I apologize for how long this is, but I wanna make sure I give enough details.

So I just took the November LSAT and it went veryyy bad. To start, my grandfather passed away yesterday, so I spent the whole day with my family, not thinking about the LSAT at all. Today, I really tried to refocus before my 2:40 test, and I was hoping that I’d be too distracted by the test to think about everything going on, which was somewhat the case.

However, my dogs were barking like maniacs the entire first half until the break when I was able to quiet them down. My first section (LR) was awful. I was so distracted by the nonstop barking that I couldn’t process a single question. I was so stressed out I wanted to cry. I did my best but honestly, I didn’t feel 100% about any of them and usually I feel at least pretty sure about 75% of the LR section, and will get about 4/5 wrong. My second section was RC which is usually my worst section but I actually felt like it went better than LR.

After the break, I was less distracted but still flustered because of how bad I started out. LG, which is usually my best, seemed like it went ok until the end when I got short on time and wasn’t 100% about the last couple. My last section was RC and was worse than the first RC. I ran out of time and had to guess on the last 3/4.

Overall I just don’t feel good about it. For my June test, I felt pretty good coming out of it and ended up with a 165. I stopped studying until the end of Sept. when I decided to take the November LSAT. My PTs during those 5ish weeks ranged from 160-171. Ultimately, I’m not sure if I should cancel or just hope that maybe it’ll only be a few points lower like 161/162 and maybe that won’t look awful?? I’m also nervous that if I do end up getting significantly lower then admissions officers will wonder why I didn’t cancel. I’m just not sure what to do. The schools that I’m hoping to get into have medians that are 165, 167, 169, which is why I was hoping to boost my score even just a point.

I am having a really hard time with RC. When I do full PT's and timed reading sections I am running out of time or rushing and getting -7 to -10 wrong. I definitely think that it is a timing issue because I have done 2 untimed reading sections and gotten -1 and -2. I am hoping to get down to -5 or less on RC in the next couple of weeks before the November test. What can I do to improve my timing? Any advice/tips/strategies is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

So I graduated from undergrad a semester early. I finished my last classes, finals, etc., in December 2020, however, the conferral date on my diploma is listed as January 31st 2021. Under the education section of some applications it asks for start date, end date, and degree date. Should I list my end date as Dec 2020? Or list both end date and degree date as Jan 2021 as to not be confusing? Other applications ask for dates attended and degree date, so same question for that. Thank you in advance for any insight!

Is my entire resume supposed to be double-spaced? I have it formatted right now just single-spaced within the individual entries, with a space between each entry/category.

So I don't have any volunteer work to put on my resume and am worried about it hurting my application/chances. I did 2 semester-long internships while in school (family services and sheriff's office), 2 babysitting positions during 2 other semesters, 2 law firm internships during different summers, a part-time job every summer, and I studied abroad one semester.

So, it's not like I was sitting around not doing anything, but I feel like it may look bad in terms of character because although I was busy, I could have made time to volunteer on the weekends etc. I feel like starting a volunteer position now would just look like I'm just doing it for my applications (although there are several causes I genuinely would like to volunteer for). Any insight on what I should do or if I should just hope it doesn't hurt me too much?

I did participate in two clubs during school, an animal welfare club, and Italian-American society (I'm Italian), but I did not have any leadership roles, just went to the weekly meetings and participated in the events, so not sure if I should even include these. The Italian-American society was more about appreciating Italian culture through Italian food and traditions. So not really for an important cause or anything.

Also, should I include my 2 babysitting positions on my resume? One was only 5 hours a week and the other was 10. If so, how and where would I list them?

Any insight at all would help! Thank you!

In writing my Why x essays, is it okay to spell out the school a few times but also use their initials in some sentences? Or better to be consistent? For example Boston University vs. BU. It feels repetitive and like a waste of space to keep typing out Boston University, but don't want it to be informal.

So I took the LSAT in June for the first time and got a 165, CGPA is 3.76. I'm hoping to go to Boston College or Boston University. I slightly prefer BU, but would be perfectly happy with BC. I didn't plan on retaking because I was above both of BC's medians and not too far below BU's. However, the medians increased, so now BC is 165 instead of 164, and BU is 169 instead of 167. BU's GPA median actually lowered from 3.8 to 3.77 which is good for me, and I'm still above BC's GPA. I was hoping to apply by mid-late October but now am questioning if I should retake the LSAT in November. I think that I would still want to apply before then and tell them not to wait for my score, and then if I get a decision before then and get waitlisted I could send my new score (hopefully it's improved). I haven't studied at all since June but have plenty of clean PTs and I would have about 4 weeks to study. I know it also depends on if I think I can improve and all that, which I do think it's possible but obviously never know. I'd really appreciate any advice!

I am applying ED to Boston University through the distinguished scholars program, which would grant me a full scholarship if I am admitted. I am wondering if I should still write a why BU essay or if it is unnecessary since I'm applying ED?

I have a few questions about the applications if anyone can help!

My last job on my resume ended this past May because I moved back home (just graduated). I have not gotten a new job yet because I was focusing on studying for June LSAT, wanted to take a break for the summer before my life is never-ending school/work, and wanted to focus on working on my applications. Because schools ask for explanations of gaps longer than 3 months, should I write an addendum about this? And if so, will they look down on the fact that I did not work all summer? I plan to get a job in October but will hopefully already have submitted my apps by then.

On the employment section of the apps, it asks for a reason for leaving. All of my reasons are either leaving for school, or going home for the summer, most of my experience is either semester-long internships or summer jobs. In the reason can I just put "moved home for summer" and "moved away for school"?

The apps all ask for a "good until" date for my permanent address, which is my parents house. I don't have an exact date or even exact year that I will move out so what would I put? It is not a blank, just slots for mm/dd/yy.

If anyone can answer any of these I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

I am wondering how to format my double major. I majored in criminal justice and psychology and ideally want to list both individual major GPAs along with my overall GPA, but am not sure how to format it. Criminal justice (3.97), psych (4.00), overall (3.86).

I received 24 college credits in high school through 4 different colleges. They were just normal high school classes that I was then allowed to pay a fee and complete a few extra assignments to get college credit. Do I have to list these schools separately in the education section or just Marist College where I actually attended for undergrad. I uploaded all 5 transcripts to LSAC.

I'm taking the June 2021 LSAT and I know that I don't need to complete the writing section immediately after completing the test but I am wondering if there is a certain time that it needs to be completed by. I saw that it says my score will not be released until I complete the writing section. Score release date for the June test is July 1st, so can I complete the writing section any time before then and still receive my score on July 1st? Or will it push my score release date back the later that I complete the writing?