2 Scores, 1 Cancel? Forum

[Franklin N. Bash]

...Better than 3 scores? My brief history with the lsat:

-Scored lower than i hoped to in Jun 11 with a 158 (PTs were at around 164 at that time).

-Set the books down for several months, prepped for 2 months for the Feb 12 test, with PTs now up to the 167-169 range.

-In this weekend's test, I feel like whiffed on one, possibly 2 games and didn't have a great great feeling about RC, though sometimes that's harder to gauge. LR was solid.

Better to cancel and retake, knowing that June 12 would be my last chance to take it for a year? Would like to apply this fall and am probably in the T14 or try-another-field camp. Or roll the dice, score the test, and see if it was better than i thought, knowing I could be at risk for 3 reported scores if I'm still unhappy? I think i would crack the 170 PT mark if i continued prepping.

I think the answer is cancel but it puts a lot of pressure on the June date. Thoughts from those who have had or are currently having this debate?

Thanks!

[gaud]

That's a tough call. I never had the guts to cancel my tests.

Usually, if you 'whiffed' on one or two of the games how did your scores end up? that's what I would ask myself.

[Franklin N. Bash]

Ha - I think this 'whiff' could have been bad enough for -8 on that section, so not a lot of wiggle room for the rest of the test if i was hoping to match my PT scores.

[gaud]

What's your GPA like?

[Franklin N. Bash]

3.5 from a sm lib arts, so not a huge area of strength. Will be leaning on really good work experience and, hopefully, solid LSAT.

[gaud]

Hmm.. that's a really tough call. I was hoping your GPA would be like 3.9; that way, if you didn't score too well, you may still be able to pull of UVA or something.

If you're dead-set on T-14 I may consider the cancel.. but I would be sure to get opinions from others first! Don't base your decision completely off of what I said.

[laxbrah420]

158-cancel-170
vs
158-(162-164)-170
??
take the latter

[Franklin N. Bash]

Think so? What's the rationale there?

[gaud]

158-cancel-170
vs
158-(162-164)-170
??
take the latter

TCR.

What was I thinking?? OP, I thought this was going to be your third score... my bad. Don't cancel if it's only your second attempt. No use in the cancel.

[Franklin N. Bash]

Yeah, this Sat was attempt no. 2. June '12 would be third. (Jun 11 was first)

[gaud]

Yeah, this Sat was attempt no. 2. June '12 would be third. (Jun 11 was first)

You can totally keep your score then. As long as you score high in June, your previous scores really won't matter.

[Franklin N. Bash]

Word. Others concur? Suppose schools just want to be able to point to the highest one if they otherwise like you.

[noleknight16]

Do NOT cancel. You did better than 158. Keep the score and improve again on your third try.

[Franklin N. Bash]

Don't want to be overconfident but it's very likely better than a 158. So the pros to scoring this one are 1) maybe it didn't suck and 2) having a test I'm more or less okay with in my pocket.

If 3 scores don't look too crappy to admissions officers (not that 2 scores 1 cancel is much different), maybe keeping it is right.

[laxbrah420]

Don't want to be overconfident but it's very likely better than a 158. So the pros to scoring this one are 1) maybe it didn't suck and 2) having a test I'm more or less okay with in my pocket.

If 3 scores don't look too crappy to admissions officers (not that 2 scores 1 cancel is much different), maybe keeping it is right.

Basically, since US news allows schools to only submit top scores, schools only worry about your top lsat scores. The difference in how an adcomm regards a 2 scores and a cancel vs 3 scores is super negligible compared to the insurance of having a 160+ going into your third test.
This is a pretty easy choice