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Hi all,

I'm hoping for some advise on whether to keep or cancel Dec.'s test

I scored a 168 on the Oct. LSAT, but have been PT in the 175+ range. I'm a bit worried about this test as well and am estimating that I may have done similarly to my october score. Is it better to have another 168-171 score, or a cancellation (either way I will be taking the test a third time).

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Keep.

If you think you scored higher than a 165, there's no reason to cancel.

Keep it as you may have performed higher than what you think. There isn't a significant different between another 168-171 and a cancel. Each one counts as one of your three tries anyways.

Thanks for the input.

From what I've read a number of the top schools to some extent average scores. Wouldn't it be worse to have two lower scores and one (hopefully) higher score, than one lower a cancel and a higher score?

I've also read that in general one cancellation doesn't have a very adverse impact on admission chances, does it matter order for cancellation; i.e. is it worse to cancel the second test?

How did you do on games?

I think a bit below my average. I ran out of time on the last game and was forced to take a couple (~4?) educated guesses. Felt pretty confident on the rest though. My main worry is that I was a bit rushed on RC, which must have been due to nerves and it being the first section, as I am consistently pretty strong on RC.

I felt the same way about RC. The second LG gave me trouble too, since there were a lot of long and difficult questions. Timing under test conditions was a real issue! I would keep the score though, since you may have done better than you expect. Also, schools want high scores to report, and they can only report your highest one. So even if they say they average scores, there's really know incentive on their part to reject a 175 because they scored a 168 on their first try.

mehftw wrote:Thanks for the input.

From what I've read a number of the top schools to some extent average scores. Wouldn't it be worse to have two lower scores and one (hopefully) higher score, than one lower a cancel and a higher score?

I've also read that in general one cancellation doesn't have a very adverse impact on admission chances, does it matter order for cancellation; i.e. is it worse to cancel the second test?

+1 to the idea that you probably did better than you think. The retaker nerves are awful, but really try to overcome them. I felt the same way you did - much worse on RC than usual, bad LG, etc. - and I wound up right in my PT average.
The only schools that MIGHT average anymore are HYS and H is certainly being called into question as JS1s are coming in. I had a below 25th first take and above 75th retake and they seem to care much more about the latter. If you're shooting for non-HYS T14, don't worry for a second about averaging.
I think you should keep it.