What Law Schools take the highest LSAT score Forum

[Ken]

For students who have to or are considering taking the LSAT more than once, the following list includes law schools that take the higher of your LSAT scores, as opposed to averaging multiple LSAT scores as most law schools do.

Boalt
Cornell
Penn
Northwestern
Georgetown
UCLA
University of North Carolina
University of Illinois
University of Oregon
Pittsburgh
Santa Clara
Syracuse
Seattle
Indiana University-Indianapolis
St. Louis University
University of Arkansas-Fayetteville
Thomas M. Cooley Law School
John Marshall Law School

If anyone else knows of other law schools that take your highest LSAT score, please post to let everyone know.

[ramiro]

Cornell
Northwestern
Georgetown,...
Those are all schools I plan on applying to,.. glad to hear..
Thanks Ken

[danah1786]

the aba as of june 2006 revised their ruling that schools take the average lsat score and now every law school has to take the higher lsat score but you can only take the lsat score 3 times within a 2 yr period

[mmm]

UCLA takes the highest score, too. I e-mailed the admissions office and got the following reply back:

"We consider the highest LSAT score right now."

Ken's note: Thank you, UCLA was added to my list above.

[jb07]

University of Minnesota will take the higher score now too.

Ken's note - thanks, added to above. Please keep the school names coming in.

[aaronbr]

Be careful with Penn... per their website:

If there are circumstances that you believe affected your performance on a prior test, we encourage you to provide an additional statement with your application explaining those circumstances. The Admissions Committee will consider such information and may, at its discretion, evaluate your application based on the higher or highest LSAT score.

Furthermore, I spoke with Edward Tom (Dean of Admissions at Boalt) this weekend at a law fair in Seattle. He mentioned that in cases of small (2-3 point) LSAT score increases, he might regard the average as the most accurate score.

It's not cut and dry everywhere...

[Fingersxed]

asd

[Shanghai_Knight]

Hi guys:

Thank you all for these useful info. I'm glad to know that some of the schools take the higher of my two scores.

I took LSAT twice 159 (Sept. 06) and 154 (June 06). However, there was some noise disruptions at my test site and it was acklowedged by LSAC. I have its written letter reflecting this.

Do you think I write an addendum about this so that they would certainly only consider my higher score? Maybe I should scan the LSAC letter and attach it electronically? Is it even worth it?

Thanks!

[jeff2486]

I would definitely attach the LSAC letter, that would give your story much greater credibility. I think given the letter from LSAC you have a greater chance of the school looking at the top score and it is definitely worth the effort.

[Shanghai_Knight]

Thanks jeff2486:

Considering the difference between the average of my two scores (157) and my highest score (159), which will be seen by the admissions office, do you really think it's worthwhile to add the test site disruption addendum and the LSAC letter?

Thanks!

[neverborn]

What if I took the LSAT more than once? We recognize that some students will take the LSAT more than once, perhaps because the first score was the product of unusual conditions or because it seemed low given earlier practice test scores. In keeping with recent changes in LSAC and ABA policies, we will focus on the higher of an applicant's two scores. LSAC data suggest that the first score is an excellent predictor of a second score; applicants are thus advised to re-take the test only if there is reason to expect significant improvement. We certainly do not wish to encourage expenditures on repeat test taking.

--LinkRemoved--

[jeff2486]

Hi guys:

Thank you all for these useful info. I'm glad to know that some of the schools take the higher of my two scores.

I took LSAT twice 159 (Sept. 06) and 154 (June 06).

I thought the 2 scores were a 159 and 154. Regardless of what the scores are it takes little effort to attach that letter and 2 points could mean a big difference!

[Ken]

Hi Shanghai_Knight,

If you did not have the noise disturbance from the LSAC I do not think it would be worthy of an addendum, but since you do have it I think the law schools will focus more heavily upon your 159 and not average the scores. Even if it was only 2 points, percentage wise this does make a somewhat noticable difference so definitely worth writing the addendum in your special case with the past noise disturbance that was documented.

Best regards,

Ken

[Shanghai_Knight]

Thanks Ken and others:

What you said makes a lot of sense.

As you know, I have the letter that reflects the testsite conditions. However, the letter also says that I also had a choice to cancel it. But at the end, I didn't cancel and I let the score to be released.

So, would the Admissions think that I could have cancelled it. Along that thinking, would the Admissions think negatively about my action of not cancelling?

I am still debating whether I should attach the addendum. Would it help or hurt?

What do you think?

Jack

[aaronbr]

The worst case scenario is that they don't consider the higher score. I definitely think it's worth mentioning.

I took the LSAT twice, and my spread was 8 points. I noted in my addendum that part of the reason I chose to retake the test was the fact I made an error in transcribing answers during my first test, which contributed to my score being lower than I expected.

In my case, it almost definitely won't make any difference, but I don't think more information will hurt.

[lindenksv]

When visiting my school, the Dean of Boalt said that if the difference in scores was only 2 or 3 points, they would look at the average. However, if the score was beyond the standard deviation of 9 points (I think he was referring to a bell curve for those who retest), then only the higher one would be considered. Luckily, I increased by 10 points. But, I sent in a letter to explain my circumstances at the time and I have gotten into 6 out of the 7 schools I applied to so far (haven't heard from the last one). So, they really do just look at the higher one when the difference is big.

[law de dah]

Per GULC's website:
How are multiple LSAT scores assessed? For reporting purposes, Georgetown adheres to the ABA policy of reporting the higher LSAT score. For evaluation purposes, the Georgetown Admissions Committee typically averages LSAT scores. Georgetown may consider the higher LSAT score if you have only taken the LSAT twice. Please address any mitigating circumstances you feel the Admissions Committee should consider.

When I went to the GULC info session, the adcomm member said that they only take the higher score if there is a 5 point discrepancy.

[rbern10]

if i have two discrepant LSAT scores and the difference is more than ten points... do i still have to explain it?

i really have no excuse. i mean there were some circumstances in my life at the time that prevented me from preparing as thoroughly i should have but i could have canceled or rescheduled but i chose not to, thereby taking a foolish gamble. i guess i just didn't give the first test my "best" effort or maybe i just got lucky in the second one.

anyway, if, say, i did have to explain it. should i just be candid about it even if it might reflect bad judgment on my part (for not canceling the first one)?

[dmreust]

deleted

[castleromeo]

when the schools say to explain, what exactly does that mean. i did really bad on the June 2007 LSAT, much lower than my practice scores, and am hoping to increase it in September. I honestly think that i was nervous and anxious about the test, and this caused me to do poorly. i didn't know what type of explanation would be required if i do significantly better. additionally, will an unsatisfactory explanation have an adverse affect on my acceptance?

[gedmem2]

I think the Deloggio website has some mistakes in it. For example, it says that Emory takes the higher score, but according to their website http://www.law.emory.edu/cms/site/index.php?id=83 they average scores.

Anyone else notice other mistakes?

[castleromeo]

the opposite for Houston. That site says they take the average, but on the U of H site, it says they take the higher score.

[dal480]

Check out the Law School Finder on this website (http://www.pashalaw.com/). It will give any more information that you may need to apply.

[gcf3f]

i took the lsat in june 2008 and got 162 (way lower than any of my practices b/c i misgridded the logic game section when i went back to fix a mistake) . i retook it in sept 2008 and got a 176. now a days, who takes the higher score?

[daria19]

Thanks for providing this list. I thought that schools were getting away from averaging the scores, so thanks for pointing this out before my 6 day cancellation period was up for oct 4.