Is a 157 a decent LSAT?

[lifewapurpose]

Yes or no question lol. Feel free to elaborate! Thanks!

[Naj]

It'll get the job done if you have a decent cGPA 

[GoatDuck]

It’s on the lower end of what gets people admitted. Not a score anyone should brag about, but it might be enough to get you admitted to some schools

[TobyFlenderson]

157 is about the 66th percentile, so if your metric for decent is “raw comparison to other people taking the test”, yeah it’s decent.

If you’re comparing it strictly to other people who actually apply to law school, then it’s less impressive. The median at a lot of Canadian schools is 160+.

Can you get in with a 157? Maybe! It depends on the rest of your application, and the strength of the cycle. I knew a handful of people that got into law school pre-pandemic with sub 160 scores — including me. The pandemic years seemed to be significantly more competitive though, and I don’t know if that has adjusted post-pandemic.

If you’re asking this question to get a sense of whether you should be re-writing, the answer is probably yes, you should rewrite. The difference between 157 and 160 on an application is considerable.

Good luck!

[StoneMason]

2 hours ago, lifewapurpose said:

Yes or no question lol. Feel free to elaborate! Thanks!

Objectively speaking, sure it is decent. But you should focus more on if you should be happy with the score subjectively. How long did you prep for the test? Is it close to what you were PTing at? Do your life circumstances allow you to invest another 3-6 months to bring it up a few points maybe even into the 160s? 

IMO the LSAT is something you should not settle on. Always try and get your best score before giving up because it really makes a big difference. The only case where I'd agree with someone settling for a lower LSAT score than their potential is if they're already in the 3.8 GPA / 170 LSAT range, as that'll pretty much guarantee all Canadian acceptances (assuming US is not an option). 

[CleanHands]

lmao no

[Ramesses]

It is not a good score, but it worked for me. Good luck 🙂

Edited December 2, 2023 by Ramesses

[Spinnaker]

For Canadian law schools, no - unless you have an incredible near-perfect GPA, chances of admission are very low.

For Cooley Law School, you'd be at the top of their admitted class and probably receive a huge scholarship 🙂 

[ramoj]

I got into Osgoode, Queens, and Ottawa with a 157.

FWIW though, my CGPA was ~3.88 with my B2 being 3.99.

I applied with above average work experience in big pharma, a Canadian pension fund and VC-backed startup as internships....I was also co-captian of a varsity sports team, published in an undergraduate research journal, and did an honours thesis in my final year. 

So, I think we would need to know more about your other stats/background as that may tip the balance as it presumably did for me. 

Good luck!!

 

[AllanC]

It depends on your definition of decent. If by decent you mean it gives you a shot at admission to some law school, somewhere in Canada, then I would say absolutely. The caveat of course being it usually needs to be coupled with a good to great GPA and/or other softs.