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Everything I have read tells me that LSAT addendum's hurt more than they help. But a school I am applying to has asked for one. How does this sound?

I understand the huge disparity in a 14 point increase between LSAT administrations, and I would like to offer an explanation as to why my abilities more closely reflect the higher score. A couple days preceding my first LSAT administration, I had developed a highly painful and extremely sensitive area of my chest, with no visible marks to distinguish it as anything. During the test the pain had intensified with every subtle movement, consequently removing my focus from the test itself, and onto the pain. When I got home, I took off my shirt to reveal a rash manifested through red puffy bumps across my chest. I went to the doctor the next day and was told that I had developed a case of the shingles. I was given medication to sooth the pain and itching and was told that I would recover in roughly six weeks. I take full responsibility for not canceling my test after what I had to endure during the test. I had been scoring well in practice tests up to that point, and was confident that although I probably didn’t do my best, I probably did well enough to be ok. I was wrong.

The score being as low as it was, I thought long and hard about giving up my dreams of law school. Instead I signed up for the September administration and decided to give myself a chance. After the test I was ambivalent about my performance; thoughts ruminated of the horror of receiving my 147 a year earlier, and I decided to cancel. I was disappointed after canceling the September test, immediately regretting my actions. I signed up for the December test, felt worse about this test than in September, and ultimately received a 161.

onthecusp wrote:Everything I have read tells me that LSAT addendum's hurt more than they help. But a school I am applying to has asked for one. How does this sound?

I understand the huge disparity in a 14 point increase between LSAT administrations, and I would like to offer an explanation as to why my abilities more closely reflect the higher score. A couple days preceding my first LSAT administration, I had developed a highly painful and extremely sensitive area of my chest, with no visible marks to distinguish it as anything. During the test the pain had intensified with every subtle movement, consequently removing my focus from the test itself, and onto the pain. When I got home, I took off my shirt to reveal a rash manifested through red puffy bumps across my chest. I went to the doctor the next day and was told that I had developed a case of the shingles. I was given medication to sooth the pain and itching and was told that I would recover in roughly six weeks. I take full responsibility for not canceling my test after what I had to endure during the test. I had been scoring well in practice tests up to that point, and was confident that although I probably didn’t do my best, I probably did well enough to be ok. I was wrong.

Blunt. However, I do not think you want to end any piece of your application with the line "I was wrong" at the end.

A bit wordy.

isn't "ok" a bit informal for an application?

bceagles182 wrote:isn't "ok" a bit informal for an application?

Yes, I wrote this 5 minutes ago. I'm against having to write this in the first place...but they asked for it. I'm fixing it now.

Is this better?

I understand the huge disparity in a 14 point increase between LSAT administrations, and I would like to offer an explanation as to why my abilities more closely reflect the higher score. A couple days preceding my first LSAT administration, I developed a highly painful, extremely sensitive area of my chest, with no visible marks to alert me that something might be wrong. During the test the pain had intensified with every subtle movement, consequently transferring my focus onto the searing, burning pain. When I got home, I took off my shirt to reveal a rash manifested through red puffy bumps across my chest. I went to the doctor the next day and was told that I had developed a case of the shingles. I was given medication to sooth the pain and itching and was told that I would recover in roughly six weeks. I take full responsibility for not canceling my test after what I had to endure. I had been scoring well in practice tests up to that point, and was confident that although I probably didn’t do my best, I probably did well enough to score around my average. Unfortunately, I grossly miscalculated my performance.

The score being as low as it was, I thought long and hard about giving up my dreams of law school. Instead I signed up for the September administration and decided to give myself a chance. After the test I was ambivalent about my performance; thoughts ruminated of the horror of receiving my 147 a year earlier, and I decided to cancel. I was disappointed after canceling the September test, immediately regretting my actions. I signed up for the December test, felt worse about this test than in September, and ultimately received a 161.

Honestly, I don't think we need the details of the "red puffy bumps". Saying you had a rash would be far enough for me

ec2xs wrote:Honestly, I don't think we need the details of the "red puffy bumps". Saying you had a rash would be far enough for me

Yeah I thought about that. I just wanted them to know that it really was shingles, and they could look it up if they wanted to at WebMD.

Okay, seriously, this can be done in three sentences:

The 14-point discrepancy in my two LSAT scores is due to illness. The day of the first test I developed an increasingly painful rash on my chest, and at the hospital a doctor diagnosed me with a case of shingles. The pain was a distraction during the test, but I did not realize my score would suffer so much so I opted not to cancel.

Tanicius wrote:Okay, seriously, this can be done in three sentences:

The 14-point discrepancy in my two LSAT scores is due to illness. The day of the first test I developed an increasingly painful rash on my chest, and at the hospital a doctor diagnosed me with a case of shingles. The pain was a distraction during the test, but I did not realize my score would suffer so much so I opted not to cancel.

Tanicius...as usual...you are the man.

Shorter is better...your version sounds like you don't want to write the addendum...which law school is it for?

Tanicius wrote:Okay, seriously, this can be done in three sentences:

The 14-point discrepancy in my two LSAT scores is due to illness. The day of the first test I developed an increasingly painful rash on my chest, and at the hospital a doctor diagnosed me with a case of shingles. The pain was a distraction during the test, but I did not realize my score would suffer so much so I opted not to cancel.

This, but add "later" at the hospital. Also add one sentence at the end to say, "I believe my second score more accurately reflects my ability."