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154 to 163...Addendum Needed?

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 10:17 am
by 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?

Re: 154 to 163...Addendum Needed?

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 10:22 am
by 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.

Re: 154 to 163...Addendum Needed?

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 10:33 am
by 2Serious4Numbers
Do it.

Re: 154 to 163...Addendum Needed?

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:03 pm
by 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?

Re: 154 to 163...Addendum Needed?

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:10 pm
by 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.

Re: 154 to 163...Addendum Needed?

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:39 pm
by 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!

Re: 154 to 163...Addendum Needed?

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:57 pm
by 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.

Re: 154 to 163...Addendum Needed?

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 3:38 pm
by btr77
Thanks all for the advice

Re: 154 to 163...Addendum Needed?

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 5:31 pm
by 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.

Re: 154 to 163...Addendum Needed?

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 6:22 pm
by T6Hopeful
gdane5 wrote: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.