Should I Retake the LSAT?

Short answer: Probably

Long answer:

There are 3 main questions to consider when making this decision. To keep this post brief, we won't talk about the details of why law schools care about your LSAT score. You can read more here and here. The important idea, in this case, is that one of a law school's primary concerns when it comes to your LSAT score is how they're going to have to report it. As of June 2006, the American Bar Association (ABA) only requires law schools to report an incoming student's highest score, instead of the average of all of their attempts, as they did before. Law schools care a lot about what they report to the ABA, since these are the numbers that are reported to the public and used in determining their US News rankings.

This means that if you took the LSAT three times and got a 157, then a 161, then a 154, the law school will only report your 161 to the ABA and US News. As far as everyone but the admissions committee knows, you are an applicant with one score: 161.

So what does this mean for whether or not you should retake the test? It means that as long as you think that you can get a better score, it's probably worth retaking the test, since a higher score will effectively "replace" any previous lower scores in the eyes of the organizations that law schools care about. Now, we have to emphasize that law school admissions committees still see all of your scores (other than the ones you cancel), and are entitled to consider all of them when making an admissions decision. Whether they actually will is entirely school-dependent (just keep in mind that for the aforementioned reasons, they don't really have an incentive to).

3 questions to consider when making this decision:

1. Do I think I can score better?

   If your official score was higher than any of your practice scores and your practice scores haven't improved in a long time, it may not be worth taking the test again unless you radically change your approach to studying too.

   If you studied for less than 150 hours total, then you probably still have room for improvement. (just make sure you actually study more before taking another test)

2. What score do I need?

   Consider 3 numbers: 25th percentile, 50th percentile, and 75th percentile LSAT score at your target school. If you're already above the 75th percentile, a retake may not benefit you all that much.

3. How many times have I already taken the test?

   The LSAC has limits on how many times you can take the test in a certain period. Beyond that, however, it may start to raise red flags to some admissions committees if you've taken the test 4/5+ times without major improvements between attempts. To avoid this issue, make sure you're prepared to do your absolute best on each attempt.
   

Looking for some help answering these questions for yourself? Reach out to get a personalized answer for your specific situation.