LSAT score cancellation: cancel or keep?

You have six calendar days after your test to cancel your score without seeing it. With Score Preview, you get six days after the score is released to decide. Cancellation is irreversible and free. Details from LSAC's official pages, last verified October 12, 2026.

Deciding whether to retake? The retake calculator applies the decision rules to your numbers, and the score converter shows what your raw score means.

How cancellation works

• The deadline: cancel within six calendar days of your test date. The window opens at midnight ET the day after your test and closes at 11:59:59 p.m. ET on the sixth day after. Miss it and the score stays.
• How to do it: through the LSAT Status page in your LSAC account, or by contacting LSAC at LSACinfo@LSAC.org or 1.800.336.3982. If you are canceling on the deadline day, do it during business hours. LSAC will not extend the deadline for technical problems after hours.
• It costs nothing to cancel. There are no refunds either: the registration fee is gone either way.
• It is permanent. A cancellation cannot be undone. You will never see the score.
• Schools see the cancellation, not the score. Your report shows a cancellation notation. No school ever learns what the number was.
• It counts as an attempt. Canceled scores count toward LSAC's retake limits (three per testing year, five in the reportable period, seven lifetime).

Score Preview: see it before you decide

Score Preview is LSAC's paid option for test takers who want to see the score first. You see the number, then get six calendar days after the score is released to you to keep or cancel it. Do nothing and the score is kept automatically.

It costs $46 if you buy before the first test day of your administration and $87 after. It is free with an approved LSAC fee waiver. LSAC changes fees, so confirm the current price on their fees page.

When keeping makes more sense

Keeping is the right call more often than people think:

• Most schools focus on the highest score. One lower score on the report rarely sinks an application when a higher one sits next to it.
• Everyone feels terrible after the test. Post-test dread is normal and says almost nothing about the score. "I feel bad" is not evidence of a bad score.
• A cancellation still costs an attempt. Canceling uses one of your limited LSAC attempts without giving you any information back.
• Your practice average is your best guess. Without Score Preview, assume you scored near your recent timed practice average. If that number is fine for your schools, keep the score.

When canceling makes sense

• A real disaster, not a bad feeling. Illness during the test, a proctoring failure, or a section you genuinely could not complete.
• You know the score is far below your range. For example, you missed an entire section or had to guess on a third of the test. If your worst realistic outcome would hurt your application, cancel.
• You have Score Preview and the number is bad. This is the clean case: you see the score, it is well below your practice range, you cancel within the six days.

The honest default

If you are unsure, keep it. Most cancellations happen on emotion, and most canceled scores would have been fine. The exception is a genuine test-day disaster. When in doubt, buy Score Preview before your test so the decision is made with the number in front of you, not with anxiety.

Sources

• Cancellation deadline, irreversibility, no refunds, and how to cancel: LSAC's "LSAT Score Cancellations" page and LSAT FAQ. Last verified October 12, 2026.
• Six-day Score Preview window and score release mechanics: LSAC's official LSAT FAQ. Last verified October 12, 2026.
• Score Preview pricing ($46/$87, free with fee waiver): LSAC's registration/fees pages as reported by university pre-law advising (UMass SBS Pathways). Confirm current pricing on LSAC's fees page; last checked October 12, 2026.
• Retake limits (3/testing year, 5/reportable period, 7/lifetime; canceled scores count): LSAC's published retake policy as reported by prep-industry coverage. Confirm current limits on LSAC's site; last checked October 12, 2026.

Last updated October 12, 2026