LSAT Policies for 2006-07 Cycle (due to change in ABA policy)

[stc34]

So Notre Dame has said they are just simply taking the higher score? I've been calling but they don't answer. 

[dubsy]

when you say "taking the higher score", does that mean they still see the actual scores of both tests and just "considering" the highest? or are they actually letting you submit ONLY the higher score? i still feel like even simply seeing some low numbers there might still prevent a truly impartial judgment...

[WhaleJ]

You always have to submit all your LSAT scores.

[jps584736]

They will still see all of your scores.  Some school will not even bother looking at all of them (the higher score is entered into the computer), but other schools might use this as a tiebreaker.  That is, if one student has a 170 and the other student has a 160 and 170, they might go with the former because he didn't have to take the test twice.  But tiebreakers are  usually insignificant in the scheme of things.  You essays matter much more.

[Sooner]

I called Harvard today. Still no decision...but they are considering changing to a "focus on the higher score" policy for this next admissions cycle.

Please!

[spud1987]

I called Harvard today. Still no decision...but they are considering changing to a "focus on the higher score" policy for this next admissions cycle.

Please!

Thanks for calling.  It seems many schools are saying they'll "focus on the higher score."  I guess the question is how much are they going to focus on the higher score.  Hopefully that when schools say that they mean they will focus almost entirely on the higher score.

[queencruella]

There are quite a few schools that averaged regardless of the circumstances prior to this year. If you check when LSN comes up, you'll see that a few people had really sporadic results with multiple LSAT scores, with some who said they'd take the highest score obviously lying and others that said they averaged seeming not to.

I think there is a valid reason to still average test scores, especially at the top schools. If you have a higher volume of tests taken, you'll get a higher volume of top scores and averaging is an easy way to differentiate between people who excelled the first time and people who had to retry to get that score. It's sort of unfair for people who did well the first time to be beat out by people who retook and improved just enough to be a point or two higher than the former person.

[HerculePoirot]

I think the new policy is going to affect admissions profoundly.  Even though some schools claim they will consider all scores, the rankings game is going to force them to count the highest score.  I bet some schools will pounce on this opportunity to climb up the ladder.  Differences of 2-3 points which were heretofore trivial will matter, and it might become normal (if it isn't already) to take the test more than once.

[skeeball]

Yeah but the LSAT itself isn't going to change. I'm sure the vast majority of retakers will still score between 1 and 3 points of their initial score. It'll only really matter for the folks who are able to make a significant increase in their score. That will still be a really hard thing to do.

[stc34]

Yeah but the LSAT itself isn't going to change. I'm sure the vast majority of retakers will still score between 1 and 3 points of their initial score. It'll only really matter for the folks who are able to make a significant increase in their score. That will still be a really hard thing to do.

excellent point.