is a cancel and high score better or low score and a high score

LeoFiro8

Since everyone is in the middle of deciding to cancel or not, general questions asks... is a 142 and a 160 look better on your application or a cancel and a 160. Can somebody shed some logical light on this ?

Jengibre

From everything I've read, it would look better to have a canceled score.

Aislingz

It all comes down to how you "frame" these scores. Personally, I think a 142 and 160 look amazing. Why? You had an 18 point increase! I would highlight that as a strength, rather than as a weakness. Sure, a 160 isn't as impressive as a 170. However, you improved and that is what matters, or at least you should try to convince the admission committee that that is what matters more. On the other hand, there is nothing that indicates improvement with a cancelled score and a 160. This is just my opinion of course. Hopefully, more people will respond to give you a better idea of which option is better.

craig_yuan

^This, stealing thunder application.

Aislingz

^LOL I did enjoy that stealing thunder passage.

jdawg113

IMO it doesn't matter. if you know for a fact you got destroyed say bc u guessed on half the test, canceling would make sense but there are plenty of people out there that thought they bombed and did really well. Admins don't really look too much at ur 2 scores (I mean if you took Oct got a 142 then in Dec got a 175 they may look to see how the hell ya did that)

LeBisondeMist

I'd personally go with a cancel and high score and probably write an addendum. I disagree with a 142 and 160 showing that you really improved or not being looked at--obviously it shows improvement, but it also shows that you didn't bother to study before you began. I think a score difference like that may raise eyebrows and might leave adcoms wondering which was the anomaly--the 142 or the 160.

pritisharma

I am in the same boat deciding , I did horribly on section1 (LG) but got another experimental. LG 3. I think it may not matter admission wise much, but would I be more demotivated/motivated if I see abad score. I am taking Feb anyways since there is room for improvement in my scores ? Any thoughts on the psychological impacts w.r.t future performance.

barkermm2

I have to make the same decision- even thought I was PTing in the 160s, I absolutely know my score from yesterday is well below that. I wouldn't even be surprised if it falls in the 140 range seeing as how nervous I was and how bad the proctor/test conditions were.

First off, most schools take your highest score and a cancel or a lower score won't really make a difference, from what I've read. It also may depend on how strong your other factors are. Personally, my GPA is not that great, so I really don't want to explain not only my crappy GPA but a low 1st score as well. I feel like I could explain a cancel much better but eh, who knows. Still got a few days to decide!

LeoFiro8

Thank you all, these are for sure some future lawyer answers i'm getting here, everyone defending their thought process pretty lawgically. I have a 3.0 ( i know, its horrible) got a 3.8 in the last two year but my JC Gpa killed me. Now i know I need a really good LSAT score to make up for my bad GPA, I normally score in the 160 but I think i really went under with the testing center conditions and being nervous ( additionally this was my first time ever taking an LSAT, and from what I have heard it is not even worth taking the February Exam since all the scholarship money would be gone and they only keep a few seats open for ELITE scorers ( not me) even though i really wanted to start school this year I may have to retake in June, now with all this said, is a 142 and a 160 better or a cancel and a 160?

LeoFiro8

Also can one of the staff respond to some of student's questions, J.Y used to be a lot more responsive, but i guess since he's been getting more memberships he doesn't respond anymore, I know they are no admission counsel but i am sure they are well connected in that aspect, I understand all they want is for us to keep retaking and extending out membership here but come on shed some light.

Jengibre

I'm not sure what the benefit would be of keeping a score you know will be bad. Do you think it's possible you did well enough to have a solid chance of gaining admission to your target schools this cycle? If that's the case, there may be reason to wait and see. However, if the test went as poorly as you think, I would recommend canceling. I also disagree that a 142 then a much higher score would be viewed favorably. A high score could be enough for the admissions team to overlook the first one, of course, but they may wonder why you didn't cancel the low score. I've spoken to a couple of friends who are current YLS students and even they canceled the first time (so I know a cancel won't hurt too much!). We all want to do well the first time, but when that doesn't happen, I think in general a cancel is less harmful than a low score.

ddakjiking

Like others have said on here, I would personally take the cancel and a 160. I'd be a bit nervous if schools could potentially see a 18 points (or higher) differential between LSAT scores and could become a potential red flag. I was prepping for the December exam before I ultimately decided to postpone because I wasn't hitting my desired PT numbers. I wanted to have as few LSAT scores on record. Had I taken yesterday's test, I probably would've scored in the 150's when I'm aiming for 170+.

jdawg113

I would say just really think wether its that you feel you did really bad or if you actually guessed on a huge chunk of it