Is a cancellation a black mark?

[NeverMissing]

Hi Powerscore,

I already have a reported score in the 170's I'm happy with. Re-took the LSAT today and was destroyed by an RC passage which makes it certain that I will end up with a lower score than the one I have reported. Let's accept that my score will be lower for this argument.

Which of my two options look better to an admissions officer: One good score and a cancellation, or one good score followed by a more recent but poorer score?

Also, what do admissions officers see when you cancel a score? Is a cancellation a black mark, something that makes an otherwise good application look less good?

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Never,

Short answer: the cancellation is meaningless to the admissions committee, and there's no penalty or negative whatsoever to having one on your record!

Ok, that said, let's look more specifically at your questions:

• 1. "Which of my two options look better to an admissions officer: One good score and a cancellation, or one good score followed by a more recent but poorer score?"
  
  Admissions officers are only focused on your highest score these days (see Should You Retake the LSAT? Admissions Experts Agree: Yes!), so technically they look at both scenarios the same way. However, since the two scores produces a third, averaged score, I've always felt it's preferable to have one score and a cancellation since your record is "cleaner." If you know you've produced a lower score than what you have already, then I'd cancel.
  
  
  2. "Also, what do admissions officers see when you cancel a score? Is a cancellation a black mark, something that makes an otherwise good application look less good?"
  
  It's actually a symbol (specifically, a forward slash: / ) on your record next to the recorded date of the LSAT administration. Law school knows that means you cancelled your score based on that. they see it, and after processing what it means, they then ignore it from that point. Why? Because they don't know why you cancelled your score, and they don't care. they can't infer why you cancelled, and because of that, they give it no weight. Sure, some people cancel due to a poor performance, but not always. Yesterday one of my students got a bloody nose during one of the sections, and it was pretty bad, and he lost 15-20 minutes of time dealing with it. So, of course he cancelled. Stuff like that happens all the time, and thus Adcomms ignore a cancellation.

Please let me know if that helps ease your mind about all this. Thanks!

Thanks!