Question on percentiles

Matthew524

So I just have a quick question about percentiles. On the june LSAT I scored a 158 and on the LSAC website, it's says that's the 74th percentile. In comparing the 74th percentile with other conversion tables that is a 160 to a 161. I know the conversion chart varies from year to year, so I was wondering how do law schools look at your score. Do they see you as a 158 or do they see you as the 74th percentile or maybe they take both of these factors into consideration? May someone please clarify this for me?

Matthew524

@david.busis maybe you can help me understand this better?

LSATKingsman

Interested in this as well.

Cant Get Right

I’m guessing they’ll see the LSAT score. Converting it to percentile is an extra mental step I’d be surprised to see them taking, given that the average time spent on a resume is less than 60 seconds.

Nanchito-1-1

Hmm, interesting, i'd like to know this too.

Matthew524

@"Cant Get Right" maybe when the law school sees your LSAT report sheet the percentile grade is already there? I'm just curious because wouldn't that be more fair through out the years?

Cant Get Right

I’m not sure, but I doubt it. The LSAT grading scale is designed to account for those discrepancies so that the scores will be universal for people applying with scores from different tests.

David Busis

@Matthew524 The LSAC calculates the percentile for each score using data from the past three years. Although the percentile does change for a given score, it changes slowly, so it's unlikely that your 158 will convert to a different percentile than the 158 of other people applying in your cohort.

Bottom line: focus on your score.

Sprinkles

I love how concise @david.busis advise is. Thank you!

Pacifico

The score is what is reported for ranking purposes. They really don't care about anything else in terms of the feedback/data you get from LSAC after an official take.