<p>Um... I got a 171 without really studying. I pretty much glanced at the test format, did a few logic games, and then took it. In retrospect, I should have prepared better, but I followed the same route for the SAT and crushed it (pretty much a perfect score).</p>
<p>Should I retake the LSAT? I'm fairly certain I can do better with some prep work. I'm asking this now because I belatedly discovered how much effort most people put into studying for it.</p>
<p>171 is very high. If you retake, you do so at the risk you could get lower and many law schools will consider both scores submitted, meaning the lower one will be held against you; some even give more weight to the last LSAT test that you take.</p>
<p>Damn, what kind of academic background do you have that allows you to do that well without studying?</p>
<p>Study and take a few diagnostics. If you’re consistently 175+ I’d retake.</p>
<p>I took the LSAT cold and got a 172.</p>
<p>I’m currently studying and average 178+</p>
<p>It is most definitely worth it to study and retake.</p>
<p>Glad to know that someone else is in the same boat. The LSAT didn’t seem that difficult, I just got fouled up on logical reasoning. There’ll be the spurts where my reasoning just didn’t line up with theirs. And apparently I should have diagrammed more completely when it came to logic games.</p>
<p>Eh, I’ll give studying a go, although I kind of think that’s cheating. Shouldn’t a test be about your innate ability?</p>
<p>Hmm… Academic background…well my profs think I’m a good writer (one TF got my permission to use a paper as an example piece, multiple profs have declared my writing to be exemplary and original). I usually write half toasted, so I think Hemingway was on to something.</p>
<p>Other than dealing with highly abstract reading material (and liking logic puzzles), I don’t know what else to tell you. I’m not a particularly good student and I’m a slacker to boot.</p>
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<p>Three responses.</p>
<p>1.) Some people would disagree; they’d think a test should be about academic potential, and that includes work ethic.
2.) “Cheating” is usually defined within a set of rules – and here, the rules are very clear that studying is both permitted and encouraged.
3.) It is mostly a test of innate ability anyway – that’s what got you from 120 to 171, after all. But studying for those last four or five points can really make a difference.</p>