Support thread for those whose Earth has just been shattered Forum

[J. Galt]

I've posted in a few other topics, but the gist of my situation is PT average is 170, felt great during test (like I hit 170), and hit 156. I'm pissed at myself.

[dihydrogenmonoxide]

I'm disappointed but trying to maintain perspective.

My last 3 PTs were 180, 178, 180. I got a 169.

I just have to realize that I can still get into a good school with that score, and ignore the doomsayers on this forum who think that anything other than Top 10% at HYS means no job prospects at all, ever.

[pppokerface]

I'm disappointed but trying to maintain perspective.

My last 3 PTs were 180, 178, 180. I got a 169.

I just have to realize that I can still get into a good school with that score, and ignore the doomsayers on this forum who think that anything other than Top 10% at HYS means no job prospects at all, ever.

Was it nerves?

[applepiecrust]

I've lost a fucking year of my life. I don't even know what to do now.
I hadn't scored under 172 since the third PT I took, and landed up with a 168.

I can't even handle this right now. Signed up to re-take in February, but one year of my life is gone, just like that. Hello job market. Do you even have anything for me to pay the bills for the next year?

[dihydrogenmonoxide]

I'm disappointed but trying to maintain perspective.

My last 3 PTs were 180, 178, 180. I got a 169.

I just have to realize that I can still get into a good school with that score, and ignore the doomsayers on this forum who think that anything other than Top 10% at HYS means no job prospects at all, ever.

Was it nerves?

I'm not sure at all. One mistake was that the day before the test I did 5 LG sections in a row from PTs that I hadn't completed. I was tired and doing them all in a row like that, I didn't do well on them relative to how I always did on full length PTs, and consequently may have psyched myself out a bit on LGs. I felt a bit nervous taking the test but nothing out of control or crazy. One thing I noticed is that time was a far bigger issue on the real thing than it was on PTs (which I always, of course, timed).

If I could redo the whole studying process I would give myself a hard limit of 30mins/section during PTs to make up for the way that the real thing seems shorter for some reason.

[pekkle]

I previously had scored 166, 168. I needed a 170+ to make up for my GPA. I got a 163 this time around. O_o

Argh.

[MysticalWheel]

I'm disappointed but trying to maintain perspective.

My last 3 PTs were 180, 178, 180. I got a 169.

I just have to realize that I can still get into a good school with that score, and ignore the doomsayers on this forum who think that anything other than Top 10% at HYS means no job prospects at all, ever.

It was actually top 5%. No worries though.

MW

[Mike12188]

Although I did not take the Oct. test, my world has just been shattered. I just realized that I have a typo in my first sentence of my 'Penn 5-year' Essay. My #1 school, ED'd and everything. Now, just waiting the rejection. I proof-read it 1000000x too and it is missing the word "experience". How the f*ck did I miss that???

[1republic]

Life is so hard sometimes. I'm hoping we'll all be able to look back on this one day (hopefully soon!) and realize it really is just a speed bump in the road.

[Lasers]

well i got my score about an hour ago...163.

i don't know what to do; a few points higher and i wouldn't bother with retaking, but i feel i'm in no-man's land right now.

[JenDarby]

.

[KatieKat]

I'm in the same boat as you guys.. I scored 10 points lower than my PT average. I didn't feel great about the test afterwards, but I didn't think it was even possible for me to score so low. NONE of my PTs were that low, except for my cold diagnostic.

I feel like I'm obligated to retake in December because I know I can do so much better, but I just left a very demanding job (which gave me almost no time to study the month leading up to the test and made it almost impossible for me to sleep even 7-8 hours on a usual night), so I am behind in my classes and really needing to spend my time catching up instead of studying for the Dec LSAT (which is, lucky me, 2 days after finals week!). I feel like my GPA is even more important now after seeing my disappointing score.

Should I register for the Dec test, do nothing for the next month but study for the LSAT and other classes, and hope that I get a score more in line with my abilities? Or should I just accept that I probably won't do any better due to the fact that it is right after all of my finals and I won't have much time to study?

[kkklick]

I mean, a 161 isn't bad, but I thought there was NO POSSIBLE WAY I was getting less than 163, no way. Worst case would have been -4 LG -10 RC -10 LR which must have been the case

[dihydrogenmonoxide]

I'm disappointed but trying to maintain perspective.

My last 3 PTs were 180, 178, 180. I got a 169.

I just have to realize that I can still get into a good school with that score, and ignore the doomsayers on this forum who think that anything other than Top 10% at HYS means no job prospects at all, ever.

This is precisely where I am at. Are you going to apply with your 169, or retake?

I think I'm going to stick with my 169. The thing is, given the fact that I got 178+ on practice tests, didn't feel bad or unduly nervous during the Oct. test, and got a 169 means that I could just as easily do it again. Its not like I can improve my PTs significantly, I'd just be taking another test with the same chances of getting a 169 as I did in Oct. Maybe the 169 was a fluke, but I have no way of knowing that. I'm not willing to bet a couple months later admission that I could get a better score since I have no good idea why I got the 169.

Now I just need to hope hope HOPE that I can get into Texas, which I would have chosen over most of the T14 if I got a higher LSAT score anyways, and which isn't out of the question with my current numbers. If I don't go there, though, there are still some good schools out there at which I have a decent or good shot based of LSN (Cornell, Emory, WUSTL, USC, Vandy, Most of the T20-30)

[Sandro]

I must have bombed LG. I felt SO good about RC and LR walking out of the test. A 164 means I missed around 22/23 questions or something. How I got a score like -6RC -4LR -4LR -8LG is un believable.

[Rikkugrrl]

December retakers:

What are you doing with your apps? Applying with your score now and letting the school know you're retaking or waiting until December? I'm not sure what the point is for some of my reaches (UNC, Emory) and even my targets (UGA, Wake), as my reaches have just become super reaches and my targets became reaches...unless I can guarantee they won't look at my app until December. If you've signed up to retake in December, can you ask the adcoms to hold your app until then?

[Sandro]

December retakers:

What are you doing with your apps? Applying with your score now and letting the school know you're retaking or waiting until December? I'm not sure what the point is for some of my reaches (UNC, Emory) and even my targets (UGA, Wake), as my reaches have just become super reaches and my targets became reaches...unless I can guarantee they won't look at my app until December. If you've signed up to retake in December, can you ask the adcoms to hold your app until then?

From what I understand if you register for December they automatically hold your app and you would be considered incomplete.

[jaydizzle]

Diagnostic was 156, I was averaging 165-170 on practice tests.

October score: 152. Seriously hoping I mis-bubbled, I was not expecting this at all.

If I hear about 10-15 more of these stories, I'm going to start doubting the scores until I see the PDFs.

I was in the low 160s toward the end of my studies, and I got a 154. I want to think I miss-bubbled, but I doubt it.

[Pitcher]

Congratulations to all of those who performed well.
Sympathies to all of my fellow re-takers.

Here is my two cents.
Going into June 160 plus on PT's
June = 150
Going into October, 160 - 165 on six section PT's 10 days leading up to day before the test.
October = cancel
Blew the order and hence, the setup, on the Artifact order game. (Mentally it was over right there, panic set in and only got to finish two games) The second being the van group driver game.
What really sucks is that in my test, RC LR LR Break LG LR, I felt at the break I nailed the first three sections. In RC I finished the UN question in 5 min, and completed he entire section with 5 min. for review.
Obviously I am week in games, skipping December, filing for February.
11/1/10 thru 2/9/11=Drill, Drill, Drill.
My past mistake = I worked harder
My plan = work SMARTER!
Good luck to all of my fellow re-takers.
Has anyone started a February 2011 exam prep forum?

[Nonok]

Diagnostic: 158
PT Average: 173
Oct 2010 Score: 167

I don't know where I went wrong... I felt extremely confident that I scored high. I was expecting something like -0 LG, -1 LR, -3 RC. Thinking you're going to end up with a score in the high 170s and ending up so much lower blows. I'll be retaking.

[KatieKat]

December retakers:

What are you doing with your apps? Applying with your score now and letting the school know you're retaking or waiting until December? I'm not sure what the point is for some of my reaches (UNC, Emory) and even my targets (UGA, Wake), as my reaches have just become super reaches and my targets became reaches...unless I can guarantee they won't look at my app until December. If you've signed up to retake in December, can you ask the adcoms to hold your app until then?

From what I understand if you register for December they automatically hold your app and you would be considered incomplete.

This should be the case for the most part, but is there any chance of them deciding not to hold your application and making a decision with the score you already have? I think I've heard of some schools doing this before, but I could be wrong.

Rikku- I'm in the same situation. I feel like it's pointless to apply to a lot of the schools that I was going to apply to. I'm pretty sure I can score 7-10 points higher on the retake, but then again, there are no guarantees. Are you revising your school list at all or just hoping that your retake score will be more representative of your abilities?

[Rikkugrrl]

December retakers:

What are you doing with your apps? Applying with your score now and letting the school know you're retaking or waiting until December? I'm not sure what the point is for some of my reaches (UNC, Emory) and even my targets (UGA, Wake), as my reaches have just become super reaches and my targets became reaches...unless I can guarantee they won't look at my app until December. If you've signed up to retake in December, can you ask the adcoms to hold your app until then?

From what I understand if you register for December they automatically hold your app and you would be considered incomplete.

This should be the case for the most part, but is there any chance of them deciding not to hold your application and making a decision with the score you already have? I think I've heard of some schools doing this before, but I could be wrong.

Rikku- I'm in the same situation. I feel like it's pointless to apply to a lot of the schools that I was going to apply to. I'm pretty sure I can score 7-10 points higher on the retake, but then again, there are no guarantees. Are you revising your school list at all or just hoping that your retake score will be more representative of your abilities?

I'm not revising my list, but only because of three reasons: 1, I wasn't shooting terribly high in the first place. No YHS for me. 2, it's important to me that I stay at least somewhere around the area where all my family and friends are. I'm not going to go waltzing off to the boondocks for a lower T2. And 3, I only need to improve two or three points for my reaches to become targets again. It's not that drastic of a difference and I really think I can do it. And a 161 will still get me into what was once my safeties, I think.

[Nonok]

December retakers:

What are you doing with your apps? Applying with your score now and letting the school know you're retaking or waiting until December? I'm not sure what the point is for some of my reaches (UNC, Emory) and even my targets (UGA, Wake), as my reaches have just become super reaches and my targets became reaches...unless I can guarantee they won't look at my app until December. If you've signed up to retake in December, can you ask the adcoms to hold your app until then?

From what I understand if you register for December they automatically hold your app and you would be considered incomplete.

This should be the case for the most part, but is there any chance of them deciding not to hold your application and making a decision with the score you already have? I think I've heard of some schools doing this before, but I could be wrong.

Rikku- I'm in the same situation. I feel like it's pointless to apply to a lot of the schools that I was going to apply to. I'm pretty sure I can score 7-10 points higher on the retake, but then again, there are no guarantees. Are you revising your school list at all or just hoping that your retake score will be more representative of your abilities?

If you're looking to apply for this cycle you should contact the schools you're hoping to apply to. Ask them how they handle people in your situation. If they hold the apps waiting for the Dec score, apply now. For other schools, put off your applications until after your Dec score. You know you can improve, man up and retake. Don't lower your expectations yet.

As for myself, I think I might put off applying until next cycle. I was playing to ED to UVA and, from what I understand, the ED deadline is Dec 15th. I'll be contacting UVA next week and see what I should do. I have a 3.03 LSAC GPA so I need at least a 173 to have a good shot.

If I apply for next year, I might take the Feb or June test. June would give me enough time to learn to read. My RC section is my poorest one by far. It wouldn't take me very long to get to an average of -1 LR (currently scoring between -1 and -5) and am averaging -0 on LG already. RC is at about -5 average, though.

[Patriot1208]

I'm disappointed but trying to maintain perspective.

My last 3 PTs were 180, 178, 180. I got a 169.

I just have to realize that I can still get into a good school with that score, and ignore the doomsayers on this forum who think that anything other than Top 10% at HYS means no job prospects at all, ever.

I'm with you in the 169 score and i'm also with you on keeping perspective. It's just so tough because the difference between 169-170 seems like a huge gap. Basically, a 170 puts me in at places I want to go and a 169 almost shuts me out of everywhere i'd be happy to go. It's just so tough.

[MissLucky]

I'm disappointed but trying to maintain perspective.

My last 3 PTs were 180, 178, 180. I got a 169.

I just have to realize that I can still get into a good school with that score, and ignore the doomsayers on this forum who think that anything other than Top 10% at HYS means no job prospects at all, ever.

I'm with you in the 169 score and i'm also with you on keeping perspective. It's just so tough because the difference between 169-170 seems like a huge gap. Basically, a 170 puts me in at places I want to go and a 169 almost shuts me out of everywhere i'd be happy to go. It's just so tough.

same exact here my friend. blah.