Canceling LSAT score

[wonnelle]

Hi! I took my first LSAT in April and got a score of 168.
My PT average for the last five is 173, although sometimes I do get occasional 16mid to high.
I'm also registered for the upcoming June exam, and I'm aiming for 175+.

In this case would I be better off canceling my 168?
1)168-> 175 shows improvement, which I heard some law schools view positively
but 2) I also heard some schools average the scores for admissions

Is there some sort of a rule of thumb in deciding whether to keep/cancel the score?

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Hi! I took my first LSAT in April and got a score of 168.
My PT average for the last five is 173, although sometimes I do get occasional 16mid to high.
I'm also registered for the upcoming June exam, and I'm aiming for 175+.

In this case would I be better off canceling my 168?
1)168-> 175 shows improvement, which I heard some law schools view positively
but 2) I also heard some schools average the scores for admissions

Is there some sort of a rule of thumb in deciding whether to keep/cancel the score?

Hi wonnelle,

Thanks for the question!

Our take here is that you should more than likely cancel this score. It's not because the law schools will hold you to this 168—they won't! (Also, schools don't average LSAT scores. They only consider your highest score, which is the one they report to the ABA.)

It's more because in our experience, once an applicant has a score on record that they know is lower than their potential, it creates a sort of mental drag on them, and increases pressure for their next take. That can cause issues, so since in this case if you are certain (and this is key) that you can outperform the 168, it only harms you since it will be in the back of your mind. Cancelling erases that issue, hence our recommendation.

But if you were uncertain about outperforming the 168, then we'd say keep it without hesitation. So, there are nuances here.

I hope this helps! Let us know if you have any additional questions!