What happens to LSAT scores when... Forum

[alexeipg]

I'm wondering how the LSAT 5 year expiration period works in terms of applying to law schools. I am in the position of having taken the LSAT in December 2007 (162), re-taking in December 2009 (cancelled), and most recently taking it in June 2012 (167). For schools that consider only LSAT scores within the last 5 years, does that mean that any application I submit before early December 2012 would show my 2007 score and any application submitted after--say, on December 15--would not? Is it worth holding off on applying to law schools until mid to late December so that law schools will not see my 162 (and cancellation, if the school only looks at last 3 years)?

[ilovelawtays]

Schools usually only consider your highest score. The benefit you get in applying early far outweighs the benefit you'd get (if any) by waiting for a score to fall off record.

[TheThriller]

Schools usually only consider your highest score. The benefit you get in applying early far outweighs the benefit you'd get (if any) by waiting for a score to fall off record.

This is not what the OP is asking.

OP, any score that was 5+ years old will not show up.

[ilovelawtays]

Is it worth holding off on applying to law schools until mid to late December so that law schools will not see my 162 (and cancellation, if the school only looks at last 3 years)?

[JCFindley]

Schools usually only consider your highest score. The benefit you get in applying early far outweighs the benefit you'd get (if any) by waiting for a score to fall off record.

This is not what the OP is asking.

OP, any score that was 5+ years old will not show up.

Actually, it was in fact part of the question.

I'm wondering how the LSAT 5 year expiration period works in terms of applying to law schools. I am in the position of having taken the LSAT in December 2007 (162), re-taking in December 2009 (cancelled), and most recently taking it in June 2012 (167). For schools that consider only LSAT scores within the last 5 years, does that mean that any application I submit before early December 2012 would show my 2007 score and any application submitted after--say, on December 15--would not? Is it worth holding off on applying to law schools until mid to late December so that law schools will not see my 162 (and cancellation, if the school only looks at last 3 years)?

[alexeipg]

the first responder actually did address my question, as I am weighing wether to apply right as the gates open, or wait until mid-december when my lower LSAT score will be off my record. Also considering re-taking the LSAT this October, in which case I would have 4 total tests in the last 5 years, up until mid-December.

Do people ever game the admissions cycle, e.g. apply to half the schools they are interested in before re-taking the LSAT, then apply to the other half after getting their new LSAT score? This seems like it could be a good way to hedge one's bets, but maybe schools are already prepared for this?

[TheThriller]

Fair enough, my fault for skimming.

[ilovelawtays]

Fair enough, my fault for skimming.

I definitely went back and reread her question a few times, thinking I'd somehow misunderstood her.

[alexeipg]

I'm a boy!

[cc.celina]

Do people ever game the admissions cycle, e.g. apply to half the schools they are interested in before re-taking the LSAT, then apply to the other half after getting their new LSAT score? This seems like it could be a good way to hedge one's bets, but maybe schools are already prepared for this?

As far as I know, all the schools to which you've applied get your new LSAT score sent to them anyway, so unless they've made their decision very quickly and already notified you, it doesn't seem to help you very much. Like other people have been saying, applying early probably far outweighs. The vast majority of schools take your highest LSAT for reporting purposes. People who apply in, say, Jan or Feb have worse cycles than people with the same numbers who apply in Nov.

I'm a boy!

Lol'ed

[anon sequitur]

LSAC only purges scores once per year, in June. So actually, you can still have scores that are 5 1/2 years old appear on your record.

[KevinP]

5 years is correct, but a lot of the apps asked me about all of my previous scores, which I'm guessing includes the 5+ year old ones.

I think it's been sufficiently shown that schools focus on the highest score, so I wouldn't worry about it.