Law School Admissions Unplugged Podcast: Personal Statements, Application Essays, Scholarships, LSAT Prep, and More…
Brutally Honest Advice For Law School Applicants Applying Early
Brutally Honest Advice For Law School Applicants Applying Early Free Easy LSAT Cheat Sheet: https://bit.ly/easylsat Book A Call: https://form.typeform.com/to/Et1l5Dg6 LSAT Unplugged Courses: http://www.lsatunplugged.com Unlimited Application Essay Editing: https://www.lsatunplugged.com/law-school-admissions Unplugged Prep: http://www.unpluggedprep.com/ Get my book for only $4.99: https://www.lsatmasterybook.com LSAT Unplugged Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lsat-unplugged/id1450308309?mt=2 LSAT Unplugged Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lsatunplugged/ LSAT Unplugged TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lsatunplugged LSAT Coaching YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgOHAiSs08EbD-kfDFqIEoMC_hzQrH-J5 Law School Admissions Coaching YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgOHAiSs08EbsqveKs_RZEy2sqqbz3HUL Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/LSATBlog/?sub_confirmation=1 ***
A lot of law school applicants are under the misconception that applying to law school early gives you some massive advantage in the process. That simply is not true and today I'm going to share with you why. For those who don't know me, my name is Steve Schwartz. I've been teaching the LSAT since 2005 and I personally increased my LSAT score from a 152 to a 175 on LSAT test day. Now the LSAT has gone through a number of different significant changes over the past several years and those changes have created uncertainty for law school admission officers and when there is uncertainty, folks tend to delay action because they want to see what's going to happen next, how things will shake out. First off, the LSAT went from being offered four times a year to being offered eight times a year. So it used to be that if you did not take the LSAT in September or October, you had to wait until December and if you didn't take it in December, you had to wait until February, so there were these massive gaps in the calendar. Then LSAT increased the frequency of the LSAT to being eight times per year, meaning the LSAT's offered every month or every other month at minimum. So for example, this fall, the LSAT's offered in August, September, October, and November for consecutive months, meaning that if you're feeling like you won't be ready for the LSAT in September, you could just push back to October and if you're not feeling ready for October, you can just push back to November. Then of course, the LSAT's offered again in January and February and so law schools have recognized that, hey, wait a second, we don't have the same urgency we used to to take these applicants now because they themselves may end up deciding to retake and law schools themselves are evaluated not based on when applicants apply, but they are evaluated rather based on simply the numbers the applicants apply with. And so it makes sense for both applicants and law schools to say, hey, you know what, we're going to wait and see if we can delay a little bit to get stronger applications coming in our doors. So for both applicants and law schools themselves, it's becoming increasingly clear that waiting just makes sense because if you can wait a month or two, you may end up having higher numbers, higher numbers are better for the applicant, higher numbers are also better for the law schools themselves. And yes, it can create uncertainty for applicants when they apply and don't hear back for several months, but it is what it is. It may not be polite, it may not be nice to have radio silence for months after putting in all that work, but for law schools, they're thinking to themselves, you know what, let's just hold off another month or two, wait till January, else that scores come back, wait till February scores come back, maybe even wait for April and June if folks are retaking last minute to see, can we get a stronger applicant? And so yes, of course, it is true that all else being equaled, it is better to apply earlier rather than later, but the thing is, all else is rarely equal. As I said, the LSAT's offered August, September, October, and November, this calendar year alone. And so let's say that your practice test average was a 170 going into the August LSAT. It's a great practice test average, scores come back August 28th, applications typically open September 1st or September 15th, and so you could be first in line if you end up getting that 170 on the August LSAT as you may be expecting to get. But what if it turned out that by waiting another month and taking the LSAT in September instead, you could apply with a 173, and maybe through luck alone, you'll do a few points better on the September LSAT versus the August one, and so wouldn't it be better to apply one month later with a 173 rather than a 170? Of course it would, and same goes for taking the LSAT in October or November instead. January or February themselves, even those test dates, are not too late. And yes, there may be a little bit less scholarship money available if you apply with the same score, but if you are giving yourself another few months to study and applying with a higher score, it is well worth the wait. Since again, law schools are not evaluated by the American Bar Association or by US News based on when their students applied to law school. They are evaluated solely based on the numbers that applicants are applying with. And so if you could benefit from having another month or two to study for the LSAT and another at bat gives you another opportunity to get a higher score, why not give yourself that additional at bat? Law schools are only evaluated based on your highest LSAT score, and so it means that they are not averaging multiple LSAT scores. This is a change going back to 2006. Prior to 2006, they weren't averaging your scores, and so if you took the LSAT and got a 160, then got a 170 on a retake, they would average those to a 165, meaning there was a risk to retaking the LSAT because hey, what if you did worse? Now that's no longer the case. And so let's say you take the LSAT in August and get a 170, you take it again in September, you get a 169. The 170 is still what counts. And of course, you may end up doing better. And of course, if you study more, that makes even more likely that you're going to do better. In fact, according to LSAT's own data, retakers do a few points better than those taking the LSAT for the first time. And of course, if you study properly, if you learn from the mistakes, if you review in depth, that makes even more likely that you will, in fact, do better. Now, if you're looking for help in reviewing your LSAT mistakes, and also we have a framework for helping you review better called the Socratic Review Method. It's a cornerstone of our LSAT courses and our one-on-one LSAT coaching programs. If you're interested in finding out more, you can check out the links below this video to book a call with me and my team. We'd be glad to help you out. And in the meantime, I'll wish you all the best and take care.