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The Ins and Outs of LSAT Score Release

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As if taking the LSAT isn’t stressful enough, LSAC has apparently endeavored to make the process of releasing LSAT scores as anxiety-producing and uncertain as possible. It’s as if the evil geniuses at LSAC realize they only have one more chance to toy with your emotions, and are taking full advantage of the opportunity. Here’s a run-down of what to expect (and not to expect) when you’re expecting an LSAT score.

When scores are released

LSAC’s website indicate that scores will be released on June 30, 2016. As such, you might reasonably assume that you will open your email on exactly June 30th to find a nice little note from LSAC indicating your score. Not so!

In practice, the date listed on the website is the final day on which scores could be released, but scores are almost always released at least a few days early. Let’s take a look at the scheduled vs. actual score release dates for the last few LSATs:

So in just the past year, scores have been released between one and six days early. And even that’s not a guarantee: There have been occasions in which scores were released more than a week early, exactly on the scheduled day, or in one instance – following a crazy snowstorm – one day late. So, although I don’t mean to alarm you, scores could be released sometime this week.

Okay, great. So now you have to spend the next week compulsively refreshing your email or your LSAC account. (Note: Blueprint LSAT Prep recommends that you spend this time doing something more useful, like solving world hunger or going outside or even crushing Bud Lights. But realistically, you’ll spend it with your finger glued to the refresh button.)
But the madness doesn’t stop there.

How scores are released

It would make sense if everyone’s scores were released simultaneously, but of course that’s far too simple and straightforward for LSAC, so instead scores are released in batches. The batches appear to be totally random. Here are some things that do NOT influence when your score is released:

– Where you took the test
– How high or low you scored
– Where your last name falls in the alphabet
– How attractive the people at LSAC find you, based on your admission ticket photo

When we say random, we mean random. Your friend who took the test sitting next to you could receive her score hours before you get yours, or vice-versa. Fun!

How you’ll know scores are being released

As we’ve established, the process of releasing LSAT scores comes pretty close to psychological torture. But wait! There’s more.

As discussed in point #1, you won’t know exactly when scores are going to be released until the day it happens. But there is one small indicator that the score release is imminent. When you view your LSAC account, you can see a green LSAT status icon. On the day that scores are about to be released, that icon will be changed to a grey icon. This event is often referred to as “Grey Day” (hey, law school hopefuls aren’t known for their creativity), and it will immediately be reported on Facebook, Twitter, and assorted message boards by the anxious 0Ls obsessively refreshing their account pages.
Where you can see your score

Because it’s 2016, I’m assuming you elected to have your score delivered via email, rather than by the United States Postal Service. As such, you will receive an email from LSAC that contains your score, and you will also be able to view your score directly on LSAC’s website. I suspect – but cannot independently confirm – that your score will become available on the website shortly before you receive the email, but the difference is probably minimal.

(As an aside, I’d be interested in hearing where other people were when they received their LSAT scores. I was standing in the produce aisle of a Gristedes supermarket in New York City. It would have been an awkward place to burst into tears, so I’m doubly lucky that I was happy with my score.)

What to do after receiving your score

1. Cheer/scream/cry as you feel is appropriate. If you’re still a few months behind the trends (like me), dab or whatever the kids are doing these days.
2. Email/text/send a carrier pigeon to your LSAT instructor – even if you didn’t do as well as you’d hoped, we love hearing how everything went!
3. Call your mom.

And whether you are thrilled or, erm, less-than-thrilled with your score, check back at Most Strongly Supported in the days after scores are released, because we’ll be sharing lots of good tips about next steps.