LSAT scores are a big factor in determining a school’s ranking, and the highest score is the only one that matters for that. So they do have strong motivation to overlook weaker scores when deciding when to make someone an offer or not.
Thanks all for the motivation and good counsel - the community here is definitely one of the best parts of this program. @"Nicole Hopkins" - Believe me, I would love to! Northwestern is one of my top target schools.
Congratulations! I have been studying for almost 2 years now and hovering at 160s coming from a 140 diagnostic. This was motivation to push through for the 170s! We are all going to make it.