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sunrunner wrote:I scored a 164 in September, good enough to get into most of the schools I want. Just retook the February test. Did well until I got to games late in the test. Due to fatigue, I just couldn't concentrate and it's very likely that I bombed that portion badly. Very likely that I did worse than my 164.

Here is the thing. I canceled in 2002 and 2006 when I was less serious about attending. Those times I just thought I didn't do well enough. Will ad comms think that three cancelations is just too many and disregard my file, even though I have a 164? Am I going to be in a better position with those cancellations from years ago, a 164, and what was probably a 157-ish? Which would look worse?

I'm applying to schools like Pittsburgh, Temple, Ohio St, Arizona State, SMU, Arizona, Colorado, Santa Clara, and Richmond.

GPA 3.18.

The cancellation is not going to hurt you at all so no worries. However, if you're absolutely sure you'll get a <164 on February LSAT, then cancel and forge ahead with your 164.

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Its way better to just have a 164 with a plurality of cancels than a 164, a <164 (for ex, 162 or below) and a bunch of cancels.

From what i've seen on this forum, a lot of people thought the games are especially difficult so there might be a curve. Therefore, do not panick and re-assess the situation. If you absolutely believe you got more than 8 wrongs on the game, then cancel. If not, stick with it.

Personally I'd keep the test and see what I got on the test. Retake in June if you did bad.

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how long does it take for an LSAT score to drop off? Five years? I'm pretty sure schools will only consider a maximum of three administrations, including cancellations. I could be wrong on that, so hopefully someone with experience on that issue will come in.

As long as the schools look at the highest, not the average, you're fine with a lower score. I wouldn't cancel. Who knows, maybe you just think you did bad and pulled 165+!

When you cancelled in the past how did those turn out? If you have the same feeling and your old scores aligned with those feelings then I say trust your gut.

If you think there's a non-negligible chance you did better, don't cancel. The subjective damage of losing a point or two will already be inflicted by canceling. On the other hand, a 165 or 166 could help you get money.

GL.

Although I'm no adcom, I'm of the opinion that a cancel is just as bad as a slightly lower score. Unless you are sure you got a 155 or something, I would see what your score is. I've been pretty poor at predicting my score in the past despite taking a lot of practice tests. Sometimes you surprise yourself.

As for schools, if they say they take the highest score, they probably mean it. That's all they have to report to US News, so that's what really matters in the end.

I have a very similar problem...
I'm applying to the Fall 2011 term, which means I have some time, but I would love to be done taking this exam.
In dec I scored a 161. Pretty on par with my practice exams (between 159-165).
I'm applying to FSU as a safe school, but I'm really reaching for schools more like Fordham, UNC, UGA, Emory, Wake Forest, UVA (in a dream world).
So I know a 161 has me at like 40% odds of admittance to Fordham, for example, with a 3.9 GPA (but coming from FSU)

I just took the Feb LSAT and I know I bombed the games section. The other sections I finished completely and felt relatively confident, however. When I try and predict my range of best and worst possibilities it's about 158-164. So I'm debating whether to cancel because I think below a 161 really does not help my already low chances of getting into these schools.
But since I only think I did poorly on one section, is that reason to cancel?

Basically the question is, would obtaining a 162/163 on the Feb LSAT be helpful enough in applying to these schools that it's worth the risk of a score like 158? (Which would make my average a 160)?

I really need help deciding to cancel!!!!

In response to you, I think your 164 is plenty to get you into most of the schools you mentioned that I wouldn't risk a lower score, especially with so many previous cancellations.

Please any comments help!

JCougar wrote:Although I'm no adcom, I'm of the opinion that a cancel is just as bad as a slightly lower score. Unless you are sure you got a 155 or something, I would see what your score is. I've been pretty poor at predicting my score in the past despite taking a lot of practice tests. Sometimes you surprise yourself.

As for schools, if they say they take the highest score, they probably mean it. That's all they have to report to US News, so that's what really matters in the end.

I may have scored as low as 157. That's what I'm thinking. I've called a few of these schools to see what their policy is on lower scores, and they say that they take the better, but some of them "look at all scores and take the higher." So if I score something crazy low like a 156, how would they view that as opposed to a cancel? That is my dilemna.

Schools that take 3.2/164 don't care about anything but the highest score.

sunrunner wrote:

JCougar wrote:Although I'm no adcom, I'm of the opinion that a cancel is just as bad as a slightly lower score. Unless you are sure you got a 155 or something, I would see what your score is. I've been pretty poor at predicting my score in the past despite taking a lot of practice tests. Sometimes you surprise yourself.

As for schools, if they say they take the highest score, they probably mean it. That's all they have to report to US News, so that's what really matters in the end.

I may have scored as low as 157. That's what I'm thinking. I've called a few of these schools to see what their policy is on lower scores, and they say that they take the better, but some of them "look at all scores and take the higher." So if I score something crazy low like a 156, how would they view that as opposed to a cancel? That is my dilemna.

I really don't know, but I assume they "look at" both scores because it would be bad PR to say "we will ignore all but your best score because to us the only thing that matters is what we report to US News." I really do think this is what these schools care about. They want to raise their rankings and be able to lure employers to OCI by saing "our entering class has this median." Overlooking a higher LSAT score for a lower one will only hurt them in this regard, so they probably don't do it. Above median LSATs once you get into the 90th percentile are hard to come by and give a lot of value to you as an applicant.

JCougar wrote:

sunrunner wrote:

JCougar wrote:Although I'm no adcom, I'm of the opinion that a cancel is just as bad as a slightly lower score. Unless you are sure you got a 155 or something, I would see what your score is. I've been pretty poor at predicting my score in the past despite taking a lot of practice tests. Sometimes you surprise yourself.

As for schools, if they say they take the highest score, they probably mean it. That's all they have to report to US News, so that's what really matters in the end.

I may have scored as low as 157. That's what I'm thinking. I've called a few of these schools to see what their policy is on lower scores, and they say that they take the better, but some of them "look at all scores and take the higher." So if I score something crazy low like a 156, how would they view that as opposed to a cancel? That is my dilemna.

I really don't know, but I assume they "look at" both scores because it would be bad PR to say "we will ignore all but your best score because to us the only thing that matters is what we report to US News." I really do think this is what these schools care about. They want to raise their rankings and be able to lure employers to OCI by saing "our entering class has this median." Overlooking a higher LSAT score for a lower one will only hurt them in this regard, so they probably don't do it. Above median LSATs once you get into the 90th percentile are hard to come by and give a lot of value to you as an applicant.

I guess you're right. That makes sense. There are schools that hope to attract scorers in the low to mid 160s, as it does help boost/maintain their numbers overall. Actually, pretty much any school beyond T1 and even a few T1s would seem to be in this category.

I was just worried about a higer score followed by a lower, but I'm sure most schools wanting to admit somebody for their own numbers purposes will overlook such performance and chalk it up to a bad day. After all, it is easier for a person to play below their level by having a bad day than for somebody who routinely scores in the 150s on practice tests to have a remarkable day and break into the 160s. A cold, stress, or whatever can bring down a score, but everything has to be almost perfect for a mediocre test taker to kill it on the real thing. Leaning toward keeping it now. Not sure, but leaning. Thanks for the advice, peeps.

I guess another way to look at it is a 165 or a 166 helps you a ton more than a 157 would hurt. If you screwed up only one section, it's still very possible for you to get a 165 or 166.

Is it totally impossible that you did better this time?

JCougar wrote:I guess another way to look at it is a 165 or a 166 helps you a ton more than a 157 would hurt. If you screwed up only one section, it's still very possible for you to get a 165 or 166.

Is it totally impossible that you did better this time?

No, it's not impossible that I did better, because I was kind of pushing through on those games in such a way that I was able to narrow down the answer choices and guess between two choices on most that I didn't know the correct answer to. My brain just wouldn't work hard enough to continue to make the connections. Some of them were plug and chug, and I just got tired, mixed things up, but was able to eliminate 2 or 3 answer choices for the most part when I wasn't sure. We'll see. I may have missed only 5 or 6, but as many as 11 would be possible based on my fatigue level. I felt tired and hungover by that point. It was a wicked weird feeling.

It's not impossible that I did better. Best case, realistically, without being overly optimistic: 4 RC, 5 LR, 9LG. That's probably a 163.

An overly optimistic take: 8 LG, 3 RC, 4LR. That's a 165-66. That's not outside of the realm of possibility, as I've PTed in the 170s before, but I'm not betting I made that happen.

7 RC, 8LR, and 11 LG would seem to be a worst case scenario if I'm being honest with myself but not overly pessimistic. That puts me at about a 159. Not great, but that probably is worst case.

Wow, this speculation is fun.