Got my score - 158 - Not what I was expecting

[Dreamer77]

I am a graduate student in political science. My undergrad GPA was 3.1 but my Master's GPA is 3.6. I got a 158 on my Feb LSAT - I was hoping to get at least 160. Should I be worried? I'm not trying to get into Harvard or anything. My top choice is the University of San Diego (ranked #56 by US News). Should I retake it or be content with my score?

[LSATFailure2011]

Congrats on your score...

I dissappointed with a 150, and would love to trade places...

Nonetheless...


I'm going to register to take the LSAT again, but will also apply to some schools.


I think a lot depends on how much time you put into it.....


We got screwed big time with that reading comprehension section IMO.... Unesco had to have cost me a 155

[bigs5068]

Check out lawschoolnumbers.com it is the best site to look at for 0L's wondering what there chances are at certain schools. I think with a 158 you definitely have a fighting chance, but your undergrad GPA will play a huge factor. Also do not take U.S. News rankings to seriously outside of the schools like Harvard etc they are not worth much. University of San Diego could be #38 next year or 89th the rankings are literally based on nothing.

If you want to live in San Diego then University of San Diego is the best school to go to in that area. Although I worked with a girl this summer that went there and she told me California Western was going to merge with the UC system and that could turn the tables in the San Diego market. Either way if you go to any of the ABA schools in San Diego you will likely find a job in San Diego and with a 158 you could certainly get into California Western or Thomas Jefferson and I imagine USD as well.

[BikePilot]

UCSD is a nice place.  Don't bother retaking unless you honestly think you'll do a lot better, otherwise you are just waisting your time.  If you were seriously sick, didn't study much etc for the test then retaking could make sense.  If you studied and nothing really bad happened to impact your performance then it isn't likely you'll do a lot better the second time around. Your lst and gpa are pretty equivalent indicating that the lsat is probably pretty representative of your general test taking results. 

imho UC Irvine might be worth a look, they've been aggressively hiring up great academics to build a top notch faculty. I think their tuition is/was free/cheap as well.   
 

[bigs5068]

I think UI has really high admissions standards, because they were giving away a FREE legal education to anyone that was admitted. They are trying to be a top 20 school when officially approved so it is real competitive. Since they are giving a solid education for FREE, but it is certainly worth applying.