Significant score jump addendum Forum

[NotHermione]

How do you suggest writing an addendum for a significant LSAT score jump - like 12+ points in 6 months? My first exam I was PTing around 169 but bombed because of a death in the family the day before the exam. (Retrospectively I shouldn't have even gone to the test, but I had put in so much prep I thought I'd be fine)

Personally, I think writing an addendum always comes off as whiney. Is saying something along the lines of "I had a death in the family the day before the exam and scored 10+ points below my average PT score. I spent the next 6 months preparing & then ended up with X score and believe that is far more representative of my abilities" sufficient? I feel like being very short and to the point and less "poor me" will sit better - thoughts?

[B.B. Homemaker]

How do you suggest writing an addendum for a significant LSAT score jump - like 12+ points in 6 months? My first exam I was PTing around 169 but bombed because of a death in the family the day before the exam. (Retrospectively I shouldn't have even gone to the test, but I had put in so much prep I thought I'd be fine)

Personally, I think writing an addendum always comes off as whiney. Is saying something along the lines of "I had a death in the family the day before the exam and scored 10+ points below my average PT score. I spent the next 6 months preparing & then ended up with X score and believe that is far more representative of my abilities" sufficient? I feel like being very short and to the point and less "poor me" will sit better - thoughts?

Brevity is always best. I had a 12-point jump myself, and I just sent a quick paragraph about the circumstances and why the higher was more indicative of my ability. Don't talk about your PT scores as they really don't care and will gladly take any excuse to look at only your higher score and report that one in their entering class statistics.

[TLSanders]

Even that is too much information. Don't talk about preparation. Simply say that your initial test score was impacted by a death in the family the day before the test, and you believe your subsequent score to be more representative of your abilities.

[Clearly]

Personally I don't believe in writing one at all. I had a 12 point jump as well. You're by default getting judged on your high score anyway, writing an addendum is likely to draw more attention to your lower score than it would get by you not saying it all in my opinion.

[B.B. Homemaker]

Personally I don't believe in writing one at all. I had a 12 point jump as well. You're by default getting judged on your high score anyway, writing an addendum is likely to draw more attention to your lower score than it would get by you not saying it all in my opinion.

Some schools explicitly require one, though, and they might reach out and explicitly ask for one if you don't submit it from the beginning. I feel like "I have to e-mail this kid because he ignored the application instructions" would draw even more negative attention than "Oh, a lower score due to a family tragedy."

[Clearly]

Which schools explicitly require them?

[Balthy]

Misread

[B.B. Homemaker]

Which schools explicitly require them?

Mine did. That was also last cycle so maybe they got rid of that relic from the days when they were required to report the average.

[Clearly]

Which schools explicitly require them?

Mine did. That was also last cycle so maybe they got rid of that relic from the days when they were required to report the average.

Thank you for being so specific. I'm curious if I ignored such a request from the many schools I applied to.

[B.B. Homemaker]

Which schools explicitly require them?

Mine did. That was also last cycle so maybe they got rid of that relic from the days when they were required to report the average.

Thank you for being so specific. I'm curious if I ignored such a request from the many schools I applied to.

Anytime, boo. If I'm correct in guessing from your post history, you did for at least one of your schools, though I see they have downgraded it to "encourage" since last cycle.

[Clearly]

Which schools explicitly require them?

Mine did. That was also last cycle so maybe they got rid of that relic from the days when they were required to report the average.

Thank you for being so specific. I'm curious if I ignored such a request from the many schools I applied to.

Anytime, boo. If I'm correct in guessing from your post history, you did for at least one of your schools, though I see they have downgraded it to "encourage" since last cycle.

All's well that ends well I suppose. I applied last cycle as well!

[wealtheow]

i didn't write an addendum for my ten point jump, and my cycle doesn't seem to have suffered for it. the only school i can think of that explicitly asked for an explanation in the app instructions is NYU, but i still got in there. (edit: apparently i ignored penn as well. maybe that's why they wl'ed me )
i would have written one, however, if i had a better reason than "i was a nervous idiot the first sitting." your explanation is legit and could be expressed in 3 sentences or less. i'd go for it. imo it is fine to express that your emotions impacted your ability to focus - just don't get too weepy.

[TheSpanishMain]

I'd go ahead and write one. It's probably not NECESSARY, but since you have a pretty legit explanation besides "I studied more", why not just play it safe and do one? Just keep it brief and to the point. "I believe my first test was adversely affected by a death in the family the day prior. My second test is, I believe, more indicative of my abilities."