Explaining large discrepancy in LSAT scores? Forum

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Pvolt

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Explaining large discrepancy in LSAT scores?

Post by Pvolt » Fri Jan 07, 2011 8:06 pm

Hey everyone, I have been using this website for information for quite some time, but this is my first post.. I had a question and I was hoping someone here would be able to give me some advice. Let me apologize in advance for the length of this post, but the situation is slightly involved and needs a bit of explaining My question is: When applying to schools should I attach a document that explains a large discrepancy between my scores on the LSAT. I took the LSAT three times. The first time I took the test was almost immediately after graduating from college. I had minimal time to study and aside from looking over some sample questions and such I did not prepare to much and got only about a 152. I made a quasi spur of the moment decision to take the test a second time. This time around I did not have much time to study and prep and did a little better with a 155. I was still very unpleased with this score and decided to take it one more time. However, this time around I knew what to expect and put aside enough time to properly prepare for the test. Furthermore, I have dyslexia which inhibits my reading speed. Due to this, I applied for extended time the third time I took the exam and was granted this accommodation for only the reading comprehension section of the test. I got my results the other day and did much better this time and got a 167 which is quite an improvement from the first time I took it. I have two large concerns though. First, I am worried that they will see two scores in the 150s and think that the most recent score was an outlier and thus less indicative of my ability than the other two scores. Second, I am concerned that they may accredit the improvement entirely up to the extended time . While I will not claim that the extra time did not help, the reality is that it was only for reading comprehension which only improved four raw points from the second time I took the test. This of course does not come close to accounting for the 12 point increase in my raw score.

So, I was wondering with the situation being what it is, do you think that it would be worth attaching to my application a letter that explains the reason for the difference in my scores? I know that some schools still look at all the scores or average the score and I was hoping that if I explained my situation they would understand that my most recent score is a more accurate measure, Any advice on the issue would be truly appreciated.

-Thanks

bk1

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Re: Explaining large discrepancy in LSAT scores?

Post by bk1 » Fri Jan 07, 2011 8:08 pm

You have a legitimate medical condition for which LSAC felt justified to grant you an extension.

Just write an addendum saying that you are dyslexic and had not applied for extra time. You did so on a 3rd try and thus feel that the 3rd try is more representative of your true ability.

They will only care about your high score. No school is going to bat an eye at the other two.

Pvolt

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Re: Explaining large discrepancy in LSAT scores?

Post by Pvolt » Fri Jan 07, 2011 9:16 pm

Thanks a lot for the input, I really appreciate it. If that is the case, I will write an addendum and include it to my application package.

Thanks again

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