Apply To Law School Now Or Retake The LSAT?

One question I often get during this time of year is “should I apply now (e.g., in November) with my current LSAT score or should I apply later in the cycle (e.g., in February) after retaking the LSAT in January”?

There is a lot of erroneous information out there causing students to believe they need to get their applications in right away, as if law schools will “sell out” faster than a Taylor Swift concert. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth – at least in the overwhelming majority of cases.

As I routinely tell students, “a good LSAT score is much more important than an early LSAT score.” In other words, you should do everything you can to increase the strength of your application, and that should be prioritized over applying early to law school. Since the LSAT is the most important part of your entire law school application, if you believe retaking the LSAT will increase your score – and you are willing to study for and take the exam again – you should retake the LSAT even if it means applying later in the application cycle.

I recently posed that question to Karman Hsu, the director of admissions at “Top 20” UCLA Law School. Her well-reasoned answer did not surprise me, but I thought I would share the relevant part of her response:

“Applicants should apply when their application is strongest.  It may be helpful to apply earlier in the process as we do admit on a rolling basis, but we do so conservatively and we save spots for candidates who take the January LSAT. 

We do have a question on the application that asks to indicate any LSAT exams the applicant plans to take.  They can put down the future testing date and we will hold their application until that score comes in.  If they do not indicate a future exam, their application will move forward with review if they already have a valid test score.  Keep in mind if they decide not to take the future exam, they will need to let us know so we can release the application for review.” (Emphasis added by me)

I believe this response is likely to be very typical for most law schools. All things being equal, apply early if you can. But if the choice is between an “earlier but weaker” application vs. a “later but stronger” application (i.e., an application with a higher LSAT score), go with the “later but stronger” application in the vast majority of cases.

Questions? Please contact me at mark@scoreitup.com…and good luck!