Multiple LSAT Scores -- 2006!

How do law schools handle multiple LSAT scores? That's a fascinating question -- so fascinating that I made it one of my survey questions in the fall of 2000. But then, with the enormous changes in admissions in 2002, I asked the question again. I updated the list again in 2004, a mere two years later. And then in 2006 LSAC and the ABA made changes that led to a complete revision in policies. In a single year, most law schools switched from always or virtually always averaging to always or virtually always taking the higher LSAT score.

As of November 15, we've interviewed 177* schools (out of 189). Here's what we've learned:

96 law schools now take the higher LSAT. At these schools, life is easy; if you have any reason to think your LSAT score is unrepresentative, retake.

42 law schools take the higher with a good explanation. If you're applying to these schools, retake if you know what went wrong the first time, and particularly if that problem was beyond your control.

28 schools say "average unless a good explanation;" they put a greater burden on you. Their inclination is to average, whereas the schools in the category above are inclined to take the higher.

Only 6 schools will continue to average in all cases. You might think that life will remain the same as it was at these schools, but I predict otherwise.

Imagine you applied to my favorite new law school, Princeton. We have a median gpa of 3.9 and a median LSAT score of 168. We have two interesting applicants here. Both went to good undergrads, Williams and Colgate; both have grades just below our median, around 3.85. Both have a 168 on the LSAT. But the guy from Williams has one score, a 168, while the woman from Colgate has two scores, 166 and 170. If we take her, we get to report a 170 to the ABA. That might help raise our median LSAT score. In fact, if we take five like her, our median LSAT score will rise to 169. Excellent! Let's look for five or six people with an averaged 168.

So I predict that people with two LSAT scores, one of which is above median, may see significantly better results, even at schools that are averaging. However, if you've taken the LSAT more than once, I advise you to avoid applying to these schools unless you really, really want to go there.

*Note that 2 schools, San Francisco and North Carolina Central, were unable to answer this question at Forum time.

NOTE: schools are reported as taking the higher LSAT score on the chart below even if they said "some" emphasis will be placed on the higher. My guess is that "some" will turn into "quite a lot" as the year progresses.

School	Multiple LSAT Scores	notes
Akron	higher
Alabama	higher
Albany	average	explain
American	higher	explain
Appalachian	higher
Arizona State	higher
Arizona	higher
Ave Maria	higher	explain 5+
Baltimore	higher	unless problem
Barry	average	explain
Baylor	average
Boston College	higher
Boston University	higher
Brigham Young	higher
Brooklyn	higher
Buffalo (SUNY)	higher
Cal-Berkeley	higher
Cal-Davis	higher	explain 5+
Cal-Hastings	higher	explain
Cal-UCLA	higher
California Western	higher	explain
Capital	average	explain 5+
Cardozo	higher	explain
Case Western	higher
Catholic	higher	explain
Chapman	average	explain
Chicago-Kent	higher	explain 5 +
Chicago	higher	explain
Cincinnati	higher
City U. New York (CUNY)	higher
Cleveland	higher
Colorado	higher
Columbia	higher	explain
Connecticut	higher if latest otherwise average	explain
Cornell	higher	explain
Dayton	higher	explain
Denver	higher	explain
DePaul	higher
Detroit Mercy	higher	explain
District of Columbia	higher
Drake	higher
Duke	average	explain 5+
Duquesne	higher
Emory	higher
FAMU	higher
Florida	average	explain
Florida Coastal	higher
Florida International	higher
Florida State	higher
Fordham	higher	explain
Franklin Pierce	higher	explain
George Mason	higher
George Washington	higher	explain
Georgetown	average	explain 5+
Georgia	higher	explain
Georgia State	average	explain
Golden Gate	higher if latest otherwise average
Gonzaga	higher
Hamline	higher
Harvard	average	explain
Houston	average
Howard	higher
Idaho	higher	explain 5+
Illinois	higher
Indiana Bloomington	higher
Indiana Indianapolis	higher
Iowa	higher
John Marshall Atlanta	higher
Kansas	higher	explain
Kentucky	higher
La Verne	higher
Lewis & Clark	higher
Liberty	higher
Louisville	some	explain
Loyola Chicago	average	explain
Loyola Marymount	higher
Loyola New Orleans	higher	MUST explain
Louisiana State	higher
Louisville	higher	explain
Maine	higher	explain
Marquette	average	explain
Maryland	higher
Memphis	higher
Mercer	higher
Miami	average
Michigan	higher
Michigan State	higher
Minnesota	higher
Michigan State	higher
Mississippi	higher
Mississippi College	higher
Missouri Columbia	higher if latest otherwise average
Missouri Kansas City	higher
Nebraska	higher	explain
Nevada	no rule -- committee	explain
New England	average	explain 5+
New York Law School	higher
New York University (NYU)	average	explain 5+
North Carolina	higher
North Carolina Central	don't know
Northeastern	higher
Northern Illinois	higher
Northern Kentucky	higher	explain
Northwestern	higher
Notre Dame	higher	explain 5+
Nova	higher
Ohio Northern	higher
Ohio State	higher
Oklahoma	higher
Oklahoma City	higher	explain
Oregon	higher	explain
Pace	higher	explain
Pacific	higher
Penn	average	explain 5+
Penn State	higher
Pepperdine	higher
Pittsburgh	higher
Quinnipiac	higher
Regent	in between	higher counts more
Richmond	higher
Roger Williams	higher	explain
Rutgers-Newark	average	explain 10+
Saint John's	higher
Saint Louis	higher
Saint Mary's	higher
Saint Thomas (FL)	average	explain 5+
Saint Thomas (MN)	more recent	explain
Samford	higher
San Diego	higher	explain
San Francisco	undecided
Santa Clara	higher
Seattle	higher
Seton Hall	higher	explain
SMU	higher
South Carolina	average	explain
South Texas	higher	explain
Southern	higher
Southern Cal (USC)	higher
Southern Illinois	higher
Southwestern	average	explain
Stanford	average	2 years
Stetson	higher
Suffolk	higher
Syracuse	higher	explain
Temple	average	explain
Tennessee	higher
Texas	average	explain 8+
Texas Southern	higher
Texas Tech	average
Texas Wesleyan	higher
Thomas Cooley	higher
Thomas Jefferson	higher
Toledo	higher
Touro	higher
Tulane	average	explain
Tulsa	higher
Utah	higher	unless problem
Valparaiso	higher
Vanderbilt	higher	explain
Vermont	higher
Villanova	higher
Virginia	higher	explain
Wake Forest	higher
Washington	average
Washington U. (MO)	higher
Washington & Lee	higher	explain
West Virginia	higher
Western New England	higher	explain 3 +
Western State	higher
Whittier	higher
Widener	average	explain
Willamette	higher
William Mitchell	higher	unless problem
William & Mary	higher	explain
Wisconsin	higher
Yale	average

That's the latest word from 177 schools, as Suzy and I understand it.
We take responsibility for all misstatements, misquotes, and misunderstandings.

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