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160 Sept 2009, 161 Oct 2010, 162 Dec 2010... Here's what I've got, any advice would be great!

After much deliberation, I decided to attend law school very late in the game last admission cycle. I registered for the September 2009 LSAT with just over a month to prepare. While I am happy to say I scored a 160 with a very crammed study schedule and while working 20-30 hours per week, my score was not what I needed to attend the schools I was interested in. I decided not to attend any of the schools to which I was admitted and to re-take the LSAT again October 2010. With three months of preparation and practice tests scoring 165-166, I was expecting good results. Unfortunately, I did not do as well as I had hoped, possibly due to unexpected circumstances that week: a close family friend was very ill and had been hospitalized, and my doctor switched my medication two days before the LSAT to one that gave me side effects including confusion and insomnia. Shortly after receiving my score I spoke with several Admissions offices who said it would be best if I took the December LSAT. While I hate to admit that I only improved one more point, I studied as much as I could during those few weeks before the test while also working and dealing with the death of my friend, who passed away shortly before the exam.

I would not write this. Your LSAT score band is 3 points. This is who you are. Just apply and hope for the best.

LSATclincher wrote:I would not write this. Your LSAT score band is 3 points. This is who you are. Just apply and hope for the best.

+1

It's never worth mentioning practice test averages.

yeah I second the recommendation above. do not write this. Your score is your score. Do people really think they need to write an addendum for every imperfect thing in their application?

Why not write one for apologizing for you why failed to go to Harvard since it is clearly the best undergrad?

Definitely do not write this. Your score only improved 1 point each time, and you took the test three times. You also do not want to admit that you "decided to attend law school very late in the game last admission cycle". That can be interpreted as you could not find a job with your undergrad degree due to the economy, and that is your primary reason for applying to law school.

This is almost only excuses. Plus with an entire year to prepare and one test under your belt you only improved two points which is, as people have pointed out, within your score band. Perhaps if you had a much better score to show them, but as it stands the previous advice is right.

ok thanks everyone... so don't say anything... ugh this sucks, i was expecting a 165 but i guess practice tests mean nothing... but what about the schools that ask for an explanation for multiple tests? and does someone dying count for anything? it took a good week out of my studying...