To cancel or not to cancel? June 2018 Forum

[Shaza93]

So here are the facts:

Gender: F
Age: 24, will be 25 in Fall 2019
Undergrad GPA: 3.542 (Honor's college, graduated in 3 years, double major in Poli Sci and French)
Masters GPA: 4.0 (Urban Planning and International Development)
Work: Live and work in Turkey as an International research and development consultant - have worked for the UN and various NGOs on their Syria / Iraq response. Main component of my work is research/writing!
Publications: My research / writing has been published by DOJ and IOM
Scholarships: Was a 2016 Boren Fellowship (grad school) recipient for Turkey and was a 2018 Semi-Finalist for Fulbright
Diversity: Syrian-Muslim-American. Speak Arabic, French, and Turkish. Also not sure if this is diversity but have lived in an abusive household (even during undergrad, hence the low GPA) and was able to get out but not sure if I'll mention this in the app as some people say it can harm me rather than help
Law stuff: Have a certificate in Refugee law from the Istanbul Center of International Law, completed the Yale intro to Law School on Coursera.com, and was invited to a small workshop on Migrants: smuggling and trafficking law at Northwestern's Center of Forced Migration Studies
LSAT: Took in Sept 2017, panicked, didn't cancel for some reason and got a 163

GOAL: Get into a t-14 school AND try to get as much money as possible! I am even considering ED at Northwestern if it lands me a full ride there. I also 100% want to apply this cycle.

Basically, I was PT-ing between 171-175 in the last two weeks before the June LSAT. Had slight burn out so took the days before my LSAT off. I did not panic or freak out during the exam (win!) and I believe the section I definitely bombed was experimental, however I'm not too confident on the rest of the test either.

In adding up my worst and best possible scores based on how I feel I did (assuming the section I bombed was experimental): Best case scenario I think I did 8 or 9 wrong which could be 171-173 depending on how they score. Worst case scenario I think I did 12 wrong which could possibly be 168-170.

If I score less than 170 I am definitely retaking so now the question is, would it be better to have a record that says "163, cancel, 170+" or a record that says something like "163, 169, 170+" - of course there's the possibility I scored over 170 on the June exam but is it worth risking? Especially since it's very hard to confirm which section was experimental (since it was LR).

Thanks in advance!

[DKilloranPowerScore]

I strongly suggest keeping the score. These days, schools only care about your high score, and so the there's almost no reason to cancel unless you know for certain it as a total disaster and you're automatically retaking. In your case, there's a chance you've done extremely well, so why pass up the opportunity to see that score?

From the Deans I've spoken to about this (and some were T14), a record of 3-4 takes is not a negative, and tells them that you not only believe you can do better but that you are willing to work at it. Those are both positive traits!

You've got a great resume going, so if I were in your shoes I'd keep the score but register for July. If you like your June score you can then cancel that July registration for a full refund (see LSAC's website). If you don't like the score, no harm done, you can then take it in July.

Good luck!

[baseballfan92156]

i got a 141 last feb then got a 131 last june. i took the 3rd recently but i want to cancel myself. Should I?

[Shaza93]

Thank you DKilloranPowerScore!

This was really helpful. I have thought long and hard about it and will not be cancelling my score.

Thank you!

[DKilloranPowerScore]

i got a 141 last feb then got a 131 last june. i took the 3rd recently but i want to cancel myself. Should I?

It depends—how did you feel about this one, and what do you think your score range could be? If you know you did worse than the 141, that suggests that cancelling would a definite option. But is that the case?

[DKilloranPowerScore]

Thank you DKilloranPowerScore!

This was really helpful. I have thought long and hard about it and will not be cancelling my score.

Thank you!

Great, glad I could help! And let's hope your score comes back far better than you expected