Does HLS average LSAT scores? Forum

[HLSHopeful543]

I know this question has been asked before, but the thread is pretty dated now. Does Harvard average LSAT scores? I am so doomed if they do. I got a 167 first time, canceled second time, and a 176 third time.

[The Lsat Airbender]

Nobody just averages LSAT scores. Yale, maybe, and only as a consequence of their wacky faculty review system, takes into account scores besides one's highest. The highest score is the one that matters for most purposes.

[Dcc617]

No.

[HLSHopeful543]

If they don't average LSAT, does the fact that you have retakes hurt your application?

[QContinuum]

If they don't average LSAT, does the fact that you have retakes hurt your application?

No. Unless maybe if you have an eyebrow-raising number of retakes, like, I dunno, at least 4 scores? No adcom's going to bat an eyelash at 2 scores, especially with the 2 scores being a 167 and a 176.

[stem0192837]

If they don't average LSAT, does the fact that you have retakes hurt your application?

No. Unless maybe if you have an eyebrow-raising number of retakes, like, I dunno, at least 4 scores? No adcom's going to bat an eyelash at 2 scores, especially with the 2 scores being a 167 and a 176.

Wait, is 4 retakes an eyebrow-raising number? I feel like I've come across this number on multiple successful instances. I've also read about like 7 attempts too.

[nixy]

Until relatively recently (a couple of years ago?) you could only take 3x in some set period of time, like 5 years (I've already forgotten), so there's sort of a cultural memory that above 3 takes starts to look like a lot. I don't think 4 takes are uncommon. I haven't seen 7, which doesn't mean it hasn't happened, but that would look particularly neurotic, I think.

To the extent (which is almost entirely) that schools only care about the highest score b/c that's what they have to report to the USNW rankings, the number of takes doesn't matter. On the margins it could possibly raise some concerns in relation to another candidate with similar numbers (like say someone has 3 scores in the 150s and then scores a 178 - adcomms might wonder what happened/worry about cheating, although there could well be a reasonable explanation. Or if you took 5x to get from 160 to 171, it's not going to look like cheating, but compared to someone with a 171 and one take, it might raise concerns that you don't catch on to new things quickly. Or it might not, but if the only thing to distinguish between you and the single-take-r was the number of takes, it's hypothetically possible that the number of takes would be an issue. But chances of that really being the only thing to choose between two candidates are very slim). But the main thing is the highest score.

(That said, there's no reason to take the exam until you're consistently scoring within your goal range, although people can obviously underperform on the day of the test.)

[stem0192837]

Until relatively recently (a couple of years ago?) you could only take 3x in some set period of time, like 5 years (I've already forgotten), so there's sort of a cultural memory that above 3 takes starts to look like a lot. I don't think 4 takes are uncommon. I haven't seen 7, which doesn't mean it hasn't happened, but that would look particularly neurotic, I think.

To the extent (which is almost entirely) that schools only care about the highest score b/c that's what they have to report to the USNW rankings, the number of takes doesn't matter. On the margins it could possibly raise some concerns in relation to another candidate with similar numbers (like say someone has 3 scores in the 150s and then scores a 178 - adcomms might wonder what happened/worry about cheating, although there could well be a reasonable explanation. Or if you took 5x to get from 160 to 171, it's not going to look like cheating, but compared to someone with a 171 and one take, it might raise concerns that you don't catch on to new things quickly. Or it might not, but if the only thing to distinguish between you and the single-take-r was the number of takes, it's hypothetically possible that the number of takes would be an issue. But chances of that really being the only thing to choose between two candidates are very slim). But the main thing is the highest score.

(That said, there's no reason to take the exam until you're consistently scoring within your goal range, although people can obviously underperform on the day of the test.)

Yes, 7 definitely doesn't seem like a common number. It also sounds like a lot of money.