Should I cancel? (I know, another one).

[emkay625]

First of all, you should know I'm retaking a 169. Also, I'm a splitter - GPA is 3.22.

Here's what happened:

Games was my first section.

And I lost my shit.

Had a complete meltdown during Game 3. As a result, only had 3 minutes to do Game 4. Did not diagram had anything. Basically guessed on all 5 questions on Game 4.

So, games could go as well as -3 (if the guessing gods love me or as poorly as -8. Probably -6 is likely.

The other 4 sections went brilliantly. Thought they were pretty easy.

My target school is WUSTL. Will they care if I retake and get a lower score? In other words, will getting a lower score hurt me - so I should cancel? Or, on the side of luck that I only went -4 or so on LG, should I not cancel and then if I get a lower score who gives a flip because WUSTL won't care?

Advice is appreciated.

[splitterfriendly]

Numbers-wise, you're in at WUSTL with the 169..

[zozin]

Numbers-wise, you're in at WUSTL with the 169..

With $$$.

If you'd be 100% happy to go to WUSTL, I would cancel.

[emkay625]

Numbers-wise, you're in at WUSTL with the 169..

With $$$.

If you'd be 100% happy to go to WUSTL, I would cancel.

That's the kicker. I'd be okay with WUSTL but top choice is Northwestern. They're why I'm retaking.

Would a lower score look so bad my in at WUSTL would be gone?

[franklyscarlet]

Numbers-wise, you're in at WUSTL with the 169..

With $$$.

If you'd be 100% happy to go to WUSTL, I would cancel.

That's the kicker. I'd be okay with WUSTL but top choice is Northwestern. They're why I'm retaking.

Would a lower score look so bad my in at WUSTL would be gone?

We're quite similar in numbers/choices/shit-losing. No ideas, but I sympathize

Edit for inadvertent Julius Caesar reference.

[equivocation]

Wish I could give constructive advice, I don't understand what happened with LG, it doesn't even make me feel better that other people struggled with it - it just makes me more frustrated with the LSAT. I think the hardest thing is doing so well in preptests and having high expectations and then when something goes wrong its like I know I can do better so I should try again. I'm a splitter too, 3.3 GPA so maybe I put too much pressure on this test and crumbled under it. I would say if you know deep down you can do better cancel and re-take, but maybe I'm biased because that's what I'm doing, good luck making your decision

[zozin]

That's the kicker. I'd be okay with WUSTL but top choice is Northwestern. They're why I'm retaking.

Would a lower score look so bad my in at WUSTL would be gone?

Then I'd keep the score. I doubt WUSTL will care, plus you have a one point cushion in case they want to raise their 75% LSAT.

[emkay625]

I guess what I'm saying is this:

Right now, the highest ranked school I could get into is WUSTL.

Will WUSTL see a 169 and a TBD lower score and be like why the hell did this girl go down on her retake let's not let her in? Or will they just see the 169, so I should not cancel in case that TBD lower score turns out to be, miracle of miracles a 170 or above?

[boblawlob]

deleted

[emkay625]

I guess what I'm saying is this:

Right now, the highest ranked school I could get into is WUSTL.

Will WUSTL see a 169 and a TBD lower score and be like why the hell did this girl go down on her retake let's not let her in? Or will they just see the 169, so I should not cancel in case that TBD lower score turns out to be, miracle of miracles a 170 or above?

addendum your TBD score?

I could, but I don't really have a reason. I found out my grandfather has cancer yesterday, which was really upsetting, but I don't think there's any connection between that and bombing my LG section. I bombed it because I got psyched out by the number of hypos in game 3 and ran out of time. Not because I was distracted.

[MTal]

Cancel. Forget law school and go work in retail.

[emkay625]

That's not very nice.

[mattviphky]

i'm sure i'm telling you something you already know, but to be a splitter that gets into NW it looks like you need bout a 171+ If you did get like a -4, you would need a -6 on everything else....I don't have any advice i guess, just saying. Plus that wouldn't get you any money at nw, but a 169 gets you 75-86k (or it did last cycle) at WUSTL. I dont know how they would feel bout a retake, but im sure its not a big deal. not like you went 169 to 156 or something whack like that. i cant imagine a marginally lower score would matter, but idk.

[mattviphky]

MTal, i never thought to ask, where did you go to law school?

[emkay625]

I am thinking about cancelling and retaking in December. Applying late would be a big disadvantage but I'm not sure what else to do.

Other thoughts or opinions are appreciated.

[Helmholtz]

Numbers-wise, you're in at WUSTL with the 169..

With $$$.

If you'd be 100% happy to go to WUSTL, I would cancel.

That's the kicker. I'd be okay with WUSTL but top choice is Northwestern. They're why I'm retaking.

All I can say is that you should do all you can to go to NU, and not WUSTL. I would cancel and then retake. Read the Midwest T25 OCI thread. You do not want to be at WUSTL, unless maybe you're from St. Louis, want to work there after graduation, and you're going for almost free. Do all you can to get into a T14 at the very least.

[Helmholtz]

I am thinking about cancelling and retaking in December. Applying late would be a big disadvantage but I'm not sure what else to do.

Other thoughts or opinions are appreciated.

Applying late or even, hell, waiting another year to apply will not be as bad as rolling the dice on being in the top 20% at WUSTL.

[emkay625]

Numbers-wise, you're in at WUSTL with the 169..

With $$$.

If you'd be 100% happy to go to WUSTL, I would cancel.

That's the kicker. I'd be okay with WUSTL but top choice is Northwestern. They're why I'm retaking.

All I can say is that you should do all you can to go to NU, and not WUSTL. I would cancel and then retake. Read the Midwest T25 OCI thread. You do not want to be at WUSTL, unless maybe you're from St. Louis, want to work there after graduation, and you're going for almost free. Do all you can to get into a T14 at the very least.

I agree with all of this. Here's my question:

Would a 169, 167, 171 look that much different to Northwestern than 169, cancel, 171?

I feel like today is 70/30 - 70 percent I got lower than 170, but 30 percent I broke it.

[Helmholtz]

I agree with all of this. Here's my question:

Would a 169, 167, 171 look that much different to Northwestern than 169, cancel, 171?

I feel like today is 70/30 - 70 percent I got lower than 170, but 30 percent I broke it.

In my few years on TLS, I don't think it's ever been definitively answered one way or the other. Way too many anecdotes and "common wisdom" floating around. The majority would probably say that it doesn't matter if the second score is lower—all the school will care about is the highest. I have my doubts as to this, but don't really have much to back up that doubt.

The advantage to canceling is a quick resolution to the problem and you can move forward with things (as you probably know, waiting for scores is just stressful and painful). Then again, maybe you did get really lucky, everybody had a really tough time on it, and you're sitting on a 175. It's a tough decision and I'm not sure anybody on here can tell you what's the best thing to do. I personally would cancel and make another go at it, but that's just me and I can't say not canceling is the wrong decision.

[zozin]

All I can say is that you should do all you can to go to NU, and not WUSTL. I would cancel and then retake. Read the Midwest T25 OCI thread. You do not want to be at WUSTL, unless maybe you're from St. Louis, want to work there after graduation, and you're going for almost free. Do all you can to get into a T14 at the very least.

FFFFFUUUUUUU HELM!!!

Here I was aiming for a 168 so I can get into WUSTL and be happy.

[Helmholtz]

All I can say is that you should do all you can to go to NU, and not WUSTL. I would cancel and then retake. Read the Midwest T25 OCI thread. You do not want to be at WUSTL, unless maybe you're from St. Louis, want to work there after graduation, and you're going for almost free. Do all you can to get into a T14 at the very least.

FFFFFUUUUUUU HELM!!!

Here I was aiming for a 168 so I can get into WUSTL and be happy.

There is a chance you will get into WUSTL and be happy. There is a bigger chance that you get into WUSTL and get completely smoked come job-hunting time. Look, I hate being that guy, but I'm at a T10 and I see some really good, really smart people in between top quarter and top half who are completely coming up empty at OCI. The people at median are mostly hit and miss—I feel like a lot of it boils down to luck. It's terrifying and sad to see it happen to people you know and like, and it becomes a lot more personal than seeing statistics on a website and knowing that XX% of people won't get a good job. You realize that you could easily have been in that situation. I know some people at WUSTL and it sounds many times worse there. Just realize what you're getting into.

[emkay625]

The thing that kills me is this happened last time. Maybe I am destined to NOT do well on this test. To hit 5 180's and 2 179's on PTs 51 - 63 and then to fuck it up like this is so frustrating I want to scream.

Le sigh. I feel like even if I cancel and retake, I'm out of chances (December, if I do it, would be try #3) and there's no guarantee this won't happen FOR A THIRD FREAKING TIME. So maybe I should cross my fingers and NOT cancel this time because at least there's a small chance this time?

[asunshinee]

The thing that kills me is this happened last time. Maybe I am destined to NOT do well on this test. To hit 5 180's and 2 179's on PTs 51 - 63 and then to fuck it up like this is so frustrating I want to scream.

Le sigh. I feel like even if I cancel and retake, I'm out of chances (December, if I do it, would be try #3) and there's no guarantee this won't happen FOR A THIRD FREAKING TIME. So maybe I should cross my fingers and NOT cancel this time because at least there's a small chance this time?

Everyone's going to tell you to cancel. If you think there is a 30% chance you broke the 170's, I would say thats a chance worth taking.

[Eco]

You should DEFINITELY cancel. You can retake in December and get into some great law schools.

[emkay625]

Here's my question then:

Is a 169, 167, 171 REALLY that much worse than a 169, cancel, 171?