Let’s be honest: the LSAT can be nerve-racking. Whether you are studying for the exam, taking it, or wondering how you did, it’s not unusual to be stressed—and this level of stress leads many test takers to cancel their scores.
The LSAT has offered the option to cancel scores for a while. And now that it also offers Score Preview, which allows test takers to view their projected score before deciding whether to keep it, test takers are more inclined to cancel their score if they did poorly. However, making this decision is not so simple.
In this blog post, we at Stratus explain when you should and should not cancel your LSAT score.
How do you cancel an LSAT score?
The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) gives test takers six calendar days to cancel their score after taking the LSAT. You can cancel your score by logging into the LSAC account that you used to register for the test and then selecting the option to cancel it.
Remember that you can purchase the Score Preview, which, as mentioned earlier, will show you your projected score right after taking the exam. Score Preview costs $45 if you purchase it before test day and $75 if you purchase it on or after test day. If you are considering canceling your score, it is a good idea to purchase Score Preview to avoid psyching yourself out and unknowingly canceling a good score.
How should you decide whether to cancel your LSAT score?
- Consider purchasing Score Preview to learn your projected score before canceling. With Score Preview, some people operate under the rule that if they score below the number they wanted, they should cancel. However, this is not a foolproof approach. Why not? Ultimately, law schools are only interested in your highest LSAT score because that is all they need to report to the American Bar Association and the public as part of their median for law school rankings. Additionally, the point of the LSAT is to test your aptitude. So, if you can eventually achieve a high score, the fact that you received lower scores on earlier exams does not cancel out that high score. Therefore, even if you study hard for your first LSAT and do not do as well as you had hoped, there is no reason to panic and cancel your score—especially if it is a respectable score. Say you were aiming for a 165 and you got a 160. A 160 can still get you into a lot of law schools, and it even gives you a slight shot at schools that have 165 as their median score. This is important because there is always a chance that life could get in the way of you retaking the LSAT, and having a score on file will prevent your law school plans from being entirely derailed.
- Understand the consequences of canceling scores. It is also important to note that schools DO see canceled scores on your record. And although schools will not judge you harshly for canceling one test, having more than one cancellation on your record can look bad. Additionally, a canceled score still counts toward the number of times you are allowed to take the LSAT. So, chances are you do not want to waste one of your chances to take the exam.
- Determine the reason for lower-than-expected scores. With all of these reasons to not cancel the exam, why should you ever cancel it? Many times, the decision revolves around the score being far below the minimum needed for a particular school. For example, if every school to which you are applying has a median score of 170 or more and you receive a 150, you will want to retake the exam. Now, if you are aiming for a 170 and you end up with a 150, there is a good chance that something went wrong. You likely scored higher with practice tests, and maybe you did much worse on test day because you were sick, had a traumatic event occur recently, or couldn’t sleep the night before the exam due to anxiety. If you did not give the LSAT your best effort because of circumstances beyond your control, it is best to cancel your score and try again. Alternatively, you might have taken the LSAT without any preparation just to learn your base score. If this is the case and you scored much lower than your target, you should probably cancel your score. (Note: Generally, you should not take an LSAT cold; you should instead take a practice test under testing conditions to gauge your base score.)
- Consider your previous scores. Another plausible scenario to cancel your score is if this was your second or third time taking the LSAT. Say your previous score was a 167, and your goal is a 170. You decided to take the final LSAT that the cycle will allow because your practice tests showed you scoring 170 or higher, but then for some reason, you got a 163. In this situation, it is worth canceling your score. You are not going to take the LSAT again during that cycle—or possibly ever again. In addition, the score does absolutely nothing to help you because you previously scored higher. Therefore, you might find it best to disregard it. Just keep in mind that law schools will still see that you took the exam and canceled it, so be prepared to answer any questions regarding it.
- Compare your LSAT and GRE scores. Finally, if you took the GRE and then took the LSAT and your LSAT score is significantly lower than your GRE score, you might want to cancel it. More schools are now accepting the GRE, so if you have a significantly stronger GRE score, it might make sense to go with that. But once you officially have an LSAT score on file, your GRE score becomes meaningless because schools will consider your LSAT score—because they have to report your highest LSAT score (even if it is your only LSAT score) as part of their median.
Ultimately, canceling a score is a personal decision based on your own circumstances. It is better to consider what is relevant to you and decide accordingly than to impulsively decide to cancel just because you received a lower score than you would have liked.