Absence vs. Cancellation Forum

[fear&loathingintexas]

Here's my situation:

-Was going to take the LSAT in June '09 (had registered earlier that year)
-After registering, was accepted for a public policy fellowship that would require I be out of town the day of the test
-Discussed my situation with the program coordinator to see if I could fly up the day after the test and was told that would not be allowed
-Coordinator then told me I could be excused from the day's events to take the test in the area (I then went to LSAC and changed my testing location)
-Thought I'd be fine if I just signed up for a two-week LSAT cram session taking place immediately before the test
-Realized I wasn't ready and having to drive two hours each way to take the test out of town probably wasn't ideal anyway
-My LSAT instructor told me that if I didn't want to take the test, to just not show up and it wouldn't go on my record

I foolishly did not verify this last piece of information. Now I have an absence on my record with LSAC. Anna Ivey mentions this as looking really bad on an application.

Should I include an addendum explaining the circumstances? I don't want them to think I just overslept or didn't feel like showing up or something. Yes, I realize in retrospect it was stupid of me not to verify this information for myself.

[hax123]

I'm almost certain that law schools won't care about one absence. Perhaps someone can confirm this.

[florencezx]

I've asked some law schools about this and they said it was ok as long as it's an one-time thing.

hope this information helps!

[northwood]

schools wont care about one absence. I was planning on taking the test in June, but with 2 weeks prior to the test, i wasnt happy with how i was doing, and it was too late to cancel. I ended up not showing up for the test. An absence still lets you have 3 tests ( 2 if you allready took one, or cancelled your score after seeing the test). Just make sure that you are ready to take the test when you sign up for it ( or cancel the test befdore the cut off date)