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I went from 166 to 178, and am leaning towards not sending an addendum. My only reason for the 166 is minimal preparation and a general lack of understanding of the law school admissions process. That and I had yet to realize just how bad the job market is out there.

I know there are plenty of threads out there on this same subject, but they all seem to be of the "I scored 146, 154, 158 because I couldn't sleep well the first two times" variety. Hoping people who went from the 160's to 170's can shed a little light.

Tiago Splitter wrote:I went from 166 to 178, and am leaning towards not sending an addendum. My only reason for the 166 is minimal preparation and a general lack of understanding of the law school admissions process. That and I had yet to realize just how bad the job market is out there.

I know there are plenty of threads out there on this same subject, but they all seem to be of the "I scored 146, 154, 158 because I couldn't sleep well the first two times" variety. Hoping people who went from the 160's to 170's can shed a little light.

Because you don't really have a good "excuse" and won't really need one anyway, I vote no. I'm sure it's fairly common to get mid-60s, realize what chances could open up with even low-70s, and study your ass off to get there. That's what you did so, no addendum.

i vote no only because it will be a complete waste of your time. they will not care.

I voted no. Also, congrats on the jump

I vote no as well because i would only give an addendum for something that is unexpected ( like sudden illness, horrendous testing conditions, really bad case of anxiety, or a mis bubble event that you found out occurred when you saw the score report for a section). You dont want to put yourself in a negative light anywhere on the application- so stating that you didnt prepare adequately the first time ( which could be interpreted as I was too lazy to give it my all or something along those lines) isnt somethign i would recommend doing.


but congrats on the jump. how or why you made it wont make or break you. good job

Bumping an old thread here...

Has anyone asked admissions officers about this? My jump was 7 points, with scores similar to Tiago's. At a law fair last week I asked reps from half the T14 and got 7 different answers.

UVA: No, that's a very common jump, we see that all the time, no need to explain anything.

30 seconds later, Mich: Hm, that's very unusual, we rarely see jumps like that at such a high score. You should explain it.

WTF?

Even top schools can't afford to be picky between one-timers and retakers if they're going to assemble the most numerically qualified class. I doubt an addendum (good or bad) will make a big difference at schools like M and V. It's probably just adcoms pretending the process is holistic (business as usual).

You can always PRETEND that you got a low score the first time because you got sick. Just saying.

I wouldn't bother unless the school requires an addendum for that size jump (some do). Then just say you prepared better the second time and believe the higher score more accurately reflects your capabilities.

FWIW Ringo, I decided not to write an addendum. We'll see how it goes.

@curious1: This is part of why I didn't write an addendum. Anyone can say they were sick. If the schools think the 178 was the fluke, then I can't help them.

I haven't come across any application instructions that explicitly ask for an addendum.

You can also check with an admissions rep at your top choice(s). They might not require it but if they'd "like" or "highly encourage" to do it, then maybe it could be worth it.

rinkrat19 wrote:unless the school requires an addendum for that size jump (some do)

Do any T14 require an addendum for a big jump? I have seen people mention this, but I don't recall ever actually reading it in the app instructions. Just want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

contact the school and ask. Dont go into specifics about how or why your score jumped, just ask them if they want one, or require one. If they do, write it, if not dont worry about it.