LSAT Addendum?

EvetteCee

I took the September LSAT and decided to cancel and registered for the December one. I was scoring in the range of 165-168 before the December exam and felt pretty at ease. The night before the LSAT (Friday), I received news that my cousin had died. I still went to take the LSAT on Saturday morning, but I was filled with different emotions that day, so I can't really trust my hunch on how I did.

I know the scores won't be released until January, but I was wondering if I end up scoring below the range that I was scoring prior to the exam, should I write an LSAT Addendum?

TabbyG123

Absolutely. Your application reader WANT to know about factors like this that might be impacting your score. I am in a similar boat. If you want a reference for how to write one, I've pasted mine below. I had a law schools admissions consultant review it and say that it was great.

Also, I'm sorry to hear about your loss. That really sucks.

"Unusual circumstances impacting my LSAT score: My September LSAT score was affected by Hurricane Irma, which hit South and Central Florida, where my family and I reside, several days before my the test date took place. My testing center was not closed nor my test date postponed. My life routine was completely upturned (loss of electricity and Internet, people seeking shelter in my house, loss of sleep due to hurricane preparation, my study schedule halted, stress over the possibility of evacuation), and I was preoccupied by fear for the welfare of my aging parents, who had been evacuated to Atlanta from their home in South Florida. Please consider my September LSAT in light of these circumstances. I will be retaking the LSAT in December."

EvetteCee

@"nicolas.saw" said:
Absolutely. Your application reader WANT to know about factors like this that might be impacting your score. I am in a similar boat. If you want a reference for how to write one, I've pasted mine below. I had a law schools admissions consultant review it and say that it was great.

Also, I'm sorry to hear about your loss. That really sucks.

"Unusual circumstances impacting my LSAT score: My September LSAT score was affected by Hurricane Irma, which hit South and Central Florida, where my family and I reside, several days before my the test date took place. My testing center was not closed nor my test date postponed. My life routine was completely upturned (loss of electricity and Internet, people seeking shelter in my house, loss of sleep due to hurricane preparation, my study schedule halted, stress over the possibility of evacuation), and I was preoccupied by fear for the welfare of my aging parents, who had been evacuated to Atlanta from their home in South Florida. Please consider my September LSAT in light of these circumstances. I will be retaking the LSAT in December."

Thank you Nicolas, I really appreciate it. Do you think it'll make a difference if I don't retake it in February? Because this last Saturday (the December LSAT) would be my only score.

Alex

@EvetteCee said:
I took the September LSAT and decided to cancel and registered for the December one. I was scoring in the range of 165-168 before the December exam and felt pretty at ease. The night before the LSAT (Friday), I received news that my cousin had died. I still went to take the LSAT on Saturday morning, but I was filled with different emotions that day, so I can't really trust my hunch on how I did.

I know the scores won't be released until January, but I was wondering if I end up scoring below the range that I was scoring prior to the exam, should I write an LSAT Addendum?

Condolences for your loss.

That's rough. And I'm so sorry to hear it.

I think if you score below your average, you should absolutely consider writing an addenda. Circumstances like these are exactly what addenda are for.

Are you planning on retaking in February?

TabbyG123

@EvetteCee said:

@"nicolas.saw" said:
Absolutely. Your application reader WANT to know about factors like this that might be impacting your score. I am in a similar boat. If you want a reference for how to write one, I've pasted mine below. I had a law schools admissions consultant review it and say that it was great.

Also, I'm sorry to hear about your loss. That really sucks.

"Unusual circumstances impacting my LSAT score: My September LSAT score was affected by Hurricane Irma, which hit South and Central Florida, where my family and I reside, several days before my the test date took place. My testing center was not closed nor my test date postponed. My life routine was completely upturned (loss of electricity and Internet, people seeking shelter in my house, loss of sleep due to hurricane preparation, my study schedule halted, stress over the possibility of evacuation), and I was preoccupied by fear for the welfare of my aging parents, who had been evacuated to Atlanta from their home in South Florida. Please consider my September LSAT in light of these circumstances. I will be retaking the LSAT in December."

Thank you Nicolas, I really appreciate it. Do you think it'll make a difference if I don't retake it in February? Because this last Saturday (the December LSAT) would be my only score.

If you decide to not take the exam in February, the admissions committee might or might not take into consideration the circumstances of your December take. I would like to think that they would consider this and maybe bump your score up a point or two if they were generous (even without a reference point), but to be honest, it might be hard for them to consider your score without another score attesting to your abilities. I'm sure there are lots of other applicants who try to get that "extra bump" by referring to circumstances that the admissions committee cannot verify. All of that being said, the admissions committee definitely will NOT consider it as a factor in your application if you DON'T write an addendum. So definitely write an addendum.

Moving forward, if you are considering retaking in February but want to wait to hear back about your December score first, I might recommend writing your addendum without the "I am retaking in February" but leave in the part that says "please consider my December score in light of these circumstances", then submit your applications while telling the admissions offices to table your application until the December scores come out. Then then register for the February exam. (do these last two steps as soon as you are able). And then once the scores come out in January, if you are happy enough with your score, go ahead and ask them to review the application and get a refund for your February test. Or if you are really not happy with your February score, then you can followup and tell the admissions offices to again hold your application until the February exam. This will not be unusual for your reader because they will look at your LSAT addendum and totally understand. Does that make sense? No matter what, just try and get your applications in as soon as you can and definitely write an addendum.

I'd be happy to look over your addendum first if you're worried about the wording.

Hope you're holding up well. You're going to get into a great school regardless.

EvetteCee

@"Alex Divine" said:

@EvetteCee said:
I took the September LSAT and decided to cancel and registered for the December one. I was scoring in the range of 165-168 before the December exam and felt pretty at ease. The night before the LSAT (Friday), I received news that my cousin had died. I still went to take the LSAT on Saturday morning, but I was filled with different emotions that day, so I can't really trust my hunch on how I did.

I know the scores won't be released until January, but I was wondering if I end up scoring below the range that I was scoring prior to the exam, should I write an LSAT Addendum?

Condolences for your loss.

That's rough. And I'm so sorry to hear it.

I think if you score below your average, you should absolutely consider writing an addenda. Circumstances like these are exactly what addenda are for.

Are you planning on retaking in February?

Thank you Alex.

I wasn't planning to retake it , because I didn't want to spend an additional LSAT fee -- but now I'm not sure. I really wanted to start school next fall 2018, and I'm not sure if a February exam will be too late.