Should I Withdraw My Registration for the December test this Saturday?

[beans120]

I graduated from college this May, and after going through months of deliberation, I decided that I wanted to pursue law and to further go to law school for the Fall of 2012. Unfortunately I had determined this idea around the middle of October. I wasn't able to start thoroughly studying for the LSAT's until the very end of October/beginning of November. My major was engineering at school of which had kept my gpa quite low, around 3.2, so I was hoping on doing well on the LSAT's to get me into a decent school, preferably top 50.

I have made some progress in the practice tests and in studying (starting around 150 to now in the high 150's/low160's) but do not seem to be where I need to be quite yet (was hoping to at least have a stabilized 165). I feel that my scoring is getting better but still needs much polishing and perfecting. I don't feel fully confident just yet, and I am wondering if I should withdraw my registration and take the December test in February. I was considering just taking the December test this weekend to see how it went, and then possibly canceling the score after if it seemed to go poorly, but I am not sure if that is a good option to go with. Do you think I should withdraw, and plan on taking it in Feb or try the December one this weekend and hope for the best? I also realize that Feb is very late in the admissions process and it might hurt my chances in general, but I'd rather have a higher score and not have the pressure of having done poorly the first time. On the contrary, taking it in Feb. leaves me with only one LSAT opportunity that is also late in the cycle.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Anne]

Well, you're stuck between a rock and hard place, it would seem.

My advice to students is to only take the LSAT when they feel absolutely confident about their abilities and their potential performance on the test. This doesn't guarantee that you'll score where you want, but at least you'll go in there with confidence both in your preparation and your potential. At this point, it would seem that you don't have either.

A few things to keep in mind:

1. If you withdraw from the test now, your withdrawal won't show up on your score report. If you take the test and then cancel, the cancellation will. While the stigma of a single cancellation is pretty much nonexistent (plenty of students have them--it's multiple cancellations that raise eyebrows, not just one), whether you want to have that cancellation on your record is up to you.

2. At this point, if you withdraw, you lose the entire registration fee--none of it will transfer over your Feb12 registration. If you're comfortable with the cancellation showing up on your record, you might as well take advantage of a real, actual testing situation and take the December LSAT, just to see how you do under those conditions. Even if you cancel, you'll still get the test questions (although not our answer sheet or score), so at the very least you'll have that; you won't get the test questions if you withdraw.

3. The February LSAT is very late in the game when it comes to applying to law school, since score typically aren't available until late February or early March, depending on when the test is administered; the Feb12 score are coming out the first week of March. Many schools also don't accept the results of the test. Make sure that the schools you are interested in do (here's a list: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/which-law-schools-accept-february-lsat-scores/, but I always encourage students to double-check, since schools can change their policies).

Have you thought about simply waiting a year and applying next fall? Probably not what you'd like to do, but you'd definitely be giving yourself more of a chance to get your LSAT score up (and, with a 3.2 and desire to attend a T50, a really solid LSAT score is a must), apply early in the cycle (also a great idea if you're applying to top schools), and giving yourself more time to work on your applications (which, again, with your 3.2, you'll have to make sure are top-notch).

I can't make the decision for you, but hopefully my observations give you a little bit more info on which to base your decision. Good luck!