Accommodated Test Taker ....to take or not take exam on Saturday? :|

katapultz6

Hi all,

First of all I have accommodations to write the LSAT for this upcoming Saturday (religious reasons). I'm on the fence of whether or not to reschedule for February.

I have planned all along to write for this upcoming Saturday. Really, the only reason that I wouldn't is if I got sick. Well, I have been feeling very light-headed since yesterday and had a sore throat. Thought maybe I'm just tired. Woke up, still light-headed, though no sore throat. It's like I have the flu but since I got the flu shot, the symptoms are limited. To sum, I am still quite light headed.

I planned to write my last prep test today, and did - LSAT 79. Relative to my other scores, I got an atrocious score (157). I have written ~14 prep tests in my preparation in the past couple months, with this being the lowest. My average prep test score is 163, and I'm hoping to get a score between 161-165 on the LSAT.

Clearly, the light-headedness influenced my score. Especially for RC, where I just blanked. I also added a 5th section - a LR from 77 and got a -10. I have tacked on sections from 77 to my previous prep tests, and got -3 on LR, -1 LG, and -6 on RC, so this again, was an outlier.

It is a tough decision. I have studied for a very, very long time. I first wrote the LSAT in October 2015 (way too early), and did poorly. Wrote again February 2016, did marginally better. So I am facing a 3rd take here, and the last take that can count for this cycle. In addition to this, I have schedule a trip to the Caribbean for 1 week, coming back shortly after the new year. That means after the vacation, I'll have 4 weeks to study, in addition to the 3 weeks i'll have before the vacation. All schools I applied to accept the Feb 2017 score.

My current thinking is this: I know my current condition influenced my PT79 score. If I wake up tomorrow feeling better, and can drill the different sections with my normal level of success and ultimately restore my confidence, I will write Saturday. After all, I got 163, 167, and 163 in the 3 prep tests I did prior to 79. If I'm still dizzy, then...it may be too much of a risk. another "variable" is the amount of prep tests I have remaining to work with is very limited, at least in terms of recent ones. I've done almost all of them, so I would be having to repeat them for my future prep. Perhaps this is fine, and my memory is quite bad so I don't think I'd remember the answers for the most, but still, it's a factor.

This is such a tough choice. What does everyone think? I would appreciate any advice.

Chipster Study

Personally, if it were I, I would not take it sick, especially since it is the 3rd try.

katapultz6

Hi Chipster - thanks for your reply. I'm still feeling light-headed. It's frustrating because it's not like I have a flu or a cold or anything, it's just I literally feel imbalanced whenever I'm walking around so something is clearly off.

I'm still on the fence over what to do. I think banking on my Feb LSAT score puts me at a disadvantage with Canadian schools since they would have sent at least half of their offers by then, so that would be frustrating.

Cant Get Right

Hmm, that's tough. If you feel like you're not going to be able to achieve your potential on test day, then that's obviously problematic. Because it's your third take and your scores suggest very little margin of error for an underperformance, the smart move may be to postpone. However, it's also totally possible that your last PT was just a bad take and doesn't represent any fundamental change in your actual ability to take the test successfully. Only you can know that though. If you do determine that you are not able to perform at your maximum level due to illness, then you probably want to postpone. Because of where this falls in the application cycle, this is a particularly frustrating time for this to happen. But better to apply with your best application late than a weaker application earlier. Good luck!

extramedium

What Chip said. Accommodations are such a huge advantage that I can't recommend not using them to their fullest extent.