Before LSAT Test Day, Upload Photo for LSAT Admission Ticket to LSAC

Starting with the June 2016 LSAT, the Law School Admission Council wants your selfies before Test Day.

Previously, LSAC only required you to bring a photo to LSAT Test Day with your admission ticket. Now, they want to create a database of test-takers' photos.

(For those of you taking the December or February LSATs, remember to bring a passport-sized photo!)

Part of the change is probably for "test security" purposes - after all, people often try to cheat on the LSAT or get someone to take it for them. I wouldn't be surprised if some test-takers have gotten away with it.

However, they also want to print your photo on your admission ticket directly. This is probably because many people forget to bring a photo to Test Day, or bring one that's "unsuitable," like this:

LSAC says, "Head Too Big." I say, "serious eyebrows!"

Anyway, here are the full details from LSAC:

Notice Regarding Uploading Photo for the June 2016 LSAT and Beyond

Effective with the June 2016 LSAT administration, everyone wishing to register for the LSAT will be required to upload a photograph to their LSAC online account during the registration process. The photo will be inserted on the admission ticket, which must be printed out in order to gain admission to the test center. Admission tickets that do not display the uploaded photo will not be accepted on test day. Once a photo has been uploaded, it may be re-used for future tests, and for test date or center changes. In addition to the admission ticket, test registrants must produce a valid government-issued ID in order to gain admission to the test center. 

Registration for the June 2016 LSAT will open in mid-December 2015. Additional details about uploading photos will be available on LSAC.org at that time.

Source: Law School Admission Council website

7 LSAT Test Day Tips for the Final Week

I've written a ton of posts on preparing for LSAT Test Day. These are just some key points to remember for the final week.

1. Visit your LSAT test center.

2. Decide what you'll wear and bring before the morning of.

3. Relax the day before your exam.

4. Get to bed early the night before and set multiple alarms.

5. Wake up early the day of.

6. Leave for the test center early.

7. Complete a logic game or some LR problems as a warm-up immediately before the exam.


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Details on what to bring:

Pack a clear plastic bag with your admission ticket, #2 pencils, energy bars, bananas, a bottle of water, photo ID, and admission photo, a logic game or LR problems, and an analog watch. (Make sure you bring a watch because it's possible that the room won't have a clock.)

Consider bringing a magazine or something to read on your way to the test center if you're not driving. See LSAC's test day rules since they're updated frequently. Remember that the rules do not allow you to bring a cell phone, so plan how you'll manage without one.

LSAT Diary: LSAT Test Day Tips

This installment of LSAT Diaries comes from Xavier, who improved from the 150s to a 162 on his first actual test, to a 171 on his February LSAT retake after using LSAT Blog and reading other LSAT Diaries. (See his previous LSAT Diary.)

If you want to be in LSAT Diaries, please email me at LSATUnplugged@gmail.com. (You can be in LSAT Diaries whether you've taken the exam already or not.)

Thanks to Xavier for sharing his experience and advice!

Read more »

Why LSAT PrepTest Scores Fluctuate

Many LSAT test-takers think everyone has one "true" LSAT score, just like everyone supposedly has one "true" IQ score. Of course, taking an IQ test at age 20 and age 50 would likely generate different results. But I'd imagine that even taking two IQ tests a week or a day apart would likely generate slightly different results.

So, why do so many people think they should keep getting approximately the same LSAT score when taking timed LSAT PrepTests before Test Day?

This idea may have something to do with intuitions about grades, but even grades aren't necessarily constant. While people tend to be jealous of the person who "gets straight A's," I can't think of someone who got only As. I often got As, but I also got A-s and even (gasp) B+s.

For some people, this comes from the idea that the LSAT is a test you can study for, and improve on. "I've studied my way to a 170, so that's now my true score. How could I possibly get significantly lower scores? Am I getting dumber?"


Reasons your LSAT scores can fluctuate:

People often fail to consider that there is an element of randomness involved on standardized exams.

-With a limit on the number of questions that can be asked, some concepts that you're good at might not appear, leading your score to be lower than it would've been otherwise.

-A concept that doesn't always appear might show up on your test. If it's something you're shaky on, again, your score might end up being lower than it would've been otherwise.

As always, the safest course of action to guard against unanticipated low scores is to learn everything. No easy answers here, sorry.

Some other factors that lead to score drops - burnout, sleep deprivation, stress, and poor health. Make sure to get enough sleep, eat well, and get moderate exercise. This stuff really makes a difference.

Digital LSAT? LSAC Studies LSAT Administration Via Tablet

In the most recent LSAC newsletter, LSAC mentions it's looking into administering the LSAT via tablet (PDF, page 5). For those of you who don't know, the LSAT is the last major graduate-level exam to still be given only via paper and pencil.

But, at some vague point in the future, you (or your younger siblings, or your children) may be taking the LSAT on an iPad or some other type of computer-related device.

Here are the full details from LSAC:

Digital LSAT
LSAC is conducting research involving LSAT delivery options for the future. We are studying the feasibility of a tablet- based LSAT administration system, which will likely be field-tested sometime in 2015. No decision has been made regarding future implementation of such a system. In the 1990s, LSAC began researching the potential for electronic delivery of the test, and this is a continuation of those efforts.

Related:

If The LSAT Were A Computerized Test, Cheating, and Theft

Photo by smemon

LSAT Blog Interview: Avoid LSAT Test Day Anxiety

LSAT Blog reader Jacob recently conducted a lengthy interview with me about the strategies of top-scoring LSAT takers.

Here's an excerpt from the interview:

I know a few students who scored close to 180 on practice exams. Then, on the LSAT, they plummeted 10 points. 

How can one make sure the scores they’re getting on their practice exams are a real indicator of what they'll get on the actual exam?

Read more »

December 2013 LSAT Discussion

Update: I've closed the comments section because Test Day is over, and because there were too many comments about specific LSAT questions. Sorry, guys.

Congratulations, you're now done with the December 2013 LSAT!

This is an open post where you can leave comments and answer each others' questions about the test, now that the hard part is over.

Check out past December LSAT score release dates, and see my prediction about when December 2013 LSAT scores will be released.

If you think the test went well, congrats! Read about admissions.

If you're not so sure it went well, decide whether to cancel your LSAT score.

Please feel free to vent and discuss your general thoughts on the exam in the comments below, but no specifics about particular questions themselves, please. (LSAC doesn't permit such discussion.)

October 2013 LSAT Discussion

Congratulations, you're now done with the October 2013 LSAT!
This is an open post where you can leave comments and answer each others' questions about the test, now that the hard part is over.

Check out past October LSAT score release dates, and see my prediction about when October 2013 LSAT scores will be released.

If you think the test went well, congrats! Read about admissions.

If you're not so sure it went well, decide whether to cancel your LSAT score.

Please feel free to vent and discuss your general thoughts on the exam in the comments below, but no specifics about particular questions themselves, please. (LSAC doesn't permit such discussion.)

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How'd the big day go for you?

Also see "How to Wait a Long Time for Your LSAT Score".

Why I'm Not Wishing You Good Luck on the October 2013 LSAT

I don't like wishing people good luck. Why think of ourselves as slaves to chance? Instead, we should trust in our abilities.

"In bocca al lupo" is an old Italian proverb that literally translates to "in the mouth of the wolf." The customary response is "crepi (il lupo)," which literally translates to "kill (the wolf)."

The idea is that when faced with adversity, you should have the mindset that you will overcome it. Luck is not a factor. You will destroy whatever obstacles get in the way of achieving your goals.

So, rather than wishing you all good luck, I'm going to remind you that when you encounter the LSAT on Saturday, kill it.

Kaplan LSAT Proctor Anywhere App

Kaplan's LSAT strategies and techniques leave much to be desired, as I've discussed at length here on LSAT Blog.

However, they recently came out with a new (and free) app for iOS and Android that you may find useful.

It's called the LSAT Proctor Anywhere app.

(That's the link to download it through iTunes for iPhone, iPad, etc. You can also download it in the Android market.)

Read more »

Extra Time on the LSAT for Nursing Mothers

I've blogged about the fact that the Law School Admission Council denies extra time on the LSAT to nursing mothers, while providing it to a test-taker with ADHD. (Above the Law picked up the stories.)

At the time, the ACLU took up the nursing mothers' case, arguing (emphasis mine):

Read more »

June 2012 LSAT Score Release Dates

The June 2012 LSAT scores / results are scheduled to be released via email by Friday, July 6, 2012, so you'll have to wait for your LSAT score.

However, the scores usually come out a bit earlier than scheduled.

Let's look at the trend over the past several years (click to enlarge):

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LSAT Test Day: Use Previous Photo?

You'll need to bring a passport-sized photo with you on LSAT Test Day, so that LSAC employees can vote on all test-takers, Hot-or-Not-style. (Just kidding, it's for test security purposes. Supposedly.)

LSAC requires that this photo be recent, which, according to them, means it must have been taken within the past 6 months.

Read more »

How to Cheat on the LSAT (or not)

Cheating on the LSAT is serious business. There are documented cases where people have been arrested and charged with crimes for it. They've gotten criminal records and will never get to become attorneys.

In this LSAT Blog post, I review a few cases where people attempted to cheat on the LSAT, were caught, and faced the consequences.

I also discuss Caveon Test Security, the company hired by LSAC to prevent unauthorized sharing of test-related information on the Internet.

Read more »

Taking LSAT Practice Tests Timed: LSAT Diaries

LSAT Blog commenter "Proxy" left this advice on a previous LSAT Diary, and I thought it was worth sharing with everyone in its own blog post.

Proxy talks about the importance of strictly timing yourself when taking full-length timed LSAT practice exams as you approach Test Day.

If you want to be in LSAT Diaries, please email me at LSATUnplugged@gmail.com. (You can be in LSAT Diaries whether you've taken the exam already or not.)

Read more »

Guy Sues LSAC For Refusing Double-Time LSAT Accommodations

Nathan F., a law student in Massachusetts, wants to transfer to a better law school.

Unfortunately, he has learning disabilities that limit his ability to do well on the LSAT. He's also got ADHD, anxiety disorder, OCD, and mild depression. When he applied for LSAT accommodations, he was granted 50% extra time on the LSAT.

However, even with this extra time, he didn't do particularly well on the LSAT the two times he's taken it. Despite lots of studying, he scored only 150 on the December 2010 LSAT and 151 on the February 2012 LSAT.

Read more »

If The LSAT Were A Computerized Test, Cheating, and Theft

LSAC has thought about computerizing the LSAT for several years. In May 1999, LSAC published a study titled, "Item Theft in a Continuous Testing Environment: What is the Extent of the Danger?"

In this study, LSAC and ETS consider "the possibility of organized, large-scale item theft" by "professional thieves" as a result of turning the LSAT into a computerized exam.

(Sadly, they weren't talking about an Ocean's Eleven-style heist or even about hacking.)

If the LSAT were computerized, it'd probably be offered on most weekdays, like the GMAT and GRE.

Since it wouldn't be practical to write hundreds of unique exams each year, questions would be recycled. This group of questions is called an "item pool" by standardized test nerds (psychometricians). "Items" are test questions. (See my series on how the LSAT is constructed for more details.)

Your average "thief" is someone of average ability who remembers a few test questions and passes them along to friends. This has some impact on future test-takers' performance.

However, if "professional thieves" took the exam for the purpose of memorizing test questions and passing them on to future test-takers, this would have a more significant impact. (In the early 1990s, Kaplan employees took the GRE for the sole purpose of memorizing test questions - also see LA Times. It seems they were doing it to embarrass ETS rather than to give their own students an edge.)

In order to counteract these kinds of shenanigans, it's likely that if the LSAT were ever computerized, there would be several different pools of questions. Each one would be large enough so any benefit gained from memorizing previously-administered questions would be minimal-to-none. Besides, the topics of Logical Reasoning questions repeat so often that they tend to blur together in your mind unless you've done the question a few times.

For more details on what LSAC scientists do in their spare time when it comes to simulations about question-stealing, read the LSAC study. If you skip the mathematical parts, it's actually kind of entertaining.


Photo by extraketchup / CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo by grimages / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

LSAT Test Day Clothing: What NOT To Wear

It's often been said that the similarities between LSAT Blog and The Sartorialist are uncanny. After all, I write about the LSAT, and he takes photos of stylish people.

So, I wasn't at all surprised when a blog reader recently asked me what to wear on Test Day.

My thoughts below:










-Formalwear

Pros: You can boost your self-esteem by dressing in formal clothing. Feeling good about yourself is important when performing difficult tasks.

Cons: Formalwear can be constricting, which might slow you down and make you uncomfortable. Also, no one likes that guy/gal, so they'll beat you up as soon as the test is over.

Protip: Don't wear a suit or evening gown to take a standardized test. Just don't.



-Homeless Chic

Pro: You'll distract other test-takers with how disgusting you look (and smell, if you really go all-out). Which is kind of funny, if you're an asshole.

Con: They'll beat you up as soon as the test is over.

Protip: As a general rule of thumb, if you dress in rags, you won't have many friends --- unless you're filthy rich. It's nasty, so don't do it.



-Casualwear

Pros: Just about everything.

Cons: You won't be asked to model.

Protip: Wear casual, comfortable clothing. Your favorite t-shirt, sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers work well. If you're a girl (or like to dress like one), you can also go the Juicy sweatpants route. You don't know whether the test center will be hot or cold, so layers are a good idea.


More LSAT Test Day Dos and Donts here ----->

LSAT Test Day Food Recommendations

An LSAT distance tutoring student of mine recently emailed me:

"Any tips on what to eat for breakfast the morning of the LSAT? I know you say to have a big breakfast, but what? And what do you suggest for the break and to drink?"

At least one of the items pictured above is not part of a healthy LSAT breakfast.

If you guessed FourLoko, you're on your way to a top LSAT score. Congrats!

(McDonald's probably isn't part of any healthy breakfast, but there's a reason I didn't go to medical school.)

More about food in a bit, but first, coffee and cigarettes (breakfast of champions?).

I've already gone over whether coffee, cigarettes, and gum are allowed on Test Day. Now, the question remains, should you drink coffee or have cigarettes in the morning before the exam?

Answer: Do whatever you normally do. If you normally have coffee or cigarettes in the morning, don't try to go cold turkey now or you'll almost certainly find yourself with a pounding headache.

I don't know why you'd suddenly take up smoking, but now's not the time to start (if there ever was). Coffee will probably empty your intestines in the middle of the exam if you haven't had it in a while, so it's probably not a good idea for folks new to it.

You want to be fully alert, so a pre-test wake and bake isn't a good idea. What you do after the test is up to you (assuming it's for medicinal purposes, of course). Maybe California will vote to legalize next time, folks.


Oatmeal with bananas, raisins, or cranberries is probably about as healthy as it gets, while mild enough that it shouldn't give you any stomach issues. Eat it well before the exam starts so that you'll have time to go to the bathroom (oatmeal has lots of fiber).



Perhaps I misspoke - yogurt and granola might top oatmeal and fruit for "healthiest breakfast of the year." Again, it's mild and has carbs, but unlike oatmeal, yogurt has lots of protein as well. (Perhaps the nutritionists can chime in with their recommendations.)


Eggs have a lot of protein. However, depending upon how you cook them, you might also end up with lots of fat. Fat can make you sleepy. For this reason, lay off the butter and oil. Consider eating them hard-boiled, perhaps with a little salt for flavor. Alternatively, you can go the Rocky route and drink them raw, but don't blame me if you get salmonella.



Pancakes, waffles, muffins, bagels, cold cereal, etc. are also all good, just make sure you have also some protein.

Cold (or warm) pizza is probably good too (cheese has protein), but this is coming from a guy who sometimes eats leftover burritos for breakfast, so you may not want to listen to me on this one.

The bottom line is that you'll want to eat some carbs to give you energy, and some protein to improve your mental performance.

(This site appears to have some simple, yet comprehensive, nutrition advice. This link on it is also good.)

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LSAT Snacks For During The Break:

Try not to be the guy who brings this:










Here are some more practical alternatives that the proctors will probably allow:

Granola bars: quick to unwrap, easy to eat, sugar

Bananas: quick to peel, easy to eat, sugar

Water: reduces thirst

Juice: reduces thirst, sugar

Coffee will likely be cold by now, but I suppose it's ok if you don't care about that sort of thing.

With all beverages, don't drink too much in order to avoid bathroom breaks. Your test center may have a water fountain, which would eliminate the need to bring a water bottle. Or maybe you're one of those people who's paranoid about tap water or lives in a part of the U.S. / world where the water's unsafe to drink.

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See all LSAT Test Day tips.

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Discuss the best breakfast foods and snacks in the comments. I'm sure that most of you know more about nutrition than I do. If you know something, please comment!

Preparing for the February 2012 LSAT Experimental Section

In my LSAT study schedules, I recommend that you include extra sections in your practice exams. Why would I recommend such a cruel and difficult task?

Because LSAC uses test-takers as lab rats (like many organizations that administer standardized exams - think back to the SAT). LSAC includes an unscored experimental section on the LSAT and doesn't tell you which one it is. If you knew which one it was, you'd probably take a nap to recuperate between the sections you care about - the scored ones.

To LSAC's credit, this practice increases the validity of the scored sections of future LSATs. The experimental section allows LSAC to pre-test questions with several thousand applicants, helping LSAC determine which questions deserve to make it into future scored sections.

On the other hand, not knowing which section is the experimental can make it difficult to decide whether or not to cancel your score. If you bomb the experimental section, it may affect your performance on the other sections. Additionally, being forced to "donate" 35 minutes of free research for LSAC after paying to take the LSAT hardly seems fair.

Regardless, because you'll see a 5-section exam on test day, rather than the 4 you're used to seeing in your LSAT PrepTests, it's essential to prepare.

I decided to write this post after blog reader Katie wrote to me with the following question:
I have been taking 4 section timed tests for a while now but am starting to take 5 and 6 section timed tests as you suggest. I have two questions:

1. I assume that the type of "extra" section(s) I include should vary from test to test. For example, on one day, I would add a logic games section and the next day either a reading comprehension or a logical reasoning section. Is this what you would recommend?

2. What is the best way to score these tests? Which section do I omit? I took a test last night and did an extra logical reasoning section. The scoring for the test I took the extra section from was very different from the full test I was taking - does this make sense? I want to make sure I'm getting an accurate read of my performance.

Varying extra sections
There are two main approaches I'd recommend:

-You can rotate the type of "extra" section(s) that you use.
-You can make the extra section(s) the one that you like the least.

For most people, a combination of the two is probably ideal. Figure out which type of section you dread the most, and include it more often than the others.


Which section to omit
This makes perfect sense, Katie. To get the most accurate score reading, omit the section(s) that are not from the original exam. Different exams have different scales.


Some more tips on preparing for the experimental section:

Where to place the unscored section.
In the past, I recommended that you place the experimental sections in the first 3 sections out of the 5 that you complete for your practice exams. That's where the experimental had traditionally fallen on test day. Until recently, test-takers reported that it had always been one of the first 3 sections.

However, on the October 2011 LSAT, many test-takers reported having the experimental as their 4th section on Test Day - for this reason, I recommend that you also include it as the 4th or 5th section in at least a few practice exams, just in case.

It's unfortunate that you may have to take the unscored section when you're less fatigued, but just remember everyone else is affected in the same way.


Mix up sections.
As I said earlier, on test day, you won't know which section is the experimental. For this reason, you may want to lay out the sections from each PrepTest beforehand. Take two from the "scored" exam and one "unscored" experimental, and mix them together.

This way, you won't know which ones are scored and which ones aren't, and you'll be forced to put the same effort into each.

Photo by happysteve