Submit addendum for LSAT score/ anxiety disorder?

Waffles91

Hi all,

I am currently struggling with whether or not to submit an addendum with my LS application materials explaining 2 low LSAT scores. For background, I scored a 162 in May and a 153 in August. I have been averaging low to mid 170s on practice tests the past several months, and I think the November test went really well. I am anticipating I scored around a 170 (or maybe slightly over). As a result, I will have something like a 162-153-170ish score spread (yikes!)

For the 162, I took the May LSAT-flex after studying for just 2 months because I anticipated entering the fall 2020 class late in the game. However, when I realized it was smarter to wait until 2021, I signed up for the August LSAT-flex. I have struggled with Generalized Anxiety Disorder for years, which often manifests itself in panic attacks. For the August test, I had a 10-minute long panic attack that resulted in me bombing the logic games section (and my score of 153). The panic attack itself was related to a lot of technological failures (my computer not connecting to the internet, the campus-wide internet going down several times that week) and the fact that I couldn't get to my testing location until 10 minutes before my test (I was testing on a university campus and the COVID screening process didn't open until right before my test time). As a result, my anxiety was at an all-time high by the time I actually got into the test.

For the November LSAT-flex, I talked with my doctor and was prescribed medication that decreased my situational anxiety going into the test so that I could avoid a panic attack altogether. I also wired into the internet with an ethernet cable to avoid anxiety related to technological failures. Overall, I feel that I was able to overcome the previous hurdles I experienced on the August flex.

I am leaning towards writing a no-BS addendum briefly explaining that I have an anxiety disorder that manifests itself in panic attacks. However, I have heard advice from different admissions officers that you should never use "nervousness" as an excuse on your addendum. I am also worried that sharing info about a psychological disorder is a bit of an "overshare" on an LS app. I am also curious if I should even include info about the technological failures/screening process because I don't want the addendum to seem like a laundry list of excuses. I want to be straight to the point, conveying only the facts. Any advice? Of course this will all bank on my November score coming back higher, as I've predicted.

Thank you 7sage-rs!!!

OldLadyK

@Waffles91 I feel you and am sorry you had a bad experience previously. I'm so happy that you feel good after your last take! I'm sure that's an incredible feeling compared to last time. If you do score much higher and need to write an addendum, focusing solely on the technical issues you experienced would be advisable. They will assume from those issues that you were stressed and ultimately didn't perform at the level you were capable, and that's really all they need to know. In other words, it's probably best to write about the stressor and not the stress. I hope you get that super - awesome score you're aiming for and best of luck on your law school apps!