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Hi guys,

I need some advice. I sat for the October test and got a 165 (missing 9 on the LG) with a ~3.8 GPA. I am really interested in attending Penn, and obviously these numbers are not going to cut it.

I took the December test but got tripped up on the LG again and then dwelled on it for the rest of the test, so I think it negatively affected my performance in the other sections. I have been PT-ing in the low to mid 170s.

My question is.. Should I cancel this score and retake in Feb and still apply this cycle? I know this is generally ill-advised but do you think with the weather issues that occurred with the December administration that this cycle could make a difference in acceptance of Feb tests? Or would it be better to simply wait until June and apply at the beginning of the next cycle? Or not cancel at all and pray for a miracle.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

ldg413 wrote:Hi guys,

I need some advice. I sat for the October test and got a 165 (missing 9 on the LG) with a ~3.8 GPA. I am really interested in attending Penn, and obviously these numbers are not going to cut it.

I took the December test but got tripped up on the LG again and then dwelled on it for the rest of the test, so I think it negatively affected my performance in the other sections. I have been PT-ing in the low to mid 170s.

My question is.. Should I cancel this score and retake in Feb and still apply this cycle? I know this is generally ill-advised but do you think with the weather issues that occurred with the December administration that this cycle could make a difference in acceptance of Feb tests? Or would it be better to simply wait until June and apply at the beginning of the next cycle? Or not cancel at all and pray for a miracle.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

Do you think you did worse than 165 on this test? If so, cancelling seems like it might make sense. If you'd just said that you messed up on LG, I would've advised keeping the score. A few more points could make a difference here- if you get to 168/169 Penn seems much more attainable. However, if you really spent the rest of the test dwelling on your mistake, then you might've made a lot of mistakes on the other sections just because your focus wasn't totally on the section you were doing. I have a friend who had this problem. He kept his score and ended up scoring 10 points below his practice average, mostly because of stupid mistakes on LR and RC. He retook and ended up doing much better, but I think he probably would've cancelled if he'd known that he was going to end up with a low score on the first test.

If you think you really messed up this test, cancel and wait until February or June. If you think there's a chance you did better than 165, keep it and see what you get. Don't take the February test and expect that it'll boost your chances for admission this cycle. Regardless of the weather delays/ LSAT cancellations, February is really late in the cycle. Your file won't be given serious consideration at schools until March if you use a February score.