Apply now or wait for Jan?

[kas8901]

I'm in a bit of a dilemma right now in deciding if I should apply to schools now or wait to retake the LSAT in January. I took it for the first time in November and got a 167. Now, I know that sounds great, but my GPA is below the 25 percentile for every school that I am looking at. Sometimes well below. I’m not delusional and looking at HLS or Yale, mostly top 20-50. My 167 is above the 75 percentile for almost all the schools I am looking at. My goal for November was above 170. Now, I know that it is always better to apply early, but I think I can break 170 in January. Do you think I should wait to retake, or will it not make too much of a difference and just apply now?

[Claire Horan]

Hi Kas,

This is a school-specific question that is best answered by finding out not only the admissions deadlines for the schools you are interested in but also, if it is available, what proportion of their incoming class they take at different times of the year. Law schools differ in this regard, so it is important to have school-specific information. There are also online predictors that can give you a good idea of how likely your odds are at getting into a given school, given your specific combination of undergraduate GPA and LSAT score. Keep in mind, too, that some schools will put less weight on your GPA if you've been out of school for a few years and have some work experience.

You can also consider a mixed strategy: applying to some of the schools with your current scores and waiting on a later score to apply to the others. Keep in mind that, despite studying hard, not everyone does better the second time they take the test, and some even do worse.

Whatever you do, don't skimp on the other important parts of your application, such as your personal statement.

Good luck if you decide to take the January LSAT and good luck with the entire application process!