HELP! (January 26th, 2019 LSAT Results)

[spid3r16]

Today, after weeks of waiting, I got my Jan. 2019 LSAT score.

To my utter shock and dismay, my score was a 152. The last time I scored this low was when I took my very first diagnostic without any prep whatsoever. My prep test scores leading up to this test were in the 159-163 range. I have not scored lower than a 158 on any prep tests since October.

Conceivable explanations for the score are:
A. When I skipped a question, it throw off the rest of my answers when I bubbled them in, costing me about 17 questions on one section. (I suspected this soon after the test, but thought I may be over-thinking it.)
B. Mis-scored by scan-tron machine!?? (I had minor smudges on my score sheet, but doubt it was enough. How probable is this?)
C. The test was a lot harder than I thought, and the score is accurate as to my performance that day despite my feelings and prep tests data otherwise.

Question is: What do I do?
1. Does it make sense to pay the fee to have it hand scored?
2. Do I submit an LSAT Addendum?

Of course, I am retaking, but earliest date feasible for me is the June LSAT.
3. Is that too late for this admission cycle?

Thank you in advance for any guidance you may offer.

[Dave Killoran]

Today, after weeks of waiting, I got my Jan. 2019 LSAT score.

To my utter shock and dismay, my score was a 152. The last time I scored this low was when I took my very first diagnostic without any prep whatsoever. My prep test scores leading up to this test were in the 159-163 range. I have not scored lower than a 158 on any prep tests since October.

Conceivable explanations for the score are:
A. When I skipped a question, it throw off the rest of my answers when I bubbled them in, costing me about 17 questions on one section. (I suspected this soon after the test, but thought I may be over-thinking it.)
B. Mis-scored by scan-tron machine!?? (I had minor smudges on my score sheet, but doubt it was enough. How probable is this?)
C. The test was a lot harder than I thought, and the score is accurate as to my performance that day despite my feelings and prep tests data otherwise.

Question is: What do I do?
1. Does it make sense to pay the fee to have it hand scored?
2. Do I submit an LSAT Addendum?

Of course, I am retaking, but earliest date feasible for me is the June LSAT.
3. Is that too late for this admission cycle?

Thank you in advance for any guidance you may offer.

Hi spid3r,

Let's see if I can help here:

1. Given what you've described, it probably does justify making this request. Your drop was very large, and unless nerves played a big role (only you would know that), it seems likely that maybe the skipped question caused an issue.

2. No, no school will count your PT averages versus your actual score, and so they simply do not care. I'm sorry to be so blunt

3. It's very late, but it also depends on the schools that you want to attend. This might help: Top 100 Law School LSAT Deadlines: Is March Too Late?

I'm not sure that covers everything, but it is a start!

[spid3r16]

Thank you, Dave. You are the man.

Well, it was definitely a gut-punch seeing that score. I guess it’s time to regroup and do better next time. My November LSAT score was higher but definitely not close to my target score. It may be sufficient for some of the schools.