Yale and Stanford view of initial takes in 160s? Forum

(Applications Advice, Letters of Recommendation . . . )
Post Reply
User avatar
searching61

New
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 9:23 pm

Yale and Stanford view of initial takes in 160s?

Post by searching61 » Tue Sep 19, 2017 9:42 pm

[just preserving question topics and not context, in case others find these answers valuable]

1. for Y and S in particular, would my admissions chances be significantly affected by having an initial LSAT score in the 160s, but a second score at or above the median? if so, would this be worse than having a cancelled score? (i understand Y and S may look unfavorably on retakes but other schools likely don't care.)

2. if the above answer is yes, and my low score is solely attributable to a score sheet error, could I eliminate any disadvantage with an LSAT addendum explaining away the score in this case?
Last edited by searching61 on Fri Sep 22, 2017 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
UVA2B

Gold
Posts: 3570
Joined: Sun May 22, 2016 10:48 pm

Re: Y and S view of initial takes in 160s? Or, should I cancel Sept. lsat?

Post by UVA2B » Tue Sep 19, 2017 9:51 pm

I realize this isn't responsive to your stated question, but why are Y and S your goals? Do you have compelling reasons to make admission to a school your goal, vice making your eventual career path the actual goal? Because there isn't a single legal career in the world that is exclusively available to YS graduates, and you should consider that in how you should tailor your law school search.

To your stated question, there is questionable/anecdotal data to suggest Y (and to a lesser extent S) care about multiple LSAT scores, so it's a risk you take either way. If you exclusively want admission to YS, then you're kind of taking a risk either way (because you're inserting another confounding variable in comparing how they treat a cancel vs. a lower score on top of this being an environment when the LSAT is being marginalized by the GRE).

You have much better questions you should be asking more than likely than what you've asked here, but to me the answer to your question is: you're taking a risk either way.

User avatar
searching61

New
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 9:23 pm

Re: Y and S view of initial takes in 160s? Or, should I cancel Sept. lsat?

Post by searching61 » Tue Sep 19, 2017 10:10 pm

@UVA thanks for the quick response. to quickly hit your points:

-Not saying that Y and S are my broader goals for law school. i'm applying to HYS and much of the top 14, and would certainly consider non-HYS if i got significant $$$. But my reasoning is that this choice (cancel/not cancel and risk a low score) would only impact odds at Y and S, since everywhere else will only care about my top score. so in making this choice, it just seems mostly like a question of how Y and S will view it.

-Yeah, that makes sense if there's just as much indication out there that they'd look similarly at a cancellation. at that point I may as well keep the score, and maybe apply to a couple places in October. do you have any thoughts on whether the addendum would change things in this case though, since the issue would have been something that isn't what the lsat is really trying to measure?

-Interested to hear what else you would ask in my situation

User avatar
UVA2B

Gold
Posts: 3570
Joined: Sun May 22, 2016 10:48 pm

Re: Y and S view of initial takes in 160s? Or, should I cancel Sept. lsat?

Post by UVA2B » Tue Sep 19, 2017 10:17 pm

Ok, first question: what do you want to do with a law degree?

Second question: where do you want to do it?

Third question: how do you intend to finance your education? Within HYS, are you eligible for major need-based aid?

A law school decision is entirely a dynamic one based on your particular circumstances, which include goal career, geographic preference, cost, method of payment, and likely many more factors.

I understand you tailoring your question because those are the only two schools that might care, and I'm glad you aren't specifically targeting these schools exclusively, but there is a thought that should be incepted into every prospective law student: law school is a means to an end (a career).

You're not at the point where you'll be making decisions on which school to choose, but when you get your score back, retake (if necessary), and create the best application you can, then you start to make decisions based on cost/benefit and the options you have in front of you.

Sorry I can't provide definitive proof of cancel vs. lower LSAT, but that should mostly be a lesser of your concerns, because that LSAT is in the rearview, so you can't exactly change it anymore.

User avatar
Delano

New
Posts: 92
Joined: Fri Jun 09, 2017 10:27 pm

Re: Y and S view of initial takes in 160s? Or, should I cancel Sept. lsat?

Post by Delano » Tue Sep 19, 2017 10:25 pm

In answer to the question that you actually asked -

I wouldn't cancel, especially given only 20% chance you made the mistake. This is very much conjecture but I highly doubt that would be a deciding factor at all. And I think whatever downside that would have would be far outweighed by the certainty of having to apply late.

I think I'd write an addendum, because I think this is a situation where you'd actually have a valid reason to. TLS usually advises against LSAT addendums, so see what others say.

And, not really helpful, but I can't imagine any remotely reasonable YS adcomm would arbitrarily ding someone they'd otherwise accept purely because of a low score due to a bubbling error on a first take.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


User avatar
Platopus

Gold
Posts: 1507
Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2017 11:20 pm

Re: Y and S view of initial takes in 160s? Or, should I cancel Sept. lsat?

Post by Platopus » Wed Sep 20, 2017 9:20 pm

.
Last edited by Platopus on Sun Dec 17, 2017 4:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Delano

New
Posts: 92
Joined: Fri Jun 09, 2017 10:27 pm

Re: Y and S view of initial takes in 160s? Or, should I cancel Sept. lsat?

Post by Delano » Thu Sep 21, 2017 9:49 am

Platopus wrote:
Delano wrote:In answer to the question that you actually asked -

I wouldn't cancel, especially given only 20% chance you made the mistake. This is very much conjecture but I highly doubt that would be a deciding factor at all. And I think whatever downside that would have would be far outweighed by the certainty of having to apply late.

I think I'd write an addendum, because I think this is a situation where you'd actually have a valid reason to. TLS usually advises against LSAT addendums, so see what others say.

And, not really helpful, but I can't imagine any remotely reasonable YS adcomm would arbitrarily ding someone they'd otherwise accept purely because of a low score due to a bubbling error on a first take.
In counter point, any one can write an addendum stating they believe a bubbling error is the cause of their lower score. But I actually agree. Keep the score, and write an addendum if necessary. If you can blow it out of the water on the 2nd take, I'm sure adcomms will be willing to over look a bubbling error.
I mean, anyone can write an addendum about anything. Same applies if you're sick, had a family emergency, etc - You're generally not asked to provide proof. But yeah, no guarantee you'll be believed.

User avatar
searching61

New
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 9:23 pm

Re: Y and S view of initial takes in 160s? Or, should I cancel Sept. lsat?

Post by searching61 » Fri Sep 22, 2017 2:41 pm

Thanks everyone for the helpful feedback!

Largely because of reasons covered here, I decided to keep my score and am hoping for the best. Since I've made the decision, I'll remove the specific info from my original post but will keep the original questions, in case this helps others in the future (further thoughts on this are still welcome of course)

Also appreciate suggestions for what other questions I should be thinking about. Without getting into specifics of my situation here I'll just say I agree those are valuable and important, and I've been thinking a lot about them and found much helpful commentary on this site. I'd certainly hope that my question here (on a narrow topic I've seen addressed much less) isn't interpreted as a revealed preference for not asking other questions, which I've read a lot about elsewhere

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


Post Reply

Return to “Law School Admissions Forum”