Advice on Addendum

Victoria14

Hey everyone, miss me?

So I know I disappeared and a few 7sagers know why, but after a lot of thought i've decided to proceed forward with my applications for the 2018 cycle. With one caveat. I'm going to attach an addendum for my LSAT scores, particularly how I score 10 points below my practice tests on the September tests.

I've NEVER been a good standardized tester. Back in the third grade when I received my first standardized test, all of my grades began to plummet. My parents made the choice to get me tested in case there was some sort of learning disorder, and the results were a first for the testers. I didn't have a learning disability at all, I just was an auditory and kinesthetic learner who didn't test well on standardized tests. Essays, short answers and written answers I nailed but anything bubbling was not enough to keep me engaged. I've learned lots of testing strategies over the years, but none of them were designed to help with the LSAT. If you followed the September LSAT Saga, it was a very stressful situation from start to finish and I'm positive that negatively DESTROYED my score.

I have no idea how to even write an addendum, let alone include most of that in an appropriate way.

Any tips?

I'm realizing I need to add an edit: This particular score was extremely low as I was in Florida during Hurricane Irma. My testing center closed down, and after financial pressures I caught a cheap flight to DC to do the test there. Not only was this my second time taking the test, I was also coping with serious family upheaval. The hurricane had flooded my grandparents home where I had to conduct an emergency rescue to get them out. They also were living with us at this point. A bit TMI but the stress was beyond normal stress.

LSATcantwin

I'm scared of the rest of the application process...I've kinda found a safe little miserable bubble in the LSAT and the rest seems....hard and foreign.

Maybe @"David.Busis" might have some suggestions on how to articulate an addendum like this? Or maybe find a way to work with someone like him to get it refined to a way you want? I'm not sure how expensive that would be but it might make all the difference.

RJmazo14

^
Getting back on the lsat study horse was hard enough, so focusing on personal statements and applications feels like a whole other beast. Fwiw, I underperformed on the sept lsat and would also be interested in any tips on writing addendums. Sorry I dont have any useful advice....I'm pretty much useless other than studying right now lol

David Busis

Hi there,

I know this isn't exactly what you want to hear, but my best piece of advice is to retake the LSAT. If you can say, "I knew I could score better…and I did," that's a lot more convincing than "I know I can score better."

But if you do write a standardized test addendum, you'll want to point to the difference between your ACT/SAT percentile (e.g., 50th) and your class rank in college (e.g., top ten percent of class). The supposition in that case is that you outperform your tests in school.

Good luck!

Leah M B

I think there is an option of accommodations where the test is read aloud to you. Do you think something like that might help? I’m sorry, it sounds like a tough situation. I had a family member with a similar issue, no learning disability and they’d know material but just never scored well on tests. I saw how frustrating that was.

studyingandrestudying

I read this and was also wondering if you plan to retake. Don't give up. It can sometimes take awhile to reach one's potential on this exam, and I think you have a great point that the LSAT is its own special test that is very different from other standardized tests. It follows, I think, that it can take people longer to prepare for it. Stay positive and don't give up. As for writing an addendum, for 99 cents you can buy an ebook from Peg Cheng and it shows the format and provides sample statements.

Seeking Perfection

@Victoria14 said:
Hey everyone, miss me?

So I know I disappeared and a few 7sagers know why, but after a lot of thought i've decided to proceed forward with my applications for the 2018 cycle. With one caveat. I'm going to attach an addendum for my LSAT scores, particularly how I score 10 points below my practice tests on the September tests.

I've NEVER been a good standardized tester. Back in the third grade when I received my first standardized test, all of my grades began to plummet. My parents made the choice to get me tested in case there was some sort of learning disorder, and the results were a first for the testers. I didn't have a learning disability at all, I just was an auditory and kinesthetic learner who didn't test well on standardized tests. Essays, short answers and written answers I nailed but anything bubbling was not enough to keep me engaged. I've learned lots of testing strategies over the years, but none of them were designed to help with the LSAT. If you followed the September LSAT Saga, it was a very stressful situation from start to finish and I'm positive that negatively DESTROYED my score.

I have no idea how to even write an addendum, let alone include most of that in an appropriate way.

Any tips?

It's nice to see that you are back!

You may be a naturally bad standardized test taker which may be worth an addendum in the style which @"David.Busis" recommended, but that addendum really should be explaining why your 10 points higher LSAT score from your PT's is not even higher.

The fact is that regardless of how disadvantaged you are by the format of the LSAT, when you PT the format is the same just with less stress. And you handle the PT's 10 points better. So I think what you need to do is seriously confront the stress.

Ideally, you would confront the stress and then retake the LSAT. If it were stress in your personal life, at work, or financial stress that's exactly what I would recommend. But, if it is stress about the very nature of the test, that it is a standardized test which has a significant effect in determining your law school options and your future, then the problem is fundamentally irresolvable. It should be somewhat stressful. The stress shows that you want to be a lawyer. So then, it's about managing the stress.

If you can manage the stress better then you should still retake. If not, then I think your addendum needs to make the case for why this stress is different for you than the stress of your first law school exam, the bar, or the court room. Because if underperform on all of thise things, then the LSAT predicts your performance accurately. Additionally, your explanation has to be an explanation only a few people could give, because the law school isn't going to concede that the LSAT is always a bad measure of ability.

Finally, after all of these points, there is still the risk that the addendum just can't help. It may if law schools are actually trying to get qualified candidates and are convinced. But, if the law schools are just trying to maximize position in US News rankings which are not altered by your addendum then they will ignore it completely and focus on your GPA and official LSAT score. If that is how law school admissions work, then you need to retake and find a way to make your LSAT score reflect your proven PTing ability.

Good luck with whichever addendum you end up writing. I hope it's one explaining a ten point increase.

AllezAllez21

Have you tried contacting LSAC for accommodations? I have a close friend who is very similar in her learning style/abilities and she did get accommodations for other standardized tests. I don't know if LSAC would do the same but it is for sure worth a try.

I have heard from two top admissions consultants and they effectively said that your addendum would do very little to sway admissions. Unfortunately, they get people saying they should have scored higher all the time. They simply have to take the score that is given.

acsimon

I agree with @"Seeking Perfection" and @AllezAllez21 on this. The probative value of an such addendum on testing is probably very low. One of the reasons seems to be that retaking is an option, unlike what is the case with undergrad GPA. A major stress event in your undergrad career can damage a semester/quarter and would presumably be sufficiently unique to contextualize that problem area of your application. And importantly, it's not like one can go back and make up for those grades.

All this is different with the LSAT, Bc you can obviously retake if something goes wrong on test day. You can also request accommodations and so on. If a particular score does not show your true potential (on the LSAT--I'm skeptical of it's predicative validity for how one does in the first year of law school), then you can retake to score better. A non-indicative score is not indelible.

Also, as mentioned above, think about the nature of your claim for such an addendum. You've got stress--stress induced by the test. But an admissions committee is liable to say that "well, that's everybody who takes it." And so you have to convince the committee that your stress should be given special weight when considering your application. It seems like it's very difficult to make that case in a convincing fashion since, if they allowed such addendum to affect their decisions, most anyone who scored below their 25th would have an incentive to write one. Given this, I think they would be extra cautious about how they treat such addenda in admissions.

All of this means, in short, that you would have to be able to write a rather extraordinary addendum (that is, make an extraordinary case) in order to have any effect. By no means an easy task.

For what it's worth, I've run across information before (TLS, etc.) to the effect that you shouldn't write an addendum in your circumstances. But given that online advice always needs to be viewed with caution, I would try to consult with any professors/admissions ppl in your area if you have access.

Good luck!--A.c.S