Application Question

[cory10]

Hey so I have a question that has been on my mind for the past week or so. I took the October LSAT and scored a 160 with a 3.7 GPA. My dream schools median lsat/GPA is a 161/3.72. I have decided to submit my application this week and wait for a response but I was scoring 165’s on several practice tests so taking a second shot at the LSAT or not has been bugging me.

My real question is if I were to wait for a response from the school I applied to and ultimately accept, would I still be able to take the LSAT again for scholarship purposes, let’s say in February? I don’t want to sign up for the January LSAT just yet because I want my application to be regarded as complete and I heard that they would put my application on hold if I they see I’m registered for another test. And this would just defeat the purpose of applying now. I feel I can do better but I’m happy with applying this early in the cycle and seeing what happens.

Hopefully this makes sense, thank you!

[Luke Haqq]

Hi cory10!

You ask,

My real question is if I were to wait for a response from the school I applied to and ultimately accept, would I still be able to take the LSAT again for scholarship purposes, let’s say in February?

Yes, schools can't prevent you from taking the test another time if you choose to do so. It's possible that a given school might have its own policy of only using the LSAT scores that applicants include on their original application, so it's possible in that scenario that taking the test again would have no impact.

But in general, schools are interested in your highest score, so there's a good chance that getting a higher score on a later test date could help. If, for instance, you were waitlisted at some of your dream schools, that'd be a great thing to bring up in a letter of continued interest. Many students lack anything of substance to say in those type of letters, such as new professional experiences or awards. Having a score increase on the LSAT, however, is definitely something worth highlighting on a letter of continued interest and could very well be something that tips the balance in your favor.

So even if a school can see that you've signed up for a future administration, that shouldn't stall review of your application unless you added an addendum asking them to wait to make a decision on your application until the future test score was released. Assuming that you are able to study at least as hard if not harder for that future test (so that you can get a higher score), having a higher score on a later administration seems like it would only stand to benefit you.