Cancelling December 2013 LSAT Forum

[kjsmit02]

While I've seen all the other posts on cancellations, I wanted to get some additional advice. When I realized that I wasn't prepared well enough to take the exam, it was essentially too late, so I looked at it more as a learning experience. If I felt good about it I'd keep it, if not I'd scrap it. Needless to say I'm sure the exam didn't go well. The nerves made me lose confidence in my answers, and I ran out of time after I got to question 20 on every section. So I can safely say that it didn't do well at all. In short, I know I performed poorly, I'm just unsure of how poorly. This is why I'm leaning towards cancelling, to prevent any chance of an outrageously low score from showing up on my profile.

What's more, I know that I have the capacity to perform better, and would undoubtedly score higher on a retake. I'm a urm aiming for a top 30 school with a 3.42 gpa, and I don't believe that my score is even close to getting me in. I plan to retake in February, but am a little uneasy about that due to the uncertainty of Feb tests. Any advice or additional thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[Jeffort]

If you know you seriously underperformed by not finishing more than 20 Qs per section and you normally do finish sections, your decision to cancel is clear. Without any specific/objective information about your score range and typical PT performance compared to how test day went, nobody can offer a different judgment about whether you should cancel or not. Knowing that your likely score is far from what you need for target schools is good enough reason to cancel as long as your judgement about your likely performance is somewhat accurate. Without specifics, nobody can offer a different perspective about whether you really underperformed or not since you could be talking about any size of score discrepancy and any target score range.

[kjsmit02]

If you know you seriously underperformed by not finishing more than 20 Qs per section and you normally do finish sections, your decision to cancel is clear. Without any specific/objective information about your score range and typical PT performance compared to how test day went, nobody can offer a different judgment about whether you should cancel or not. Knowing that your likely score is far from what you need for target schools is good enough reason to cancel as long as your judgement about your likely performance is somewhat accurate. Without specifics, nobody can offer a different perspective about whether you really underperformed or not since you could be talking about any size of score discrepancy and any target score range.

That's the thing, my prep wasn't good enough, which I was aware of going in. I studied the Powerscore LR & LG bibles and the Manhattan RC guide, but only got to a total of 5 practice tests in which my scores were 151, 155, 155, 153, 156 respectively. I spent too much time taking notes on the bible sections that I didn't take enough tests. On my practice tests I would answer approximately 22 before running out of time, but had just enough to fill in guesses for each section as I used a digital watch & phone timer. In hindsight this was a terrible practice simulation as my analog watch wasn't accurate enough to give me the ~10 sec I needed to fill random choices.

[mam5357]

I use to instruct LSAT students a couple of years ago. My best advice for you is NOT to cancel. I advise this for several reasons ranging from you dont know your score to anxiety. Whether you cancel or make a 130 on your LSAT does not make a difference on your application. Law schools take the highest score only. I had a student who scored a 150 twice in a row, and then made a 172 on her third test, and was accepted to Stanford Law. Thats an average of a 157 score, but the admissions people did not look at it that way. They looked at those 150s and saw them as bad days. They saw the 172 as her potential and admitted her. If anybody tells you anything else they are full of shit and dont know what they are talking about. Dont ask Admission personal about how they view LSAT Scores. Thats like asking the thief about his plan to steal something from your house.

[bp shinners]

If you know you seriously underperformed by not finishing more than 20 Qs per section and you normally do finish sections, your decision to cancel is clear. Without any specific/objective information about your score range and typical PT performance compared to how test day went, nobody can offer a different judgment about whether you should cancel or not. Knowing that your likely score is far from what you need for target schools is good enough reason to cancel as long as your judgement about your likely performance is somewhat accurate. Without specifics, nobody can offer a different perspective about whether you really underperformed or not since you could be talking about any size of score discrepancy and any target score range.

I'd go with this advice over the other poster's.