Taking the LSAT twice? Forum

[haicool]

Hi everyone,

I am thinking about taking the LSAT twice, one in June and one in October. However, I wonder if they would average the scores or take the highest one?

Could anyone please clarify for me?

Thank you very much!!!

Haicool.

[CampbellRh]

most take the higher

depends on the school.

check the FAQs on their website.

[superfly80]

Taking the LSAT twice is not the best plan. Yes, most schools will take the highest score ( Some will not, esp. the very competative ones). BUT, a person with a 175, looks better than someone who has 165, 175. When the schools are considering applicants if they have someone with 175 and someone with (165, 175), they might accept the second person, if this person has better credentials, GPA, personal factors than the first person. If all other things are equal, they will accept the first one. Thus, by taking it twice you will shorthand yourself. I think you should not take the test unless you think you are ready to score the score that you are happy with. If something goes wrong on test day you can retake.

[haicool]

Yes, after giving it some thoughts, I'm convinced that taking the LSAT only once is ideal. Because a lot of schools (the competitive ones, like you said) average scores.

Thanks for the input!

[NiftyDolphin]

Wait a sec. Something needs to be clarified. There are only a very few number of schools who average scores. The vast majority of schools, even the competitive ones, will take your highest score. I'm not sure as to whether or not a person who scored 165, 175 would be viewed less favorably than a person with a just a 175. However, please note that multiple scores have little bearing when the school only has to report one score. Therefore, don't think your 165, 175 is significantly less valuable than someone with just a 175.

[wardboro]

Wait a sec. Something needs to be clarified. There are only a very few number of schools who average scores. The vast majority of schools, even the competitive ones, will take your highest score. I'm not sure as to whether or not a person who scored 165, 175 would be viewed less favorably than a person with a just a 175. However, please note that multiple scores have little bearing when the school only has to report one score. Therefore, don't think your 165, 175 is significantly less valuable than someone with just a 175.

This is right, but it's best not to go in anticipating taking it twice. Taking in a second and third time should really only be something you do if you think you underperformed. Real LSAT prep takes serious study, and can be sort of miserable, I wouldn't put myself through it twice if I can just do it once.

Plan to take it once. Take it twice or three times only if necessary.

[superfly80]

I'm not sure as to whether or not a person who scored 165, 175 would be viewed less favorably than a person with a just a 175. However, please note that multiple scores have little bearing when the school only has to report one score. Therefore, don't think your 165, 175 is significantly less valuable than someone with just a 175.

I am not sure if you are right. In answering the OP's question, I based my answer on just some things that people wrote on this board. I took the test twice and read a lot of posts on re-taking, because this issue concerned me personally. However, I now felt interested if those people were right and just googled "retaking LSAT" I am not sure how reliable these resources are, but they seem to be corroborating what I said earlier.

http://career.berkeley.edu/Article/061103a-ssh.stm
http://deloggio.com/academic/twolsat.htm

Also, though most schools now take the highest, quiet a few require an addendum explaining the discrepancy. I think a person with 2 scores could be viewed as favorably or even more favorably than someone with one score, provided they have a good explanation for the discrepancy. But, the OP will have a hard time coming up with a good addendum why he/she did much better in October versus June.

[aguyingeorgia]

Plan on doing well on the first so that you don't have to re-take. Save yourself the stress.

[blhblahblah]

The explanation part is quite simple and might even be a way to garner extra sympathy from adcoms: your cat unexpectedly died the night before, but you, a courageous test-taker, went on thinking you'd be fine; but, to your dismay, you suffered acute flashbacks of it's supple deceased body which fuzzed your thoughts and therefore eliminated your chance of performing well.

If I were an adcom, I'd shed a tear or two.

[aguyingeorgia]

My poor cat...

[Ben Matlock]

As others have been saying, don't plan to take the LSAT twice. Do take it in June so you have another chance, however. If you do significantly better the second time, you're in really good shape. I had a 167 in June and a 174 in September.

I've proposed answers to the question "Does X Law School average LSAT scores if there's a large discrepancy?" deduced from the results of my cycle so far (which can be found here: http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/display ... =Matlock08 ) and questions I asked adcomms. I wrote an addendum that basically said I get nervous the first time I take standardized tests, but then my scores improve with retakes (130-point improvement on the SAT as an example).

Yale (in): It's complicated, but a low score certainly won't keep you out. They use the LSAT to select apps to send to faculty review. I seemed to have made the cut even with my average LSAT, but my early acceptance leads me to believe the readers paid more attention to the higher score. I've heard some readers don't look at the score at all.
Harvard (deferred): Maybe (People with 3.8/174 and 3.8/171 were deferred)
Stanford (pending): Maybe (people with very high numbers still haven't heard)
Columbia (in): Very unlikely (got in quickly)
NYU (in): Unlikely (heard back early and currently scholarship finalist)
Berkeley (in): No (stated policy)
Chicago (in): No (scholarship offer)
Penn(in): Unlikely (Wilson, then Levy - I also think their policy is to take the higher one)
Northwestern (withdrawn): No (stated policy)
Michigan (in): Very unlikely (Darrow, although they may have found out about Yale from these forums)
UVa (in): Unlikely (scholarship)
Duke (in): No (I believe this is their stated policy)
Cornell (did not apply): Unknown
Georgetown (in): Yeah right (they're LSAT whores)

[Governor]

Yes, someone with a 175 alone looks better than someone with a 165, 175.

But I think you're missing the point:
A 165, 175 looks better than someone with a 165 alone--which is why you'd retake the test. Someone with a 175 probably isn't going to retake the LSAT.

[takingmytime]

If they don't average large discrepancies, do they usually average small jumps: eg 165 to 169 or 170 to 174. Or even something like a 172 to a 176 (competitive at CCN to competitive at Harvard)?

[boomer]

this is something i have been wondering as well. for example, say your practice tests were 162-166 with a high of 168 and you pop a 161 on the real deal. isnt it in your best interest to take it a second time? i cant envision a situation where you wouldnt want to retake....?

If they don't average large discrepancies, do they usually average small jumps: eg 165 to 169 or 170 to 174. Or even something like a 172 to a 176 (competitive at CCN to competitive at Harvard)?

[RVP11]

Here's the bottom line:

(165, 175) is not as good as a 175 alone. But it IS better than a 174 alone.

It's nearly always in one's best interest to re-take if it is thought to be at all likely a higher score will be the result.

[TheGreatNorthwest]

Are both scores reported to the law schools? For example, if you socre 155 the first time and 170 the second try, does the school bet both scores or just the highest score?

[RVP11]

Both scores are reported to law schools by LSAC.

But, more importantly, law schools only have to report the highest score to ABA and USNWR.

[cej13]

If you kick butt on the June LSAT (really close to your practice score) then I would just take it once.