Lower Second LSAT Score

[legalhistorystudent]

Hey everyone, just looking to get some insight on how law schools view a lower second lsat score? I took in november and scored considerably higher than I just did in January. Feeling pretty crushed but probably has something to do with some undiagnosed and now diagnosed mental health things. Will this impact me at all for Fall 2022 admissions? I know most schools are hiLSAT but I am mostly worried that they will see my higher score as being luck or something and that the lower one is more reflective of my ability and they will pass on my application on that account (the difference is low 150s- high 150s) 

Thank you for any help I am panicking and was already worried that my score would not be enough!!!

[mjslava]

I’m also in the applicant phase, but I don’t think this is a poor indication to law schools. Aside from McGill who looks at your LSAT average (not aware of any other Canadian schools that do this), law schools look at your highest score as the main indicator. They may take all of them into consideration when doing a broad review. 

[LordBONSAI]

To my knowledge, every law school in Canada with the exception of McGill only looks at your highest LSAT score. (UofA used to average LSATs but not anymore since last cycle). A couple of points up or down from your previous test is pretty normal and acceptable. Law schools understand that there're multiple factors affecting your performance on the test so they usually forgive an underperformed score. That said, I hear that if your retake score drops more than 10 points, adcomm will take notice of it which may depict your app in a less favourable light. But in this case only your highest score will matter to them.

[RWC]

I was in a similar situation to you (took the April and then June 2021 tests and dropped 9 percentile) and was worried since a few schools would say things on their admissions websites along the lines of "we only use your highest for admission purposes but will 'consider' all scores". I asked a similar question on the forums when I got my second score and the prevailing answer was that the drop doesn't really matter. And to maybe further alleviate some worries, I've been fortunate enough to receive multiple offers this cycle, so I don't think schools will really look upon it negatively. However, I'll also echo @LordBONSAI by saying that obviously it might be a bigger factor if your second score was a very drastic drop. Overall, I wouldn't worry about it, I think you can effectively treat the first write as your score for all application purposes. Hope this helps you de-stress at least a little, good luck! 🙂