Three takes under holistic review Forum

[das_Gesetz]

When YLS states that it "considers all information about an applicant, including multiple LSAT scores," precisely what does this mean? Let's say the applicant scores over a 175 on his or her third attempt, is this applicant in lower standing than another who scores over 175 in his or her first and only attempt? What about an applicant that scores in that range on his or her second attempt? Does the admissions committee expect an explanation why the applicant has taken the exam multiple times? What constitutes a good or acceptable explanation?

[Platopus]

.

[das_Gesetz]

I think it's all dependent on context. Yale is probably going to be more skeptical of someone who went 168-->171-->173-->175 than someone who got a 175 on their first attempt. However, if you went from a 172-->175, I doubt it would have much of an impact. As far as an addendum, I think it's expected someone who went from a 162--->175 should write about that. Again though, a 172--->175 probably doesn't require an addendum.

Thanks for responding.

What about cancellation (2 years ago) -->169 -->175+? This third score is purely hypothetical by the way -- I was averaging 173 on my previous 21 practice tests (and only scored below 170 twice), nevertheless received a 169 on test day, and am trying to find a way to hope that things can still work out for my app to YLS. For context, my GPA is above 3.9 and my undergrad is HYP.

Also could you specify what you mean by "skeptical"? -- I guess the implication is that a candidate who had previously cancelled, and then retook the exam and received a low score and suddenly improved dramatically may have simply been lucky the third time. If that's the case, I wonder why they don't just average ... which seems more fair than assuming the high score is good luck and that the low score was not bad luck. An applicant with let's say a 167 and 177 has an average of 172 -- I can see that placing him in lower standing than an applicant with solely a 177, but does that place him in lower standing than an applicant with solely a 172?

[Platopus]

.

[das_Gesetz]

What about cancellation (2 years ago) -->169 -->175+? This third score is purely hypothetical by the way -- I was averaging 173 on my previous 21 practice tests (and only scored below 170 twice), nevertheless received a 169 on test day, and am trying to find a way to hope that things can still work out for my app to YLS. For context, my GPA is above 3.9 and my undergrad is HYP.

Also could you specify what you mean by "skeptical"? -- I guess the implication is that a candidate who had previously cancelled, and then retook the exam and received a low score and suddenly improved dramatically may have simply been lucky the third time. If that's the case, I wonder why they don't just average ... which seems more fair than assuming the high score is good luck and that the low score was not bad luck. An applicant with let's say a 167 and 177 has an average of 172 -- I can see that placing him in lower standing than an applicant with solely a 177, but does that place him in lower standing than an applicant with solely a 172?

I mean that if you take the test 3 times, admissions officers are going to be skeptical that the final (highest) score is the truest indicator of your intellectual ability, and not simply just a little luck (although this probably doesn't matter except at Y). To be clear though, I'm sure they do average. However, I doubt that it's as simple as just a pure average, as you example points out. I'm pretty confident a 167--->177 is going to be weighed differently than a pure 177, but is it different than a pure 172 - I don't know. In any case, Y is a blackbox so the best thing you can do is nab that 175+ and find out.

Right. You also mentioned that a 162-175 would certainly require an addendum, while a 172-175 would certainly not. What about a cancellation-169-175? It seems to be a bit more ambiguous -- If I don't have a particularly compelling reason for this testing history (assuming it ultimately has this trajectory or one similar), would it be wiser to avoid an addendum?