Multiple LSAT Scores

TheLSAT

Hello fellow 7Sagers,
Are my chances of admission at a T-14 law school affected if I have multiple LSAT scores (with the 1st being mediocre)? If so, is the effect positive or negative? And to what degree?
Thank you for your thoughtful responses.

MrSamIam

From what I've read, the simple answer is "no." Most schools, including those in the T14, will take your highest score. If there is a significant increase in score, you may want to explain what happened.
I believe Yale (correct me if I'm wrong) is one of the few schools that averages your score. So, in that case, a low first score could impact your chances of getting in.

Sprinkles

Most schools only take your highest score into consideration even the t14s. There has been some speculation that Yale averages the scores but I was only able to find that they "look" at other scores, nothing specifically mentions that they take older scores into account and average them out. Ultimately it's always better to have 1 good score to show on your application, especially when applying to higher ranked schools so be mindful of that

Alex

@"A. Mathews" said:
Are my chances of admission at a T-14 law school affected if I have multiple LSAT scores (with the 1st being mediocre)? If so, is the effect positive or negative? And to what degree?
Thank you for your thoughtful responses.

There is some pretty good data on MyLSN.info that Yale counts lower LSATs against you. Its rare to find people who retook and got into Y; however, there are some people, but the discrepancy between their scores are usually quite low. For example, a 171 and a 175. This is going to be treated much differently at Y then, say a 161 and a 173.

NYU also claims to average scores. But I can't really speak to that much. I don't really think the available data reflect lower takes counting against you. Not as much as Y anyways.

In short, Montaha is correct. Most schools are only going to look at your highest score since it is all they have to report for purposes of ranking.

@montaha.rizeq said:
Ultimately it's always better to have 1 good score to show on your application, especially when applying to higher ranked schools so be mindful of that

This is true, too. One less thing to worry about when you apply!

TheMikey

it doesn't matter unless you're gunning for Yale, and to what degree that is, well Yale is unpredictable so who knows