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

[stc34]

Has anyone asked W&L?

[monserrat]

i spoke to the dean of admissions for ucla, davis, hastings at the campus at which i work (UCI) and they all three said, "highest score will get more emphasis and be score of record in student's file."

[spud1987]

i spoke to the dean of admissions for ucla, davis, hastings at the campus at which i work (UCI) and they all three said, "highest score will get more emphasis and be score of record in student's file."

Excellent, thank you for the info. 

[spud1987]

Okay, so as most of us know the ABA changed their policy and it know only considering the higher score in their data.  After seeing an older thread that compiled a list like this I thought it would be helpful to make a list for the 06-07 cycle on how schools are going to be looking at multiple LSAT's.  A lot of schools haven't come out with official decisions but if we start a list now we can complete it by the time we begin submitting apps.  So everybody contribute if you can, start asking schools and lets get this list completed.  As you can see we have a long way to go but I'm confident LSD can do it! 

1. Yale - Averaging
2. Stanford - Averaging
3. Harvard - Averaging
4. Columbia - Taking higher score
4. NYU - No decision yet
6. Chicago - Taking higher score if took lsat twice, average if took lsat three times 
7. Penn - 5+ point difference for higher score consideration
8. Boalt - Taking higher score
8. Mich - Takes higher score, still considers average
8. UVA - Taking higher score
11. Duke - Averaging
12. NU - Taking higher score
13. Cornell - Taking higher score
14. GULC - Taking higher score, look favorably on those who took test once
15. UCLA - "Emphasis on higher score"
16. Texas - Looking at all scores, taking higher score into account
17. USC - Taking higher score
17. Vanderbilt - Looks at all scores, considers highest
19. George Washington - Taking higher score
19. Minnesota - Taking higher score
19. WUSTL - Taking higher score
22. BU - Taking higher score
22. Iowa - Taking higher score
22. Notre Dame - Taking higher score
22. Wash and Lee - ?
26. Emory - Averaging unless 10+ difference
27. BC - Ambiguous answer, considers all scores
27. William and Mary - Taking higher score
27. Illinois - Taking higher score
27. UNC - Taking higher score
27. U Wash - Averaging
32. Fordham - No decision has been made
32. U Wisc- Taking higher score
34. BYU - Taking higher score
34. UC-Davis - "Emphasis on higher score"
34. Georgia - Taking higher score
37. George Mason - ?
37. IU-Bloom - Taking higher score
39. Ohio State - Taking higher score, want an explanation for significant score differences
39. Wake Forest - Taking higher score
41. Florida - No decision has been made 
42. Maryland - No decision has been made 
43. American - ?
43. SMU - Taking higher score
43. Tulane - Averaging
43. Alabama - ?
43. Arizona - No decision has been made
43. Hastings - "Emphasis on higher score"
43. Colorado - ?
50. UConn - ?
50. Baylor- Averaging unless 10 point difference
51. Case Western - Taking higher score
53. ASU - Taking higher score
53. Cardozo - Taking higher score
53. Florida St - ?
53. Cincinnati - Taking higher score
57. Utah - ?
58. Brooklyn - Taking higher score
58. Temple - Averaging but considers highest
60. Chicago Kent - ?
60. Missouri-Columbia - ?
60. Pitt - Taking higher score
60. Tennessee - Taking higher score
60. Villanova - Taking higher score
65. Loyola-LA - Taking higher score
65. Rutgers-Camden - ?
65. Kentucky - ?
65. Miami - Averaging
65. San Diego - Taking higher score
70. Loyola-Chicago - No decision has been made
70. Seton Hall - Ambiguous answer-consider average and higher score
70. Denver - Taking higher score
70. Houston - Still deciding
70. Kansas - ?
70. Nebraska - ?
70. Oregon - ?
77. IU-Indy - ?
77. Lewis and Clark - ?
77. New Mexico - ?
80. Depaul - Undecided
80. Rutgers-Newark - Taking higher score
80. St. Johns - Taking higher score
80. St. Louis - Taking higher score
80. Buffalo-SUNY - ?
80. Oklahoma - Taking higher score
80. Richmond - ?
87. Louisiana State-Baton Rouge - No decision has been made
87. Mercer - Taking higher score
87. Northeastern - Taking higher score
87. Penn St - ?
87. Pepperdine - Taking higher score
87. Santa Clara - Taking higher score
93. Seattle - Taking higher score
93. Hawaii - ?
93. San Francisco - No decision has been made
93. Toledo - ?
97. Georgia St - ?
97. Miss - ?
97. S Carolina - No decision has been made
97. Pacific - Taking higher score

[WhaleJ]

Dude, did you mean to modify it?

[spud1987]

Dude, did you mean to modify it?

Ya, instead i just added a half page useless post 

[zephyr]

Was this list based on phone calls to admissions offices? I just did a review of the websites of most of the places to which I intend to apply, and I rarely found answers that were as black-and-white as this thread. In fact, BU's website flat out contracts this thread.

Several schools (UMich, GW, GULC, BC, Washington & Lee, Temple) provide a wishy-washy "we consider all scores and give greatest weight to the higher score." Very few definitively said that they would take the higher score (Northwestern, W&M, Cornell).

What's an applicant to make of this? I'm sure that many schools aren't themselves sure what to make of the policy without reviewing applications. I'm concerned that this whole ABA policy change may have been blown out of proportion. However, I'm still confident that schools will consider the higher score heavily in order to keep up with the Joneses in the rankings.

[LuckyGirl]

Hi. Newbie here. I thought this would help someone. I e-mailed University of Florida last week about their policy. Here's their reply:

            Our admissions committee still looks at the average score.  If you have
            multiple test scores, you should write an addendum to the admissions
            committee explaining the differences between the two scores.

Anyone have any thoughts? What are schools looking for in the addendum now?

Bree

[robbyfick]

I spoke w/ Fordham admin office, they said they look at the average and the high score.

That being said, look at it from this perspective.  LSAT scores are directly tied to law school rankings so law schools go to great lengths to ensure the highest possible median and 75/25 percentiles.  If some schools start taking the higher score (which looks like is already happening) that will put all schools that use the average to evaluate applicants at a disadvantage.  Competition is one reason that I think most schools outside of the top few will give greater weight to the higher score - they don't want to fall in the rankings because of a stubborn admin policy. 

[jps584736]

I have a three point difference in my LSAT scores, so under the old system of rounding up .5s, my highest is only one point higher than the average, so it doesn't really affect me. 

But I think you have to be cynical here.  I just went to lawschoolnumbers and the graphes shocked me.  It is so obvious that the LSAT is the overriding factor in decisions.  I mean, people with 3.0 or below (horrible GPAs) were getting accepted over applicants whose LSATs were only three points below but with commendable GPAs of 3.5 and above.  So many schools play the rankings game, I get the feeling that most admissions officers will simply want an addendum explaining why you took the test twice, but will probably go for the higher score no matter what.  I think whatever questions there are about schools maybe fudging an explantion could be derived from the fact that schools DON'T WANT YOU TO TAKE THE TEST TWICE FOR THE WRONG REASONS, like taking it once under timed conditions just to see where you are.  That's probably why you get those somewhat ambiguous but not really ambiguous answers.   

Regarding BU, I spoke with an admissions officer from BU, and they said their website is not updated yet.   

One last note, for t14 schools, I wouldn't be surprised if they considered averages more than everyone else, who will have the strong incentive to improve rankings.  They are in a privledged and enviable position of getting extremely strong applicants no matter what.  In that case, you should defintely attach an addendum, but even then if your reason is not strong (or honest), they may not take the highest, though I doubt they'll average.