Advice on January LSAT

[am0229]

I know this is a common question, but I need some advice on the January LSAT. I just got back my score of 161 on the November LSAT, and I am feeling pretty frustrated as I was PTing at 164-166 when studying. I know that I can score better but I don't want to hurt my chances at admissions by taking the January LSAT (as some schools say that there is the risk of spots filling up by then). But at the same time, I want to improve my score and I know I can perform better. 

Does anyone have experience writing the January LSAT or have any advice on whether I should register for January? For context, I am a 4th year Ontario student with a 3.79 OLSAS GPA. I have pretty decent ECs -- worked in policy analysis of two federal gov't agencies, involved in university clubs throughout my undergrad, etc. 

[legallyblond23]

hi, that sucks, sorry. 161 is still a decent score, I would think. That said, I don't think there is any downside to planning to rewrite the test in January.  Either you will get admitted before end of January on your current stats, or they will have your January LSAT and it will hopefully improve your stats overall (even if you do worse, you will still have your 161 as your best score). Other than the studying you will need to do (and trying to determine why you tested worse than practice, and address that next time), there doesn't really seem to be a downside. I doubt law schools fill all their spots by end of January. I found this info from U of T on test taking helpful:  https://84queenspark.tumblr.com - at the end of the day you still have really good stats so I wouldn't be too hard on yourself! 

[Dghoul]

Most schools would evaluate your score on record for early admissions rounds. If you are not competitive enough they will hold on to your file and consider it for later rounds. January LSAT scores can help you for those later rounds with no downsides.