This is a horrible process so far, all anyone cares about is the LSAT....

[ljskate273]

yes, the LSAT does seem to be the deciding factor that will keep me out of the top schools...that, and my study abroad gpa had a weird converstion that brought my gpa down (although i guess this might be helped by the degree gpa on the lsac report)...which just absolutely sucks since i took the lsat twice...the first time i got some twisted test anxiety problem and bombed, and the 2nd time i did ok but definitely scored in the bottom of my scoring range...but what can you do? admissions is largely a numbers game, and i don't have the soft factors or urm status to overcome that. sadly, such is life. hoping for some sort of miracle from my "dream" (i can't even call them reach" schools, but learning to accept that other schools are ok too. really just hoping this admissions process will end soon.

[bohica]

yes, the LSAT does seem to be the deciding factor that will keep me out of the top schools...that, and my study abroad gpa had a weird converstion that brought my gpa down (although i guess this might be helped by the degree gpa on the lsac report)...which just absolutely sucks since i took the lsat twice...the first time i got some twisted test anxiety problem and bombed, and the 2nd time i did ok but definitely scored in the bottom of my scoring range...but what can you do? admissions is largely a numbers game, and i don't have the soft factors or urm status to overcome that. sadly, such is life. hoping for some sort of miracle from my "dream" (i can't even call them reach" schools, but learning to accept that other schools are ok too. really just hoping this admissions process will end soon.

Retake the LSAT if you scored abnormally low and you're confident you won't choke again. Otherwise, if you have a legit problem, have a doctor write a generic letter stating that you suffer from anxiety. I don't know how LS's will interpret it, but the admissions game doesn't seem like the time to be bashful about making excuses.

[Zam]

Retake the LSAT if you scored abnormally low and you're confident you won't choke again. Otherwise, if you have a legit problem, have a doctor write a generic letter stating that you suffer from anxiety. I don't know how LS's will interpret it, but the admissions game doesn't seem like the time to be bashful about making excuses.

The common view is that given the way exams and grading work in law school adcoms will not view an anxiety disorder kindly.

just sayin'

[skeeball]

You will have a decent shot at SLU and UMKC with a mid 150s LSAT and high GPA.

Those schools place well in STL and KC.

[dbmuell]

I'm going to play the Devil's Advocate for a minute (as I only half-heartedly believe what I'm saying but it may offer some perspective) and speculate on why schools weight LSATs so heavily.  Having a good GPA can attest to a lot of qualities about a person: work ethic, socialization, even some amount of raw intelligece.  It basically says "this person understands the value of hard work, is likely fairly intelligent, and knows how to play by the rules." 

These are important factors but what it clearly does not speak to is the one factor that I am told so often seperates good  LS students from mediocre LS students: crticial thinking ability.  Sure, you worked really hard in undergrad, memorized all of your notecards before a biology test and wrote the same cookie cutter research paper as the rest of the 200 people in your lecture hall, and got an A for the course, but did any of that teach you to think critically and extemporaneously?  Anybody who has spent any substantive amount of time around packs of "well educated" people with great undergrad degrees will tell you that this is no guarantee. Some are unable to understand the most basic analogy or follow even a shallow argument if it is not drawn out for them.

For all its failings, this is what the LSAT offers.  It offers at least a window into how a person thinks on their feet, and whether or not they are a developed thinker or just another robot turned by the higher education system.  It may seem rediculous to spend hours "resolving the paradox" or "identifying the issue at hand" but it's amazing to me how many well educated people cannot do this in their daily lives, regardless of college performance.  I'm just a law school hopeful but it seems to me that a law school student or attorney without these skills would be all but dead in the water and the schools use the LSAT to weed out the people who can evidence hard work but not critical thinking ability.  I know if I had to choose a co-worker or teammate, I would take the critical thinker to the non critical thinking successful academic any day.

Edit: Not intended to bash the OPs abilities or intellect.  A score in the mid-150's is respectable and can get you into respectable schools.

[ljskate273]

Retake the LSAT if you scored abnormally low and you're confident you won't choke again. Otherwise, if you have a legit problem, have a doctor write a generic letter stating that you suffer from anxiety. I don't know how LS's will interpret it, but the admissions game doesn't seem like the time to be bashful about making excuses.
[/quote]

thanks for feedback. that's why i took the lsat the 2nd time, because my first score was the terrible bom, and for the second lsat i was in the low end, but stil in my practice range. my score isn't horrible, it just pretty much takes me out of the running for t14, which was a great disappointment to me...

[prelaw200]

Retake the LSAT if you scored abnormally low and you're confident you won't choke again. Otherwise, if you have a legit problem, have a doctor write a generic letter stating that you suffer from anxiety. I don't know how LS's will interpret it, but the admissions game doesn't seem like the time to be bashful about making excuses.

thanks for feedback. that's why i took the lsat the 2nd time, because my first score was the terrible bom, and for the second lsat i was in the low end, but stil in my practice range. my score isn't horrible, it just pretty much takes me out of the running for t14, which was a great disappointment to me...
[/quote]

Is this a legit disorder or did you just have strong anxiety?  A lot of people get hit with anxiety on test day and even the days leading up to the test, unless you can be diagnosed with something I don't think axiety is an excuse.

[bohica]

Is this a legit disorder or did you just have strong anxiety?  A lot of people get hit with anxiety on test day and even the days leading up to the test, unless you can be diagnosed with something I don't think axiety is an excuse.

Nevermind, that was stupid. Quit choking on tests and don't make excuses.

[ljskate273]

Is this a legit disorder or did you just have strong anxiety?  A lot of people get hit with anxiety on test day and even the days leading up to the test, unless you can be diagnosed with something I don't think axiety is an excuse.

Nevermind, that was stupid. Quit choking on tests and don't make excuses.

sorry if it came off that way, i wasn't trying to make excuses. that's why i didn't even bother w/ an addendum, because it just kinda sounded like an excuse for something that could and does happen to people. it just sucks, that's all, especially considering that the 2nd score wasn't as high as i wanted. and that's just a fact, i'm not trying to garner sympathy either. i was just commenting, as the OP was saying, that this process sucks because it's so highly based on the LSAT, even though i understand that schools need to use it, since my experience w/ the LSAT sucked. that's all.

[holydevil]

If anxiety is an issue pop a Xanax before the test.  I don't think lawyers and anxiety go well together.  If you have a problem staying calm or handling stress you should REALLY think carefully about being a lawyer.