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Does anyone know if 5+ year old scores get deleted/auto pruned from your LSAC profile or if they stay there so long as your account doesn't expire? Your expiration date starts out as being 5 years from the time you registered for the test, I believe. If you sign up for subsequent tests, I know it changes your expiration date, but do the old scores still expire after 5 years?

I can still see a 5+ year old score on my LSAT Status. Is that what you mean? Not sure if it would get sent out to schools if I applied today though.

ETA: it was #58

banjo wrote:I can still see a 5+ year old score on my LSAT Status. Is that what you mean? Not sure if it would get sent out to schools if I applied today though.

Ah okay thank you for checking.
I guess it isn't auto-pruned then.

I guess I'm just kind of confused as to what they mean when they say your score is good for 5 years if it isn't deleted. Maybe it isn't sent to schools but you can just view it (similar to how you can view tests you've withdrawn from even though schools won't be able to see this).

Doesn't it just mean there is a standard in place whereby schools are barred from considering someone who has not taken an LSAT in the past 5 years?

i am not sure if you can see the tests you withdrew from in your own score sheet.

I can still see a 5+ year old score on my LSAT Status. Is that what you mean? Not sure if it would get sent out to schools if I applied today though.

ETA: it was #58

if it shows up in the score sheet, then imo it is not expired yet. but since it was #58 which is probably Oct 2009, it may still be within the 5 year limit of lsac depending on how they define it until today's administration.

It gets deleted from the scores that the law schools see in the June which follows the five year anniversary of the test date. So, a December 2005 score gets deleted in June 2011.

source?
if one reapplies to a school after 5 years when the older lsats have been expunged, would the school only have access to the recent lsat score or would they be able to see the more than 5 yr old lsat scores from the original application?

very interested in hearing from ppl who know. this is all news to me.

appind wrote:source?
if one reapplies to a school after 5 years when the older lsats have been expunged, would the school only have access to the recent lsat score or would they be able to see the more than 5 yr old lsat scores from the original application?

If they still have the original app stored somewhere then they'd be able to check it. That depends on what the school's document retention policies are, not LSAC's.

gone west wrote:It gets deleted from the scores that the law schools see in the June which follows the five year anniversary of the test date. So, a December 2005 score gets deleted in June 2011.

This sounds reasonable. Thank you.

Out of curiosity though, how do you know this?

so what is the policy on reporting said ancient LSAT score to which school(s) do not have access?

If you want the "real" answer then email LSAC. Which is what I just did b/c I wasn't sure of the answer, either.

The scores do automatically fall off the score report sent to schools. If you want the score reactivated, there's a form you submit to LSAC requesting that. It is up to individual law schools to determine whether or not they will accept a score that old, though.

Dean Perez
Texas Tech Law

SPerez wrote: The scores do automatically fall off the score report sent to schools.

Thank you, Dean Perez.

Did they indicate the following rule or would a December score fall off in December, for example?

gone west wrote:It gets deleted from the scores that the law schools see in the June which follows the five year anniversary of the test date. So, a December 2005 score gets deleted in June 2011.

Dirigo wrote:

SPerez wrote: The scores do automatically fall off the score report sent to schools.

Thank you, Dean Perez.

Did they indicate the following rule or would a December score fall off in December, for example?

gone west wrote:It gets deleted from the scores that the law schools see in the June which follows the five year anniversary of the test date. So, a December 2005 score gets deleted in June 2011.

It's 5 years from the test administration according to the person I just talked to at LSAC.

Dean Perez

I ask because I may take a new job that could be a several year commitment and I want to be cognizant of expiration dates so if/when I retake it won't be for naught.

I've seen some schools require the score to be more recent than five years, so all things to consider.

Thank you & happy holidays!

Hot off the presses. I just received LSAC's monthly newsletter (because any organization of more than 2 people has a newsletter) and it included this bit relevant to your question.

LSAC wrote:As of July 1, 2015, LSAC will no longer provide scores older than five years either to law schools or to candidates. LSAC’s current policy of reporting LSAT scores to law schools automatically for a period of up to five years plus the current year will continue. Notices about this change will be disseminated broadly to encourage score holders to obtain their older scores while they are still available.

Dean Perez

Thanks for the answer straight from the horse's mouth, Dean Perez.

It seems this is the right answer in lay men's terms:

gone west wrote:It gets deleted from the scores that the law schools see in the June which follows the five year anniversary of the test date. So, a December 2005 score gets deleted in June 2011.

Thanks to all who responded!