How to Report LSAT Scores in your Law School Applications

Many law schools ask this question in their applications

Indicate dates you have taken or plan to take the LSAT

and that means there are a couple of extra steps you’ll need to take.

What they don’t include in that question is “and list the scores,” but the fields that follow in the form typically do ask for the scores, so chalk that up to a badly drafted question, and do include the scores if you see spaces asking for them.

Note that they use the words “dates,” plural. So for multiple-test takers, they’re not asking only for the date of your top score, or only the dates when you received reportable scores. I’ve seen a lot of people list only the date and score for their highest score, or they leave out dates for canceled scores, and that is not answering the question the way it’s phrased.

For dates when you canceled the score, the form usually doesn’t allow you to type in CAN or something to that effect in the score field (really, that whole section needs an overhaul), so for canceled scores, you can just leave the score blank if it will let you, and you’ll still be able to list the date. Alternatively, list 000 for the score and it will be obvious that you canceled.

Is this information they’re asking you to provide absolutely, 100%, crazily redundant because they’ll be getting your official LSAT Report directly from LSAC? Yes. Welcome to the world of law school admissions. That’s only one instance of redundancy, but you’ll adapt. A good 90% of the law school application form is redundant information. (Which puts extra burden on you to make sure the information you list in the form will match up with the information they’ll receive from other sources, like your LSAT report, your transcripts, etc.)

Oh and one more thing: if you have registered for an upcoming test, you need to list that too (note the “plan to take” language in the question).

And here’s the kicker: law schools are able to see behind the curtain when you’ve registered for an upcoming test, so if you don’t disclose it, they’ll know. Is it a troubling privacy violation for schools to have visibility into your upcoming test registrations? Yes. Again, welcome to the world of law school admissions.

A possible complication: If you are registered for an upcoming test, some law schools will hold your application until that new score comes in, even if you submitted your application with a valid, existing score. That’s also highly problematic, because people register for future tests for all kinds of reasons. It should really be your decision if you want them to wait for a potential score from a test that you may or may not even end up taking, because merely registering doesn’t mean much as a practical matter. But not all law schools will give you that choice, and not all law schools are transparent about their policy in that regard. So register for future tests only if you’re comfortable with the possibility that some schools will hold your applications on the assumption that you will take that test and that they will wait for that score.

Good luck with applications… it’s game time.