Lower Second LSAT Score

[camkelly24]

Currently I am struggling with trying to decide whether or not to cancel my October LSAT score. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to confidently determine the experimental section, and if the one section I am hoping was experimental turns out to be a real one,I am almost certain my score will go down. However, if that section was experimental I believe my score will raise about 2-3 points.

Normally, I would be willing to take the risk, but my LSAT score from June already makes me borderline with a number of schools and I am worried a lower score will completely kill my chances. So I am basically wondering whether or not a lower score will be highly frowned upon during the application process.

(I am also not looking into T30 scores rather schools that are more along the lines of DePaul, Chicago-Kent, Marquette, etc. if that matters at all)

[Anne Chaconas]

Hey camkelly,

Whether a low score will kill your chances or or be highly frowned upon will depend, I think, on how much your score goes down--if it goes down by 2-3 points from your previous official score, it probably won't make a huge difference (the same can likely be said, unfortunately, of a 2-3 point increase--although, of course, a higher score is a higher score, and certainly looks better than a lower score ). If you're truly borderline, though, it could definitely have a significant effect, particularly if your GPA is also borderline. Not knowing your LSAT score, your GPA, or the actual schools you're applying to, I can't make much of a determination.

If, after doing a thorough self-examination of your performance (see here: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/should- ... sat-score/) you are still (a) not able to determine with any degree of accuracy which one your experimental section was, and/or (b) your fairly certain that your score will go down, it may be in your best interest to cancel and retake. Of course, as I always tell students, the decision of whether or not to cancel is one that is completely personal, and based on your own feelings of your test day performance compared to prior tests, the test center atmosphere, and your confidence in your knowledge of the material.

One thing you have to keep in mind is that, if you retake in December, that would have you submitting your applications in January, which is fairly late in the admissions cycle--any advantage that you could have potentially gotten from rolling admissions will be gone. If you were counting on submitting early to get a slight edge from rolling admissions, that would no longer be possible.

I hope that gave you at least some guidance. If you have any additional questions, please be sure to let me know!