To Cancel or Not to Cancel? That is the question.

gabecamacho3

So, I checked my score yesterday and was rather happy to see a higher score than I anticipated. I got a 159 but felt on actual test day that I really dropped the ball, specifically on the LG section, and was expecting below a 155. Though last cycle the two schools I am most interested in attending maintained a median LSAT score of a 159, this cycle, both have increased to a 163 while 159 has dropped to their 25th percentiles. I intend to retake in January with the hopes of seeing a significant increase and still being able to apply this cycle. However, I don't know whether I should keep my score or cancel? Pls help.

melanie.stewart84

I noticed a few people had responded to the poll and not commented but I wanted to do both as I felt an erroneous 'No' may not help. My reasoning is that, from listening to podcasts, watching vlogs, and other LSAT Prep experiences, many people submit multiple scores these days. Thinking LSAT (podcast) told an audience member on their podcast this Monday to plan to take the LSAT at least twice (and this advice was based on the cost of taking it repeatedly, not the chance to improve score!).

I also read an interesting book (Law School Confidential by Robert H. Miller) in which there was a section/interview from a Law School Admissions person at Cornell. Since I have a few moments to kill I shall copy out a couple of the questions he was asked and his responses, on the off chance it is helpful.

"Q: What advice do you have for the student who bombs the LSAT? Would you advise that student to take the test a second time?
A: I think they really need to take a look at what happened in that particular circumstance. Was the score you got wildly anomalous, and by that I'm talking about at last half a standard deviation away - not just a couple of points - from the scores you were getting on your practice tests? Were you sick on the day of the test, or was there a serious distraction in the test centre, like a jackhammer outside the window? If so, then you should definitely take the test again. If your score represented something close to what you were getting on your practice tests, though, and there wasn't anything you can point to that distracted you from an optimal performance, you should probably stand pat, because chances are, your score is not going yo meaningfully improve.

Q: How does an admissions committee handle multiple scores?
A: We usually look at the scores, and if the scores are meaningfully different, we typically use the higher score. In situations like this, knowing that multiple administrations of the test under normal conditions should not result in dramatically different scores, if there is a meaningful difference, we assume that there was a distraction or that the student had a bad day, and that the better score is the better indicator of the student's "real" ability."

I hope this is helpful in someway. And well done on your score

gabecamacho3

Wow thank you for taking the time for such a thoughtful and informative response! Yes this is very helpful I really appreciate it.