Amazingly, I have heard those exact lines before. Many times.
I’ve also heard thousands of times, “I way underperformed, I am doomed.” Indeed, we will hear from about 50 people in the next 2 days who think just that. There are hundreds more out there who think the same right now.
For so many reasons, you can’t fail the LSAT. And because I have seen the following scenario unfold so many times, I wanted to give some facts. Not an overblown peep talk or a feel good story. Just a few basic facts.
Fact 1: Schools will only care about your highest score. It is the only score that goes to USNWR. The mandate on the admissions office is to only care about your highest score (Yale might be the one exception). We answer this question every week of the year “if my score goes down will it hurt me? The answer is very simple and binary, ”no, it will not.”
Fact 2: If you are on the WL, the June test is not late. WL action will last until early Sept. If indeed you did not do as well as you hoped, and you have another test available to take, just consider this a warm-up. Take it in June, you’ll like do better (scores go slightly up more than they do down) and enjoy getting admitted off the WL.
**Fact 3: *If you apply for the 2015-2016 cycle this was really just a all win scenario. ***if you crushed it, enjoy the nice relaxing summer. If not, you have a heck of a lot of time to prepare for round 2, again this was just a test-run.
Fact 4: So many people walk out of the LSAT thinking they did worse, only to see their score is right at what they were test-taking. It is a highly natural feeling.
Fact 5: Going to the law school of your dreams in a journey as much as it is going to be a destination. I can’t tell you how many times Karen and I have seen people start far below where they wanted to, keep moving forward, and get their desired results. There are so many different ways to get there that any one test score underperforming is essentially meaningless.
This isn’t a post-game defeat speech . I just wanted to say I have seen this scenario play out so many times IN FAVOR of the applicant who walked out of the test center feeling down. Hang in there because the results are worth the continued effort and focus.
Mike