Should I Withdraw from Feb. LSAT? Forum

[goblue89]

I haven't taken an official LSAT yet and I'm applying next fall. I’m pretty seriously considering withdrawing from the Feb. LSAT for these reasons:

-I've done mainly self-study (PS bibles and 20 preptests) and feel like I don't know the test as well as I could
-I’m averaging about 176 but I’m spending all 35 minutes on far too many sections; yesterday I took a test timed at 32 minutes and scored a 170. I'm guessing I will be slower than usual on the actual test. (I understand 170 is not a bad score but I don't want to underperform).
-I'm still getting (badly) frozen on probably 15% of the games sections.
-I signed up for the Feb. test under the false impression that a cancelled score doesn’t matter; after doing more research it seems that canceling the Feb. score would put a lot of pressure on the June test since two cancels is probably not ideal for an application to the best schools.

So on one hand I feel like I’m not nearly as well prepared as I would be if I were to wait until June and work with a good tutor, but on the other hand maybe I’m being ridiculous to postpone it when I’m averaging a 176. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[senorhosh]

The answer depends on where you want to go. HYS (and CCN claims to) looks at all your LSAT scores. If you're planning on going to one of these, I'd say take June.
If not, take Feb. You never know how you are going to do.

Btw I was in the same boat as you. I took it in Oct not 100% fully prepared and got a 171. I'm retaking June (but I'm not going for HYS).

Oh one thing I WOULDN'T do is get a tutor. I don't think there is anyone out there that can effectively tutor you.

[goblue89]

cool thanks. i'm intrigued by your comment about tutoring; could you elaborate a little? is that a widely held belief in this forum?

[snehpets]

cool thanks. i'm intrigued by your comment about tutoring; could you elaborate a little? is that a widely held belief in this forum?

I think they probably mean that you're at a point where tutoring is unlikely to be effective for you, especially because there's a high probability that you would be able to outperform the tutor you get. Tutoring is generally most helpful for people with scores much lower than yours that need more in-depth explanations of various questions and methods, as well as someone to push them to practice consistently. That doesn't seem to be what you need. Perhaps there is a tutor that could help you, but I doubt they're very common.

[pizzabrosauce]

All the high-scorers I know have done it through self study.

And usually if you have any private doubts about taking, you should withdraw for now. There isn't much benefit to taking it in Feb, and by June you can go in feeling confident like a boss.

[062914123]

.

[marsdentromba]

Is there a significant difference between a cancel and an absence? Perhaps you could just not sit for the test if you feel that uneasy.

[pizzabrosauce]

Is there a significant difference between a cancel and an absence? Perhaps you could just not sit for the test if you feel that uneasy.

I think a cancel counts against your "3 tests per 2 years" rule whereas an absence doesn't. And as others have said, both probably have insignificant difference in dinging your application.

[snehpets]

I do think it's worth considering whether you're the type to ever feel "ready." I'm horribly lacking in confidence about things like this and not only did I go into it doing badly, I thought I did badly afterwards. I didn't perform where I wanted to based on my practices, but I still did okay. However, I almost talked myself out of taking it entirely and waiting until June. I probably would've spent February-June psyching myself out even more and going into the test freaking out about how much was riding on it. If you think you can get to a point where you'll feel 100% confident, then by all means wait till June. If you're like me and are probably never going to feel good about it, I think your practice test scores and the fact that failing in February would still allow for a June retake are good arguments for going ahead with it.

[Jeffort]

Is there a significant difference between a cancel and an absence? Perhaps you could just not sit for the test if you feel that uneasy.

I think a cancel counts against your "3 tests per 2 years" rule whereas an absence doesn't. And as others have said, both probably have insignificant difference in dinging your application.

Taking and canceling does count towards the three administrations in two years rule, absent does not since you would not have showed up and been administered the test. However, the distinction is a moot point if one decides at the last minute not to take the test they are registered to take.

You can withdraw your registration up to midnight ET the day before the administration. If one does that, nothing shows up on the CAS report and it DOES NOT count against the three times in two years rule, you just forfeit the registration fee.

Since LSAC put the withdraw option in place last year, having ABSENT on a CAS report again indicates FLAKE to admission committees, unlike during the previous few year period where you were locked into having either a cancel or absent mark on your report if you didn't cancel or reschedule your test registration a little over two weeks before the administration if you decided you weren't ready last minute/got sick/something popped up/etc.

OP: If you are in 'LSAT Mode' and scoring in your goal range on timed practice tests that you are taking honestly under strict timed conditions (that means recent PrepTests you have never been exposed to before under conditions as close as you can simulate to test-day conditions), take it and get it over with.

If your timed practice test scores have not been achieved under all those conditions and/or significantly fluctuate over the next few days, take a break and regroup for the June LSAT administration.

Another thing to keep in mind, it doesn't/shouldn't affect test-day performance, but the February LSAT is non-disclosed, so you will not get a copy of the test or your answers, just a scaled score. Some people are bothered by that, especially if they under perform and decide to re-take since they cannot see how they did in the sections to review their mistakes in order to help guide their preparation study time for a re-take.

[AbhiJ]

I would say give it a try. Its good to know that you can retake in June. This will give you a swaggering confidence going into the exam and you may get your desired score. This test is as much a mental game as a conceptual once.

[goblue89]

all good advice -- thanks! i'm thinking that i'll see how i do on the preptests tuesday-thursday and then make a decision on thursday or friday...