November 2018 Retake?

gomeza987

Hi, guys so I need a little advice on what I should do after this September LSAT. Here's a bit of background, I took my first LSAT Sep 2017 I scored a 161, I had been doing better on my PT's so I tried again in December and scored a 160. After December I decided to try again and take a gap year on my applications, this was when I decided to try 7-sage for my prep as I had previously stuck to powerscore methods. I tested again in July and ended up canceling. My issue with July was that I did not even attempt the last game, my game section was the first, and I think nerves got the better of me; all the other sections were great, but I knew that there was a substantial chance I completely bombed games. By this point in July, my PT average was between 167-172, when I took the June 2018 practice test I scored a 167. I figured that canceling in July was my best option as this was my first cancel, and I was using this cancel on what was an unusual LSAT. I decided to try again in September 2018. My impression of the Sep 2018 test was that it was quite similar to June 2018. The LR felt very easy; I had 5 min after each LR which is above the pace I usually keep. The LG felt normal except that I was running out of time at the end and I had to take an educated guess on one question and blindly guess on the last 3. The RC was terrible, I think I did great on the legal passage, but the other 3 were very confusing, RC is usually a -4/-5 for me, but this felt the hardest RC I a have ever encountered. Long story short I feel like worst case scenario I scored a 163, middle range a 166 and best case a 169. I don't want to cancel because I feel like two cancels back to back is a bit too much, but I also don't want to risk getting another low 160's score on my record. Any advice? Should I prepare for another retake if I get that another low 160? I was told that my best score is the score that will have the most significant impact on admissions and that contrary to popular belief schools do not average, but I know that multiple LSAT's are not necessarily favorably looked upon either.

I should also note that though I was not very nervous on test 85 (unlike previous times) the proctors gave me a hard time right before the start of the test because I had a watch on my wrist and one on the table. I usually use two watches as in the Sep and Dec 2017 administrations I forgot to start my only watch for some of the sections, which caused a lot of anxiety for me during the test. Having a watch on my wrist serves as a physical reminder as well as a continuous timepiece as I can see how much time has passed since the last section. I called LSAC in early August and they said it was fine as long as they were both analog watches. The proctors told me to take one off and berated me in front of the group for a while after the first section (right before I took RC) they came back and said that I could use the second watch, they didn't even offer a semblance of an apology. This incident just really ticked me off and I think may have led to a lack of full focus on RC.

Any advice is appreciated! Sorry for the long post, I spent the entire weekend thinking about this, and I guess I had a lot more to vent then I thought.

mds19193

I wouldn't cancel and if you aren't happy with your score from September just retake it. I'm kind of in a similar boat like you. I've taken it a few times and a few cancellations early on in my testing life. I know a couple people who have also taken it 4-5 times. I feel like since the LSAC changed it so you can take it as many times as you want its becoming less weird to have a multiple takes on applications and it doesn't matter as much. I feel like at this point they just look at your highest score since that's all they need to report for their rankings. Just try your best to get the score you deserve and apply then

Bamboosprout

Wow, my friend, having such terrible proctors suck. I almost had a similar experience with my juicebox, but well... luckily for me, but unluckily for the other guy, the guy sitting in front of my had the exact same juicebox and took the blow for me and was called out. They then came back a few minutes later to give it back to him, also without an apology. I think this time, a lot of proctors are on edge. I talked to them afterwards, and found out a lot of proctors secretly got audited last summer, and received a lot of punishments for being too lenient on test takers.... hmmm, maybe this is something I should post on the forums about to warn others.

As for your score. I think our estimates tends to be pretty accurate, so I don't see why you would need to cancel. You probably got a mid-160, and according to your situation, that doesn't seem like a negative. I also don't think 2 cancellations are necessarily bad either. Most admissions officers are pretty understanding, as long as you can offer a reason if and when they ask about it.

gomeza987

Thanks for the advice! I think I am going to wait and see what I get. In the meantime I'll do some drills and maybe a test or two a week so that I stay up to date with my abilities, just in case I need to retake.