my friend's score on hold, should I help appeal? Forum

[126]

Hi,

My friend's LSAT score was recently placed on hold because of a statistically improvement between two tests. But the proctor said that he did not have suspicious behaviours during the test. He is now in the appealing process and trying to show that his score is a result of his study methods and hard work. He wants me to email the LSAC and talk about how he helped me with LSAT and his methods were effective.

I want to help him, but what I'm hesitating is that, if his appeal failed, would there be any negative impacts on me?
I know that my question sounds selfish, but the LSAC is super unpredictable, I've never seen this kind of situation before.

By the way, have your improvements between tests been suspected before? How many points did you improve?

Thanks!

[cavalier1138]

I've never heard of an LSAT score being held for this reason, and there are people on this forum who have seen 10+ point increases between tests.

But no, there's no risk of negative blowback if you email LSAC to vouch for him. I don't understand how your email would be at all helpful to his case, but it won't hurt you if LSAC doesn't rule in his favor.

[126]

I've never heard of an LSAT score being held for this reason, and there are people on this forum who have seen 10+ point increases between tests.

But no, there's no risk of negative blowback if you email LSAC to vouch for him. I don't understand how your email would be at all helpful to his case, but it won't hurt you if LSAC doesn't rule in his favor.

Thanks for your advice! My friend improved roughly 30 points in few years. Honestly, I agree that my email won't be very helpful. My email can at best show that his study methods were effective, but has nothing to do with whether he cheated or not.

[126]

I've never heard of an LSAT score being held for this reason, and there are people on this forum who have seen 10+ point increases between tests.

But no, there's no risk of negative blowback if you email LSAC to vouch for him. I don't understand how your email would be at all helpful to his case, but it won't hurt you if LSAC doesn't rule in his favor.

Actually, since his score was held, I have been worried about myself. My first score was pretty low as well (150+), but I'm improving now. I'm worrying that if I improved in the next test, they would suspect mine as well. But I don't think I can improve 30 points lol

[CanadianWolf]

This is a situation that has occurred many times with the ACT--a standardized test for college applicants.

This situation calls for representation by an attorney who has familiarity with such seemingly unfounded claims of cheating on a standardized test simply due to an unusual score increase.

It would be helpful to have more information starting with where was the testing site ?

Is your friend willing to retest in a closely proctored setting ?

Based on the scant information shared in this thread, I do not think that you should get involved at this stage of the inquiry. Encourage your friend to hire an attorney experienced in this area, then let the attorney decide whether or not your statement would be helpful.