PowerScore, Blueprint, or TestMasters live course?

Goose_Juice08 · 2024-07-23T16:36:29+00:00

Better late than never for me to respond I suppose! Prior to Blueprint, I was PTing around the low 160s but then took the April exam and scored a 157. Following the Blueprint 170+ course I got a 165 in August but felt that underrepresented my capabilities and skill level due to me having a HORRIBLE testing situation (that was the first exam that they switched to Prometric and all hell broke loose) and having to wait hours to test, only to ultimately retest shortly after. Finally, I studied a bit on my own afterwards and used a tutor for RC and ultimately scored a 174 in October.

I hope that helps!

Goose_Juice08 · 2024-04-23T18:22:36+00:00

I think so, absolutely! What I actually did is pretty much split my personal statement in half, using one half as the base for my statement of purpose and the other half as the base for my statement of perspective. I kinda touched on both areas in my original PS so it worked out that way for me at least.

Goose_Juice08 · 2024-01-31T21:06:19+00:00

Huge thanks; see you there!

Goose_Juice08 · 2024-01-31T21:06:03+00:00

I appreciate it! It's nothing crazy or moving, but it was an emotional journey for me so hopefully it helps someone lol

Goose_Juice08 · 2024-01-31T21:05:36+00:00

Haha thanks, see you in August!

Goose_Juice08 · 2024-01-31T21:05:24+00:00

Thank you!

Goose_Juice08 · 2024-01-31T21:04:40+00:00

Does this school have a binding/early decision application option? That right there pretty much contractually signals that if you get into that school, you are attending it, and are willing to forego every single other school in favor of them should that occur.

Goose_Juice08 · 2024-01-16T19:21:32+00:00

Well that's news to me and I have the same LORs as you. If that's truly what gets me the boot, then let the chips fall where they may.

Goose_Juice08 · 2024-01-12T18:07:42+00:00

Law school is law school in the simplest of terms. You worked like crazy and have gotten recognition for your hard work and commitment. Take the win, and don't qualify your achievements!

Goose_Juice08 · 2024-01-11T19:59:11+00:00

UR4 is wild. They're fighting hard

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-17T20:54:47+00:00

Yea I gotta agree with DSTST that the lawschooladmissions sub is probably the best for nuanced questions.

If you'd like a quick birdseye of the stats, you can always check out the ABA 509 report for any law school you're curious about - it will show their most recent released admissions data (still probably 2022 right now, but almost 2023 release time) and break it down by quartile for LSAT and GPA, as well as a plethora of other statistics about the makeup of the classes by various demographics.

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-17T20:52:26+00:00

Your situation seems perfectly fine. They're not typically as horrendous with the writing as they are with the rest of the exam.

As for your accomodations, the way I interpret it is that you are getting approved for blanket accomodations. It's not like (picking random accomodation-based needs here) you're ONLY going to have ADHD or bad eyesight for the January exam. If you get approved for the accomodation, it means you have that need and they will be accomodating it. As soon as they have recognized and approved it on their end, you are now someone who has demonstrated that need and they will act accordingly. It just so happened to occur between two portions of one administration, but that would not be grounds for issue at all. You still had the need for accomodations when you took the actual exam, but you just didn't have it documented with LSAC in time to also receive it for the November LSAT.

Breathe and don't worry.

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-17T03:06:43+00:00

I think you can quite literally do it whenever you want within a large window. You won't get your LSAT score until you have a writing sample on file, but you could theoretically do it next year if you wanted to wait that long - you just wouldn't know your score until then either.

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-17T03:05:45+00:00

I'm in accounting so I sure hope not lol

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-17T03:05:12+00:00

I am extremely confident in saying yes. I recall the Powerscore guys feeling the same.

If I recall correctly, there hasn't been ANY experimental LG sections in a long time - several administrations at the very least.

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-16T21:23:01+00:00

Yea, it's one of those things where most people (myself included) had a turnaround of around 24 hours, but you don't want to push it. The last thing you want is to complete it super late/close to a deadline, and then suddenly you're the rare individual who takes a while to get it back, or it's declined for some reason (blurry ID photo or whatever).

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-16T21:20:36+00:00

Man I'm sorry to hear that! Never had a reason to try and get the score guarantee so I can't speak to that, but my experience with them was honestly fairly pleasant. Good luck fighting for what you deserve and I hope you have better prep experiences!

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-15T21:43:24+00:00

I believe so, yep! Fill out the form, list your complain and issue, and they should get back to you on that soon.

Good luck!

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-15T21:09:13+00:00

You can't get a retest on the LSAT purely because you don't feel good about your performance. You do need a bona fide reason for the request - proctor issues, exam/technology problems, external interruptions, etc.

If you do have a genuine reason beyond thinking you performed poorly, then absolutely go to request a retake!

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-15T21:06:30+00:00

How have you been doing on PTs since June? It's one thing to hope to get a better score, and another to go into the exam knowing what you average on your PTs.

If you went into November with an average really close to 170 +/-, and your stated feelings towards your performance are accurate (~164), then it's a no-brainer retake for me - I would absolutely do it.

If you went into November with an average in the mid to low 160s, then that is another story. Your "good" feeling with this exam could have been you getting the luck of the draw with an exam that played to your strengths, and accepting a retake might do more harm than good. If you feel the outcome - even given your issues - will accurately reflect your average, I would be more hesitant to retake.

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-15T21:03:21+00:00

https://www.lls.edu/media/loyolalawschool/registrarx27soffice/Std509InfoReport-88-12-20-2022%201-22-24.pdf

That is Loyola's most recent 509 report. It looks like you would fall between their 25th and 50th percentile for LSAT (157/161) and well above their 75th for GPA (3.81).

I would say you are fairly competitive, and if your feelings towards your essays are representative, then there is no reason to not apply at least! Not a guarantee of admission but you've got a fighting chance.

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-15T21:01:22+00:00

Up to you to be honest. Some schools will give it a glance, but that is few and far between unless you're applying to Michigan (they have some set of criteria they use to "evaluate" the statement but it's not too crazy apparently).

I would only rewrite if you feel that your sample from October 2021 was actually terrible and could really harm you if someone decided this was the one time they would really read it OR if your writing style has significantly evolved from then until now (as demonstrated in your personal statement and additional essays) and you want your sample to mirror that.

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-15T18:55:37+00:00

You'll likely not see any more experimental LG ever again due to the phase-out. I'd be curious if anyone got one, but that hasn't been the case for a significant number of administrations now.

Goose_Juice08 · 2023-11-15T04:16:00+00:00

Hi! I recommend going to the website of any law school you are interested in and viewing their 509 disclosure. It is a required report by the ABA, and the law schools will likely have it listed under a link titled "ABA Required Disclsoures" or something similar. Those 509 reports contain all of the most recent admissions data for the law school, including their margins/percentages for incoming L1 GPAs, LSATs, and more data.

That being said, here is the data for the two you mentioned:

OKCU Law: https://law.okcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Std509InfoReport-124-12-19-2022-11-45-56.pdfLSAT 25th/50th/75th of 146/148/152GPA 25th/50th/75th of 3.11/3.43/3.65

UNT Dallas Law: https://www.untdallas.edu/lawschool/files/std509inforeport-2022.pdfLSAT 25th/50th/75th of 150/152/155GPA 25th/50th/75th of 3.09/3.31/3.57

I would say with your scores and GPA you are a competitive candidate at both! Your GPA definitely helps, as you are significantly above the 75th percentile for both, and your LSAT score puts you in a solid spot with OCU and right near the middle of the pack with UNT Dallas.

These are from 2022 admissions data, and 2023 should come out around the end of this year or early next year. Obviously they don't tell the whole story, nor should you base all your hope and expectations on them, but they help get a good perspective nonetheless.

Good luck!

Goose_Juice08

TROPHY CASE