154 to 163...Addendum Needed? Forum

[btr77]

So my applications are out, and having heard mixed opinions on whether or not to submit an addendum I'm a little nervous now that I didn't. I sent a brief one to Brooklyn, but only because it was explicitly asked for on the application.

I have no real reason for the bad score/improvement. I went from being poorly prepared to being well prepared and ended up scoring higher. It was that simple. Was I wrong to try and let the jump speak for itself?

[CanadianWolf]

Many law schools require or request an addendum for LSAT scores differences of 5 points or more. According to one poster yesterday, a law school requested an addendum for a 4 point increase. Your reasons are valid.

[2Serious4Numbers]

Do it.

[StillHerexxx]

For an addendum, would it be a good idea to milk not participating in any review courses? The first time I took the LSAT in October I studied for a few weeks and took a couple of crappy practice tests, because I had no idea what I was doing. Luckily I found this site for the december test and had my practice test scores up 13 points within a month. So I am expecting a solid increase unless I somehow bombed again, but I did all the work myself with no one helping me with anything, other than reading study plans on here. Would that be a good angle in the addendum?

[sarahlawg]

I went up 8 points and didn't attach an addendum... hasn't been a problem so far. I had the same reason for growth as you. I would say, if they ask for it, provide it. Otherwise, since there wasn't a problem with you/your site, don't. My $.02.

[gdane]

Brah, youre my numbers twin.

I took the Sept 2009 LSAT, got a 154. Took Oct 2010, went up to 163.

I wrote a 1 page addendum.

Do it. Whether you had some unforunate event that negatively affected your first performance or if you simply prepared more, write one.

Good luck!

[bk1]

I wouldn't do it unless they require it or you had a serious reason. It won't change much in any case.

Any school that is looking at a 163 is not going to even hesitate to ignore your other scores.

[btr77]

Thanks all for the advice

[Sandro]

I went 157-164. No addendum. Fairly obvious that I studied more/did better so I decided to save them my sob story about breaking my face lol. Plus im hoping Dec10 is a lot higher so I do have a reason to write but I doubt it.

[T6Hopeful]

Brah, youre my numbers twin.

I took the Sept 2009 LSAT, got a 154. Took Oct 2010, went up to 163.

I wrote a 1 page addendum.

Do it. Whether you had some unforunate event that negatively affected your first performance or if you simply prepared more, write one.

Good luck!

+1, but do be careful not to make it sound like you're making excuses. If you didn't take a prep class, that's fine, but don't make it sound like you're completely blaming it on that.
I'm not exactly in the same situation because I went from 160 (test day nerves destroyed me)->172, but I included a succinct addendum basically acknowledging the jump and that the first score is pretty aberrant based on my preparation. Although, the jump itself speaks more loudly that words. I know this may not be logically sound, but the way I see it, it's much less statistically possible that a significantly higher score of 2 is a fluke. And so far, I've done very well this cycle at schools I wouldn't have gotten into with my average score. HTH.