken the online Powerscore class and I've been studying for the last few weeks several hours a day. Recently I've been getting around 162 on the practice tests. However, my goal is to get a 169 or above and I'm concerned that I won't be able to achieve that by the 29th. I'm sure other people have asked similar questions, but given my situation, should I wait until September to take the test or take it both times? I'm concerned about schools averaging out my scores if I sit both exams. Also, aside from getting a feel for what the test is like, I'm not sure what benefit I would get in sitting the exam this month; I don't think they release the test, so I wouldn't even be able to go over my mistakes. Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Jon Denning]

Hey mes,

Thanks for the question! It's still a bit early to make any absolute predictions about where you'll be in 2 weeks, so my advice is to plan on still taking it the 29th, keep working hard, and let your test results the week/days before the exam dictate your decision. That is, if you're close to a 169 at that point (and certainly another 5+ points of increase could happen in the time you've got left), then go for it! If you're still lower 160s then it's unlikely you'd hit 169 on test day, and you'd need to weigh the benefits of taking a real one (experience, mostly) with the harms (lower score than you'd like, or a cancellation).

I can tell you that taking it twice and keeping both scores won't result in an average (schools don't average anymore), so don't let that concern you. Just keep at it and know that you'll have a much better idea of what to do in 12-14 days!

[mes08]

Great, thanks for the advice! I've been studying about 5 hours a day recently, so if I keep it up, hopefully over the next two weeks I'll see a score increase Thanks again!