Retake vs. Submit early

[hwp24]

I've been having trouble making a decision about whether to retake or apply as early as possible with my current numbers. I am currently sitting with a 164 LSAT from June, and a 3.7 gpa from a competitive college. I took the July LSAT as well, but am fairly confident the score is lower than my June sitting. I was testing somewhere around 168/169 on my practice tests before June, though I was ranging 166-174 the month or so prior. I should also note that 9 of the 18 questions I got wrong in June were just in RC, the section I've seen the most deviation in between practice tests. My dream school is Georgetown, though I would be happy at a number of schools just outside the T-14 (Vanderbilt, George Washington and WashU).

My question(s) is/are, would I be better off applying with my current numbers as early as possible, maybe even applying ED to Georgetown? Or, would a third retake make sense if I would like to go to one of the schools listed above? Essentially, how much does it hurt my application to apply a month late if I don't score higher than 164, and if it does hurt my application, is it worth the risk to at least try again given my current numbers? I should also mention I haven't done any studying since the July test and was putting in three hours per day, two tests a week, for the four months prior to that sitting. I am currently signed up for September and am unsure whether to retake then, but depending on the answer to my question above, would consider waiting until October.

Thank you for your help!

[Jeremy Press]

Hi hwp24,

Thanks for your very good questions! There is an outside chance an ED application to Georgetown would succeed given your current numbers, but I'd call it a very low chance because both of your current "hard" numbers (GPA and LSAT) are below Georgetown's medians (167 LSAT, 3.8 GPA).

Your current hard numbers are also somewhat below the medians at WashU (168 LSAT, 3.81 GPA) and slightly below them at George Washington (165 LSAT, 3.71 GPA). In that circumstance you will be very unlikely to get a "bump" just from applying earlier in the admissions cycle (absent an extremely significant soft factor: like underrepresented minority status, or some extremely significant achievement that is not reflected in your hard numbers).

I think your best bet is to retake the LSAT. Take a practice test as soon as possible to see whether you are still scoring in that 166-174 range. I'd say that's likely, as a significant skill decline in the time you mentioned is pretty unlikely. Assuming that's where you score, then I'd say you should target taking the September test, so that you can get your applications in by mid-October. Focus on studying Reading Comprehension, since you mentioned that's where you're seeing the most variation in your scores.

If you take a practice test soon and score lower than that 166-174 range, and you continue to be lower than that range by the beginning of September, consider signing up for the October test (deadline to register is September 10). While there's some advantage to applying after September scores are released (versus after October scores are released), you want your LSAT to be at or above your target schools' medians before you submit your applications. And if you can get to that 167+ number by October, applying in November will still give you a much better chance of being admitted than you'd have otherwise.

I hope this helps!

Jeremy

[hwp24]

It helps a lot, thank you! It's both what I expected to hear, but didn't want to hear... though you've made my decision much easier.