Cancellation vs. Low score - what's better and why? Forum

[shinyusername]

Why is a cancellation and high score from a retake better than having a 150 with a 165+ if the school one applies to takes the highest score? And what if you add some BS (or legitimate) addendum for the lower score?

I stalked opinions on this before today, but I'm so burnt out I can't remember the answer to my question. Because my brain is mush now, I'm about ready to argue a cancellation looks worse because you lack the balls to face the facts and when you get that next kick ass score, they'll see you've made adjustments and improved. Of course at 6AM today, I was saying a cancellation shows your ability to assess yourself and make good judgement blah blah blah.

Basically.........I'm stuck in the vortex of deliberation regarding my score today. Please helpppp

[tazmolover]

How low in the 150's?

[shinyusername]

Eh, I'll say anywhere from 150-155.

[cmattos]

I would like to know this as well...Pretty sure I did kinda horrible.

[tazmolover]

It matters for top top schools.

Most schools it won't matter much. There is a rumor/myth persisting around that in cases such as 155/165 vs 165, schools will take the 165 over the 155/165 even if they don't average.

[jwmalone87]

Ditto. Especially considering I have one score on record already.

[Bruins101]

.

[eve2490]

.

[voltage88]

I thought about cancelling for a hot second but then chose not to. Maybe I did better than I thought I did. And also, having a score before taking the December test, whatever that score might be, to fall back onto if you desperately need to apply for next fall might be a psychological boost since it won't feel like you're putting all your chips in one basket. I think that's how I felt about this October test and totally choked on the first LR section before warming up to the test.

[voltage88]

I thought about cancelling for a hot second but then chose not to. Maybe I did better than I thought I did. And also, having a score before taking the December test, whatever that score might be, to fall back onto if you desperately need to apply for next fall might be a psychological boost since it won't feel like you're putting all your chips in one basket. I think that's how I felt about this October test and totally choked on the first LR section before warming up to the test.

i meant eggs in one basket. i dunno. my brain is fried.

[shinyusername]

Most schools it won't matter much. There is a rumor/myth persisting around that in cases such as 155/165 vs 165, schools will take the 165 over the 155/165 even if they don't average.

Right, I keep reading that rumor, but rarely does anyone say WHY one is favored over the other (and just to note, I'm asking for 155/165 vs. cancel/165 'cause I suppose 155/165 vs 165 is a completely different situation and not one that applies to me at all). I just don't understand the differentiation... A cancellation most likely indicates the applicant would've received a low score and a 155 IS a low score, so why not weigh them similarly, if at all, when there's another much higher score? ... sigh.

I thought about cancelling for a hot second but then chose not to. Maybe I did better than I thought I did. And also, having a score before taking the December test, whatever that score might be, to fall back onto if you desperately need to apply for next fall might be a psychological boost since it won't feel like you're putting all your chips in one basket. I think that's how I felt about this October test and totally choked on the first LR section before warming up to the test.

Yeah, I kinda feel that way too. Think I'm just gonna deal with whatever score I get. I want an idea of how I did so I don't come out in Dec thinking I bombed it when I did better than I thought or vice versa. My brain's fried too, woooo

[Veyron]

You people are idiots, cancel. Many schools still average or at least take all scores into account.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

If you are confident you got a low score it's quite simple:

You people are idiots, cancel. Many schools still average or at least take all scores into account.

[Spinozist21]

You people are idiots, cancel. Many schools still average or at least take all scores into account.

Umm...I am not sure this is correct. I think most schools take highest scores actually. Outside the top 14 that is.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

You people are idiots, cancel. Many schools still average or at least take all scores into account.

Umm...I am not sure this is correct. I think most schools take highest scores actually. Outside the top 14 that is.

His point is still valid. Why take an extra risk when it's not needed? I have 3 scores on record and I'm pretty confident it had a somewhat of negative effect on my cycle, much more so than 2 cancels (or 2 absences or a combo) would have had.

[GoGetIt]

Choices:

A) Take the test and score poorly. Then allow access to the school, that I aspire to attend, to see the poor score as well.

B) Take the test and score poorly. Cancel the score (that the school I aspire to go to will NEVER see). Retake and then have one competitive score.

Which option seems like the more logical decision to make? IMO, a low score is like a scar that mutilates your law school application, it's just always there. Why give yourself that scar if you don't have to?

[CGI Fridays]

U Mich & UVA both weigh them all, per their FAQ page.
Read the FAQ to see what school X says. Sure, take it with a grain of salt if you'd like.

[DoctorLaw]

http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/ca ... -lsat.html

this has all the answers, If more than one absent and one cancellation.. how it shows your are a flake and cant handle the pressure of taking a test...

low score sometimes tell the Law school admissions that you tried your initial time and sat through the whole test and if you get a second score which is higher by alot you add an addendum explaining why the increase....

[Richie Tenenbaum]

http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/ca ... -lsat.html

this has all the answers, If more than one absent and one cancellation.. how it shows your are a flake and cant handle the pressure of taking a test...

low score sometimes tell the Law school admissions that you tried your initial time and sat through the whole test and if you get a second score which is higher by alot you add an addendum explaining why the increase....

How did you get just taking the low score as the recommended path? That article clearly identifies keeping the low score as the worst option.

[tazmolover]

You people are idiots, cancel. Many schools still average or at least take all scores into account.

What if you think you scored 160-165 but you practice in 167-170 and want a score around 170?

Still cancel? Or just take it and hope you got a few lucky guesses?

[Veyron]

You people are idiots, cancel. Many schools still average or at least take all scores into account.

What if you think you scored 160-165 but you practice in 167-170 and want a score around 170?

Still cancel? Or just take it and hope you got a few lucky guesses?

Yes, still cancel. You probably did worse than you think and besides, there is no school worth paying for at 160-165 absent an extremely high GPA and it is not a high enough score for a full ride to your state flagship.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

You people are idiots, cancel. Many schools still average or at least take all scores into account.

What if you think you scored 160-165 but you practice in 167-170 and want a score around 170?

Still cancel? Or just take it and hope you got a few lucky guesses?

Yes, still cancel. You probably did worse than you think and besides, there is no school worth paying for at 160-165 absent an extremely high GPA and it is not a high enough score for a full ride to your state flagship.

I'm not as endorsing of this. Unless you're quite confident that you underperformed due to messing up quite badly on a section or two, it can be pretty hard to get an accurate gauge on how you did. I was pretty good at gauging my score, and I walked out of my third take thinking I got a score range that ended up being 5-6 points off.

tl;dr version: Don't cancel based on a gut feeling you did bad; cancel based on guessing on 5 questions on LG when you usually go -0.

[tazmolover]

You people are idiots, cancel. Many schools still average or at least take all scores into account.

What if you think you scored 160-165 but you practice in 167-170 and want a score around 170?

Still cancel? Or just take it and hope you got a few lucky guesses?

Yes, still cancel. You probably did worse than you think and besides, there is no school worth paying for at 160-165 absent an extremely high GPA and it is not a high enough score for a full ride to your state flagship.

Well I'm retaking either way.

The only reason I would like to have the score is even though I did bomb one section, I think I did fairly well on all the other sections.

Also I would like to see what score I got.

And does having a lower score HURT for schools that say they don't average or look at both?

[PDaddy]

You people are idiots, cancel. Many schools still average or at least take all scores into account.

Umm...I am not sure this is correct. I think most schools take highest scores actually. Outside the top 14 that is.

The only T14 that averages is NYU. All schools are going to look at all scores, which is a no brainer. However, schools are ranking conscious, and if they can get an attractive candidate in by taking his highest score, which is all they have to report to the ABA, they will do it.

In the end, your lower scores don't matter. Even NYU will deviate from their stated policy of averaging scores if it means they beat out Columbia for candidates and maintain or improve their ranking. Why wouldn't they take advantage of the ABA's policy of reporting only the highest scores? It doesn't even make sense? Personally, I think the adcom at NYU is lying about averaging to make the school appear that it doesn't game the rankings.

[CGI Fridays]

FWIW, U Mich & UVA both state that they look at all scores, apparently 'cause it's been found that your average is a better indicator than your top. They say that ABA says only to count the highest "so it's given the most weight".

IMO, the way it's worded clearly suggests that, all things being equal, you're def better off with a single good score.