To Take or not to Take; Thoughts on Postponing your LSAT
“Should I postpone my LSAT” is one of the most common questions I get from my students. Since I get to know each of them very well throughout the course, I'm in a great position to offer personalized advice. Since you and I have barely met I can't offer quite that level of service, but I can give you some general guidelines.
Before we get into specific points, here's the most important thing to remember: don't reschedule just because you're nervous. You should have concrete reasons for doing so and have weighed both the pros and the cons of your decision.
Here are the main points to consider:
If you're reading this post in the fall or winter, what's the impact of postponing the LSAT to your application deadlines? As of today, it’s too late to reschedule to February, so that means April or beyond (you can see relevant dates for all LSAT sittings at ).
Will you be able to keep up the same level of studying? When your test is 1-2 months away, it's much easier to keep your head in the game the entire time and stay motivated. On the other hand, when your test is 3-5 months away it's tougher to stay focused. Unless you're convinced that you will consistently study from now until the next testing window, then a week before your next scheduled test you'll be in the exact same position you are right now. Remember: 90 minutes a day 6 days a week will produce much greater results than no studying from Monday-Friday and then blitzing the LSAT for 14 hours on the weekend.
What prevented you from hitting your target this time around? There are a number of possible answers to this key question.
Maybe you didn't give yourself enough time to study and you're convinced that another couple of months will get you there. Perhaps life temporarily got in the way (work/family/health emergency) and now that issue has been resolved so you can bear down and study. Both of those are good reasons to think that postponing will help you achieve your LSAT goal.
However, it's also possible that your obstacles this time around will still be your obstacles for April (the deadline for February has already passed) and beyond. Did you get distracted by better weather/socializing/any excuse not to study? Unless you change your attitude toward the LSAT, changing your test date won't fix any of those issues. Did you study inefficiently? Again, unless you find a better way to prepare you'll just be extending the futility and frustration. Remember the (extremely overused but still apt) old saying: the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Don't make the decision lightly; think it through and make the best choice for your future.
Have specific questions about your situation? Let’s get this discussion going!