Should you cancel or withdraw from your upcoming LSAT exam? Maybe an unexpected emergency came up the night before or you did not perform as well as you would have liked on test day. I have good news for you--there are things you can do in these types of situations that can alleviate or at least reduce the potential harm of a low LSAT score. You can withdraw or cancel your administered LSAT. Let's discuss each option so that you can choose what works best for you.
Withdrawing from the LSAT
Unfortunately, if you have already taken the LSAT this option is not for you. But if you have a last minute emergency come up the day before the LSAT or if you realize you need more time to prep, you have until 11:59 ET the night before the exam to withdraw.
If you choose this option, nothing gets reported to law schools and they will not even know you signed up for that administered LSAT. For this reason, there is no harm in withdrawing from a law school admissions perspective. However, you will not necessarily be eligible for a refund. To be eligible for a refund, you need to either have requested it by the full refund deadline (which is usually the LSAT registration deadline and can be found on the LSAC website) or the partial refund deadline (which makes you eligible for a $50 partial refund). If you miss either of those deadlines, you will need to withdraw with no refund and you will still need to pay the full cost of registration for the next LSAT you plan to take.
If you have been following the advice on my Instagram, you would know that there are limits to how many times you can take the LSAT. For this reason, I strongly recommend only taking the LSAT when you are consistently scoring within your target range. A withdrawal from an LSAT exam does not count toward your testing limitations.
Cancelling Your LSAT Score
Suppose you took the exam and you feel like you did not do well in comparison to your typical performance. First off, don't panic! This happens to many people, as the LSAT is a stressful and important test. That's part of why you are allowed to take more than one LSAT. Not to mention that there are external factors that you may not have expected, like construction going on outside your home or proctor issues.
In contrast to withdrawing your score, score cancelations are reported to law schools but the LSAT score is not reported. You have six calendar days from the date of the exam to make your decision. If you cancel, it will still count toward your testing limits on how many LSATs you can take.
If you don't believe you scored as well as you would have liked, it may be worth considering whether you want to cancel your LSAT score. In general, my recommendation is to only cancel if you feel like you scored significantly worse than your target. This is because most law schools place far more emphasis on your highest score and they will see that you cancelled regardless.
If you are willing to spend some more money, you can take advantage of the Score Preview option to make sure you have made the right decision. This is where you can see your LSAT score before deciding whether to cancel.
You have the option of purchasing Score Preview for $45 if you purchase prior to the first testing date for a given administration, or $75 if you purchase after the score has been released to you. After the score has been released, you have 6 calendar days to make your decision.
However, keep in mind that if you decide to cancel your LSAT score after using Score Preview, it will still count toward your testing limits.
I hope this information helps you make the right choice.
Stay Motivated!
Sincerely,
Cho
Impetus LSAT
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