Choked, should I cancel? Forum

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dba415

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Choked, should I cancel?

Post by dba415 » Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:35 pm

First time taking the LSAT, and I choked on LG and then RC was hard.

I'm thinking I did terribly, did not even start the 2nd passage in RC until 5 mins left so I guessed on all of them. In LG, the same thing applied with the 3rd game, so I guessed on 90% of those questions.

My goal coming in was a 170, my avg on PTs was probably a 168, with a couple 170s, 166, 167.

RC is my worst so no surprise there, but I was routinely getting -1/-2/-3 on LG in all of my PTs, so whatever happened today is just killing me.

Should I just cancel? I know that I didn't get my goal, and probably did worse than all of my PTs

rth887

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by rth887 » Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:38 pm

I was in a similar situation in June and cancelled. It might not be a bad idea if you don't mind retaking.

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RCinDNA

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by RCinDNA » Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:44 pm

I'm conflicted on this, as well. I was getting 160s with highs of 168-170 a couple of weeks ago. I went in trying to think of it as a practice, but some of the sections seemed as if the test makers were trying different strategies to break down the scoring. It doesn't help that some of the things they usually test on were presented in a weird way this time around, making it hard to figure out where I fell.

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jrthor10

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by jrthor10 » Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:48 pm

FWIW I went through this on the Oct. test and decided NOT to cancel. The curve ended up being a monster -13 and I got a 164. Not great, but I felt better going into this one and I didn't get the eebie jeebies on the LG's like i did on the last ones. I would recommend not canceling--you never know what you might get, and I've never been convinced of the benefits of canceling an "okay" score.

piousa

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by piousa » Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:50 pm

Judging by how many questions you guessed , I would definitely cancel it b/c you guess at least 15 questions on reading comprehension and that could be the fall.

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dba415

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by dba415 » Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:51 pm

piousa wrote:Judging by how many questions you guessed , I would definitely cancel it b/c you guess at least 15 questions on reading comprehension and that could be the fall.
lol no I skipped around, I did the 2nd passage last because it was the shortest one...even still that's a lot of guesses

some more details..

even though I guessed on 7 of the LG I am pretty confident that the ones I actually answered were right, so best case scenario would be -5 total on LG, worst case is -7.

RC though is probably going to be my worst section, I'm thinking disastrous, maybe -11, not sure cause it was hard overall and even the ones I did do I wasn't too sure about.

That's already -16 or -18 not counting the 2 LR, though I thought they were not bad I would say -8 would be a solid estimate, maybe better, or maybe worse, my confidence was shot after the LG and I never fully recovered for the last 3 sections so it's possible that I screwed up even though the questions were rarely stumping like some of the ones I have pted. If I did awesome on LR I'd st

That would put me -24 or -26, if I did awesome on LR I would still be -20 at least....

holy **** this is pathetic, I'm pretty sure I will cancel now, not interested in going to any law school that would accept me with that score anyway.

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TIKITEMBO

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by TIKITEMBO » Sat Dec 03, 2011 5:19 pm

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Last edited by TIKITEMBO on Thu Sep 20, 2012 1:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

tropicanax

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by tropicanax » Sat Dec 03, 2011 11:00 pm

dba415 wrote:First time taking the LSAT, and I choked on LG and then RC was hard.

I'm thinking I did terribly, did not even start the 2nd passage in RC until 5 mins left so I guessed on all of them. In LG, the same thing applied with the 3rd game, so I guessed on 90% of those questions.

My goal coming in was a 170, my avg on PTs was probably a 168, with a couple 170s, 166, 167.

RC is my worst so no surprise there, but I was routinely getting -1/-2/-3 on LG in all of my PTs, so whatever happened today is just killing me.

Should I just cancel? I know that I didn't get my goal, and probably did worse than all of my PTs

totally same boat... don't know what to do either and this is my retake from october where RC owned me.

this time was worse....ahsdlkghalghalkg

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RCinDNA

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by RCinDNA » Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:04 am

[quot]ahsdlkghalghalkg[/quote]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNFMPhKIZXg

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RCinDNA

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by RCinDNA » Sun Dec 04, 2011 11:43 am

chemteacher wrote:I'm in the same boat. Stress and a barometric pressure induced migraine shot me down.

My test was LR-LG-LR-LR-RC, I didn't get to bubble 2 answers on the first LR, and then I guessed on at least 8 (if not 10) of the LG because my brain couldn't think quickly enough to sort the information. I think I did ok on the other 2 LR, but then came the RC and the blackmail question. I put that one until last, and had 5 minutes to answer it, and just bubbled in anything for 2 of them. LG is my weak area, because of the time constraints, but RC is usually my strongest area, so this is unusual for me.

I'm torn about whether to cancel. I couldn't tell you what I answered on two of the Logic Games because I was in such blinding pain at the time. I'd like to be able to analyze my choices, even though I know I'll need to retake. I'm not in dire need of a career change, and I have a good job, so there is no sense of desperation at the moment.

Any advice would be appreciated, and I feel your pain.
I've been working as a paralegal for the past seven years, so I fall into that nontraditional category, as well. I hear the admissions people are more forgiving towards lower LSAT scores, but I wouldn't want to send in an application and find out by getting denied.

Konner

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by Konner » Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:34 pm

dba415 wrote:First time taking the LSAT, and I choked on LG and then RC was hard.

I'm thinking I did terribly, did not even start the 2nd passage in RC until 5 mins left so I guessed on all of them. In LG, the same thing applied with the 3rd game, so I guessed on 90% of those questions.

My goal coming in was a 170, my avg on PTs was probably a 168, with a couple 170s, 166, 167.

RC is my worst so no surprise there, but I was routinely getting -1/-2/-3 on LG in all of my PTs, so whatever happened today is just killing me.

Should I just cancel? I know that I didn't get my goal, and probably did worse than all of my PTs
Assuming that you haven't acted on your later response about canceling, I would give this further thought before doing so.

First, it's fine to hope, but it's not realistic to rely on a better score than you achieved in your average practice conditions -- that is, unless those 170s were appearing in your last couple of practice administrations.

Second, if you're a perfectionist, it's natural to walk away remembering all of your failures, even if you felt strong about your performance during individual sections. It doesn't help that canceling is set forth as an option at the beginning, and twice after the test.

Third, by canceling, you're saying that you could do better on future administrations. The test is highly "learnable," but not by everyone. And given a cake LR, 4 linear LGs, and 4 interesting (to you) RCs with questions you feel are no-brainers, your personal testing behaviors would still have a serious impact.

Full disclosure: I'm not an HLS hopeful. I'm aiming low 1st tier, high second tier. If my scores aren't what I want them to be, I'll adjust my expectations. Any school that isn't Cooley (or that online school), will likely suit me, as I have no big law dreams, have worked in legal settings, and practically have a satisfying job waiting for me. That that for what it's worth.

HellOnHeels

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by HellOnHeels » Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:49 pm

chemteacher wrote:
RCinDNA wrote:
chemteacher wrote:I'm in the same boat. Stress and a barometric pressure induced migraine shot me down.

My test was LR-LG-LR-LR-RC, I didn't get to bubble 2 answers on the first LR, and then I guessed on at least 8 (if not 10) of the LG because my brain couldn't think quickly enough to sort the information. I think I did ok on the other 2 LR, but then came the RC and the blackmail question. I put that one until last, and had 5 minutes to answer it, and just bubbled in anything for 2 of them. LG is my weak area, because of the time constraints, but RC is usually my strongest area, so this is unusual for me.

I'm torn about whether to cancel. I couldn't tell you what I answered on two of the Logic Games because I was in such blinding pain at the time. I'd like to be able to analyze my choices, even though I know I'll need to retake. I'm not in dire need of a career change, and I have a good job, so there is no sense of desperation at the moment.

Any advice would be appreciated, and I feel your pain.
I've been working as a paralegal for the past seven years, so I fall into that nontraditional category, as well. I hear the admissions people are more forgiving towards lower LSAT scores, but I wouldn't want to send in an application and find out by getting denied.
...

I'm having margaritas with the girls later. Maybe that will make me feel better.
Do you have the pills you take to stop a migraine once they stop? Maybe ask you dr about them.

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RCinDNA

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by RCinDNA » Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:59 pm

I'm having margaritas with the girls later. Maybe that will make me feel better.
I hope you feel better (or at least helps you take your mind off of this annoying test)! I do think it bears mentioning that many law schools not only look at positive work experience for nontraditional students as a bonus, but they also might be more lenient given your obvious intellectual achievements and the fact that you're a parent. Have you tried asking in the Admissions and URM forums? Obviously, though, you'll have a better idea where you stand when you get your score - if it's in the 160s, I would think a great personal statement would get you pretty far - the whole "While these kids were taking tests for 7 straight years, I was raising a family, holding down a job and pursuing higher education." angle is quite impressive on it's own. I'm in the copyright field so I'm curious which science courses you took; are you interested in patent law by any chance?

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tropicanax

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by tropicanax » Sun Dec 04, 2011 6:23 pm

Konner wrote:
dba415 wrote:First time taking the LSAT, and I choked on LG and then RC was hard.

I'm thinking I did terribly, did not even start the 2nd passage in RC until 5 mins left so I guessed on all of them. In LG, the same thing applied with the 3rd game, so I guessed on 90% of those questions.

My goal coming in was a 170, my avg on PTs was probably a 168, with a couple 170s, 166, 167.

RC is my worst so no surprise there, but I was routinely getting -1/-2/-3 on LG in all of my PTs, so whatever happened today is just killing me.

Should I just cancel? I know that I didn't get my goal, and probably did worse than all of my PTs
Assuming that you haven't acted on your later response about canceling, I would give this further thought before doing so.

First, it's fine to hope, but it's not realistic to rely on a better score than you achieved in your average practice conditions -- that is, unless those 170s were appearing in your last couple of practice administrations.

Second, if you're a perfectionist, it's natural to walk away remembering all of your failures, even if you felt strong about your performance during individual sections. It doesn't help that canceling is set forth as an option at the beginning, and twice after the test.

Third, by canceling, you're saying that you could do better on future administrations. The test is highly "learnable," but not by everyone. And given a cake LR, 4 linear LGs, and 4 interesting (to you) RCs with questions you feel are no-brainers, your personal testing behaviors would still have a serious impact.

Full disclosure: I'm not an HLS hopeful. I'm aiming low 1st tier, high second tier. If my scores aren't what I want them to be, I'll adjust my expectations. Any school that isn't Cooley (or that online school), will likely suit me, as I have no big law dreams, have worked in legal settings, and practically have a satisfying job waiting for me. That that for what it's worth.

to OP, if you guessed on 3 entire passages, i highly doubt it will come out to be anywhere near a 170 :| I''m on the same boat, but half-assed three passages while panicking about no time for the 4th and guessed on a 6 question one. For LG it should be -0 and LR i'm guessting best case -6 total and worst case -11. For RC i'm thinking best case -14 and worst -17.. based on those numbers and if the curve is like october's, best case i can get a 165... worst case 160. definitely no 170 :( i don't know if i should cancel either.. but hopefully im underestimating my panicked state while doing RC's and some (all) of my guesses come out correct -_-

dba415

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Re: Choked, should I cancel?

Post by dba415 » Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:46 pm

dba415 wrote:
piousa wrote:Judging by how many questions you guessed , I would definitely cancel it b/c you guess at least 15 questions on reading comprehension and that could be the fall.
lol no I skipped around, I did the 2nd passage last because it was the shortest one...even still that's a lot of guesses

some more details..

even though I guessed on 7 of the LG I am pretty confident that the ones I actually answered were right, so best case scenario would be -5 total on LG, worst case is -7.

RC though is probably going to be my worst section, I'm thinking disastrous, maybe -11, not sure cause it was hard overall and even the ones I did do I wasn't too sure about.

That's already -16 or -18 not counting the 2 LR, though I thought they were not bad I would say -8 would be a solid estimate, maybe better, or maybe worse, my confidence was shot after the LG and I never fully recovered for the last 3 sections so it's possible that I screwed up even though the questions were rarely stumping like some of the ones I have pted. If I did awesome on LR I'd st

That would put me -24 or -26, if I did awesome on LR I would still be -20 at least....

holy **** this is pathetic, I'm pretty sure I will cancel now, not interested in going to any law school that would accept me with that score anyway.
Hey look, I guessed right. I got -24 on the actual thing for a 163 :(

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