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I need some SOLID advice

TheLSATTheLSAT Member
in General 301 karma
Hello Fellow 7Sagers,

Bear with me as I write the following. I absolutely need advice from people who have either been in my position or are knowledgable about such a situation. I took the September 2016 test, and because of the Grey passage and virus game, I cancelled my score. Ever since then, I have practiced and improved my RC. The logic games section has always been my strongest. I sat for the December 2016 LSAT. I walked into the testing center with an average score on my pretests of 167.5. I was feeling very good. The sequence of my sections were as follows: 1st LR, RC, Experimental LR, LG, 2nd LR. I was doing very well until I got to the LG section. I finished the 1st two games in 15 minutes. For some reason, when I got to the 3rd game I choked. The game might have been difficult but not really. I absolutely know and should have known how to do it. To make my story short, I ended up guessing on the last two games. Absolutely heartbreaking for me because my average on LG is (minus 0 - minus1).
Right now I am battling with a very very uncomfortable feeling because I truly have a dilemma. If I cancel, then that is 2 cancellations, which will not reflect well on my application. If I do not cancel, I might end up with a bad score, or even if not too bad of a score, it still won't reflect my actual potential on this test. My question is, what should I do? Please offer only solid advice. This means the world to me. Thank you.
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Comments

  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    23929 karma
    https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/1442/i-think-i-f-ed-up-and-i-want-to-cancel

    Jy's advice is pretty solid.

  • bruingirl1205bruingirl1205 Alum Member
    444 karma
    Based on all the advice I have received, I think you should keep it. Right now you have used up 2 of your 3 takes. If you cancel December then you will have no idea how you did on 2 LSATs. If you end up not getting the score you want then at least you have one more take. You can use your score from December to see where you went wrong and learn from those mistakes. I am in a similar situation to you (although December was my first take). I am still going back and forth on whether to cancel but I am leaning towards keeping my score at this point. Most schools take the highest score and I think there is a lot to learn from any score you end up receiving on an LSAT.
  • bbutlerbbutler Inactive ⭐
    401 karma
    I agree with @bruingirl1205 because you don't actually have a score right now go ahead and keep the score just so you know how you did. I took in December as well and I had the same thing happen, scoring right around the same thing and quite honestly I could have gotten anything from the upper 150's to a 170 if by some stroke of luck all of my guesses were right. But get the score just so you know how you're doing.

    Looking forward you have to ask yourself what is the goal, is your goal to apply this cycle and be a lawyer or is it to go to the school you want to/potentially go with money and get a score that is much more reflective of your abilities? If the former then go ahead and retake in February, if the latter then sign up for February and prepare for it but don't sit for the exam unless you're consistently scoring where you want to be on the actual test. You have June and September as backups and applying next cycle may seem terrible right now but when you look back 3 years and you have 50k less loans to pay back and you enjoyed your experience because you went to the school you wanted, you'll thank yourself. Overall though I wish you nothing but the best and we're here for you!
  • bbutlerbbutler Inactive ⭐
    401 karma
    Also keep in mind that in the end it's your Final score that matters. Now I'm not going to say the others don't but if you were to knock out a 170 then admissions and write an addendum explaining a little bit of the situation you'll be fine. Just for reference I scored and got a 150 on my first exam (bad decision took it cold after not studying at all and before I found 7sage), and then just now which realistically I'm probably looking at a 170. I was thinking about cancelling but after talking to my admissions consultants they basically told me to keep the score and keep on preparing because in the end it truly is your highest score trumps all! So know that you still have an attempt left and if you knock it out of the party which I know you're capable of, all will end up working out!
  • Stevie CStevie C Alum Member
    645 karma
    My opinion is that you shouldn't cancel December. If you cancel now, and then things go wrong on your 3rd take, you'll be stuck with that as your only score.

    Even if you went something like -7 on LG for this test, that wouldn't preclude you from scoring in mid-high 160s. I would wait for the score -- it might be disappointing, but it's worth more than no score.

  • Artak MamikonyanArtak Mamikonyan Member
    308 karma
    A similar thing happened to me where I'm usually strong on games but i got to game 4 with 10 minutes left on the clock and couldn't really figure out the game board so i ended up taking educated guesses for the entire last game. This also kind of shook my confidence for the final LR section. Either way, I'm keeping my score because i want a score on record to apply with and if I'm not happy with my score, I can always retake. I think u should keep your score.
  • desire2learndesire2learn Member
    1171 karma
    Keep. I did the exact same thing on my first LSAT in Sept only it was the 3rd section of RC that I messed up on (which then bled over into screwing me on section 4). I was so mad at myself. Ultimately I decided to keep and I am glad I did. My score was about what I expected and certainly not what I was capable of but I had it in the bank. If my new score is significantly better I will write an addendum and explain that I screwed up. From everything I have seen schools just care about your top score and if you have a specific reason why you may have a low score I don't think it will be particularly detrimental to your overall application.
  • mcmlaw36mcmlaw36 Alum Member
    edited December 2016 631 karma
    @"A. Mathews" said:
    If I cancel, then that is 2 cancellations, which will not reflect well on my application. If I do not cancel, I might end up with a bad score, or even if not too bad of a score, it still won't reflect my actual potential on this test.
    First of all, cancellations are not visible anywhere on your law school application. Law schools will not be able to see that you cancelled, however, cancellations DO count towards the limit of 3 writes in a 2-year period.

    Secondly, my advice: Don't cancel.

    I think in situations like this, it's important to keep in mind that you are not alone. This is exactly what happened to me on the December test, as well as numerous, numerous others (as has been expressed in the December 2016 LSAT thread). LG was my strongest section, and obviously, that LG was challenging. Many students guessed for the last 2 games.

    I wouldn't cancel for these reasons:
    1. You now have a base score. Law schools have something to consider in their (often holistic) evaluation.
    2. We don't know what the curve will be like. Since many of us struggled on LG, the curve may be gracious and allow you a higher score than you originally anticipated.
    3. You can re-write. If applying for 2017 admission, you still have February to re-write. If you're not dead set on 2017, you have even longer.
    4. You might have done better than you think! (or not, and if so, refer back to #3)

    Personally, I have altered my law school application to reflect the possibility of writing the February LSAT. Depending on the law school, I might get acceptance offers before that and not even have to re-write. On the other hand, at least I have that option available so that if law schools are NOT satisfied with my December score, they know I 'plan' to re-write and will wait until February to evaluate my application.
  • mcmlaw36mcmlaw36 Alum Member
    edited December 2016 631 karma
    @"Artak Mamikonyan" said:
    This also kind of shook my confidence for the final LR section. Either way, I'm keeping my score because i want a score on record to apply with and if I'm not happy with my score, I can always retake. I think u should keep your score.
    I second this. Reflects my plan, too.
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