Hey mford,
I'm sorry to hear that you're going through a rough patch with your LSAT and the law school admissions process! I'll take a stab at answering your questions, and hopefully will be able to give you some guidance about what you might be able to do.
Should I cancel the score?
I wish I could give you a clear-cut answer on this, but the best I can do is--that is completely up to you. It depends on how you feel you
truly did (which can vary depending on how many days removed from the test you are!), the results of a detailed score self-analysis that you can conduct, the test-day conditions of both the center and yourself, whether you have one or more cancellations already, if you have a score on file already, when you want to apply...many things go into determining if cancelling is the right move. Start by reading this blog post:
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/should- ... sat-score/ -- that should give you some guidance on conducting a self-evaluation -- and then make a determination (and, of course, if you have questions after reading the post, be sure to let us know!).
Will this make colleges raise their eyebrow when/if they see this?
I'm assuming you meant law schools
. Whether a cancellation will raise eyebrows is entirely dependent on how many you have. Check out this blog post to start:
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/reprise ... cellations - as a general rule, if you only have one cancellation, it doesn't raise any eyebrows at all. Many students have a single cancelled score on their records, so it's nothing to be ashamed about. When you have to start being careful is when you have two or more cancellations;
that's when questions start coming up. A single cancel, though, is no biggie--don't sweat it if that's all you've got (or will have, if you decide to cancel).
What should I do? Should I try again in December or should I apply now?
That depends on whether you have a score on file already, whether you cancel, whether you think you can do better in December, and when you want to submit your applications. In reading your first post, I am unclear as to whether your previous 158 was an
official LSAT score. If you cancel and don't have a score on file, then you
can't apply until after December (schools won't look at files that don't have LSAT scores). If you have a score on file and just wanted to see if you could go up in October, then you could either cancel or keep the score, and apply now. Without knowing much about your current situation or which schools you are considering (so that we could see if a 158--assuming that's an official score--was enough for those schools, given your GPA), it is hard to say. If you could like to provide me with more information about the status of that 158 and the schools you're considering, I'm glad to give you more detailed info.
I've been reading a bunch today about school transfer options after 1L. Is this truly a viable option in your opinion?
The transfer game is a risky game to play, because there are absolutely no guarantees that you'll get in to where you want to transfer and, if you accepted a school that you weren't thrilled with to begin with just to "get started" with law school, then you'll be stuck at that school until you finish (since no schools accept 2L transfers). Keep in mind, too, that transferring schools is extremely hard. Law schools take only a very small percentage of their transfer applicants, and the competition is fierce. You should never attend a school with the thought that you'll just "transfer up" after 1L; it is simply a bad idea. The school you accept a spot from should be a school you wouldn't mind graduating from, not a school that you simply see a stepping stone or a "starter" school.
If I do take the Dec. LSAT how to I get myself to calm down?
It seems that, in your case, a lot of whether you calm down will have to do with you and your general outlook on the test. From a practical perspective, these are the things that take care of text anxiety:
1. Consistent practice with real, timed tests.
2. Intimate knowledge of the material.
3. Confidence in your own performance.
Out of the three,it seems that you may perhaps be struggling with point #3 the most (and, unfortunately, that point is the hardest to achieve). Not to sound like Tony Robbins, but you need to start
believing in your own skills as an LSAT taker to do well. If you were scoring in the 160s, you've got what it takes! You've worked hard, you know the material, you've got the skills! But you need to start believing in yourself--otherwise, you'll simply second guess yourself the whole way through. The fact that you can't picture yourself anything but frustrated tells me all I need to know--you need to start believing in yourself as an LSAT master. Positive thinking is everything when it comes to this test. You could read our books cover to cover and do all the practice questions in the world, but if all you can think of is how much the LSAT frustrates, angers, and scares you, then you won't do well.
A final word: The law school admissions game can be overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. What I've found helps with students is to write down everything that you either need to do or make a decision on, and then start tackling the list one by one. By reducing it to paper, you'll see that it's not as insurmountable as it may seem--they're just action items. Just work through it one piece at a time, and you'll be fine. You may have tons of questions--write them all down, and seek answers to each individually. You'll be fine--really--I promise!
I hope this helped, even a little! Please be sure to let us know if you have any additional questions.
