Advice: Take the LSAT in Oct or Nov?

[not]

Any advice on whether or not I should take the LSAT in October or November? I plan to apply this upcoming round. I have not started studying again due to personal matters. Is extra time worth it, or is applying earlier? I'm considering BC (UBC, UVIC) and AB schools (UofA, UofC), and Ontario (Western, Queens, UOttawa)

Previous LSAT score: 160

Latest PT score: 160

cGPA: 3.49, L2: 3.88 (Switched majors, had a bad outlier year)

Edited August 28, 2023 by not

[Monophobia]

Applying earlier will not have any impact on your application. You might hear back earlier, but plenty of people apply early only to hear back months later at the end of the cycle. The only real advantage to applying earlier is that you can get the application process over with sooner — which is not something to be underestimated because applying can be quite stressful. 

With your current stats, I think that you would likely be accepted to at least a couple of the schools you mentioned. But of course, a higher LSAT score can only help you.

Now, of course it will never hurt to retake if you actually manage to hit a higher score. But I would not advise you to retake if you are not seeing decent improvement in your PT scores. If you hit a lower score, or the same score, you just wasted $200 USD and likely a considerable amount of time. Wait until you see improvement before you sign up for another test.

Best of luck.

[scooter]

November if you think the extra time will actually help you get a higher score