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Fun with correlations
LSAT Test Day I Waking Up + Getting There
Waking Up
The day before you totally relax, and the day of, you wake up early. You're setting multiple alarms.
Maybe you have an old smartphone you can use as a backup alarm clock. Maybe you can have a couple of friends agree they're going to call you and go to your house and drag you out of bed in the morning if that's what it comes to, because maybe you won't sleep well the night before.
(And if you think you won't sleep well the night before, think about why that might be and what you can do about that now. Maybe you're going to take melatonin or something else.)
(And if you think you won't sleep well the night before, think about why that might be and what you can do about that now. Maybe you're going to take melatonin or something else.)
Don't take anything too strong because you do want to wake up on time. If you're planning to try something new, try it out now so you have a few nights to put this into practice.
On the morning of, you're going to wake up early. You're going to know where your test center is and you're going to have multiple ways of getting there. (Research all of this the week before - not the day before.)
Getting to the Test Center
If your car doesn't start, what do you do? Is there gas in the car? If you're taking the public transport like a bus, or a train or a subway, what are you going to do if it's not running well that morning? If you're taking it on a Saturday, public transit may not be as smooth or as frequent. If you're taking it on a weekday, maybe there's rush-hour traffic. Leave early.
And where exactly is the test center? If it's on a college campus, it might be tough to find. Try to figure out where it is before the morning up. Call the office of that college or university and see if you can track down the source who would know that information. Maybe if it's somewhere in the city, you have to hunt it down and know exactly what the cross streets are and write that down for yourself.
Y want to have that all mapped out because you can't bring your cell phone and can't use that to navigate. Believe me, they are very serious about that. I even heard a story once of proctors who asked everyone who has their cell phone with them, bring it up here and we'll hold it for you.
If your car doesn't start, what do you do? Is there gas in the car? If you're taking the public transport like a bus, or a train or a subway, what are you going to do if it's not running well that morning? If you're taking it on a Saturday, public transit may not be as smooth or as frequent. If you're taking it on a weekday, maybe there's rush-hour traffic. Leave early.
And where exactly is the test center? If it's on a college campus, it might be tough to find. Try to figure out where it is before the morning up. Call the office of that college or university and see if you can track down the source who would know that information. Maybe if it's somewhere in the city, you have to hunt it down and know exactly what the cross streets are and write that down for yourself.
Y want to have that all mapped out because you can't bring your cell phone and can't use that to navigate. Believe me, they are very serious about that. I even heard a story once of proctors who asked everyone who has their cell phone with them, bring it up here and we'll hold it for you.
Then when those people brought their cell phones up to the proctors, the proctors kicked them all out. I can't believe they did that to those test takers. You could probably call that entrapment. But anyway, that's what they did. It's possible in the future they'll have a place you can store your phone.
But right now that's not the case and they are very serious about this. So don't bring your phone, leave it at home. Obviously the question becomes, well, "how do I survive? How do I breathe? How do I get picked up?"
People took the LSAT before cell phones. There is a way. Maybe there is a pay phone that's not too dusty or gross, so if you bring some quarters, you could use that. Or maybe you could ask some nice stranger on the street to help you out. Or maybe you could ask one of the other test-takers who shouldn't have brought their phone but did anyway, and ask if they'll do a favor after the exam or ask the proctors to borrow theirs.
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LSAT Retakes + Law School Admissions
Let's imagine your upcoming LSAT doesn't go well. You can retake! There's always a future LSAT date. You can always take it later in the fall or in the winter.
Rolling admissions matters a lot less than it used to.
Back in the days when there were twice as many law school applicants as there are now, it mattered more because law schools would just accept students immediately. They were afraid students would choose a different school and they would lose the benefit of getting your 165+ score or 170+ score.
Nowadays, it's flipped around a bit - there are so few applicants that law schools are choosing to wait to see who else will come along.
So they're deferring people. They're waitlisting people. Applying early matters much less than it used to. Students are retaking far more than before, so law schools are waiting to see who else is going to come along. This means you don't have to wait for them either.
You can just say, “Okay, well this test is just like any other. It's just a practice run where I happened to get LSAC’s proctoring. And this exam will one day be released as test 95, 103, whatever.
And some future test-taker, a few months from now, a year from now, six years from now, they’ll be taking my very same exam and it'll be their practice. So I can treat this exam the same because the importance of the LSAT does not rest on this particular LSAT administration."
And it's true. It all rests on your highest LSAT score. And the next exam that you're scheduled to take is not the only actual LSAT exam you can take. It's not the end-all-be-all. You have many future LSAT test dates when you can take it. It's offered nearly every month now.
There are so many opportunities for you to take the LSAT, and you're not limited to any one.
And if you want more proctoring, you can also go to one of the free proctored tests offered by the major prep companies for marketing purposes. And you can bring your own exam, if you want more practice opportunities.
So this LSAT test date coming up, it's not the only one. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
PSA: Reschedule your March LSAT Registration
LSAC is being characteristically slow to take action, adopting a "wait-and-see approach."
However, the coronavirus situation is obviously worsening and more test centers are closing.
It's not possible to administer the LSAT on a college campus if the campus is closed. And they're unlikely to book new test centers at this point to move students to them.
I suspect the March LSAT will be widely canceled worldwide.
This may be overkill, but my current read of the situation leads me to think the most prudent course of action for most students will be to reschedule to the test center of your choice for June or July in addition.
Alternatively, you could keep your March registration and book June or July in addition.
(I suspect April may be canceled as well.)
Bonus: LSAC has waived March test date change fees, so this won't cost you anything extra.
Caveat: I don't have any special information on this from any source - this is just my personal analysis of the situation.
(I'll send an email with more about my take on the overall situation tomorrow.)
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March LSAT Coronavirus Update from LSAC + Admitted Student Weekends
LSAC has canceled March LSATs across Asia in China, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. The June LSAT may be canceled there as well.
Some March LSAT test centers here in the US have been closed, meaning students in those locations will not be able to take the March LSAT. More test centers may be closed as well.
We'll see what happens as the situation unfolds.
(LSAC is closely monitoring the situation along with everyone else, of course.)
For anyone who's registered for the March or April LSATs pretty much anywhere, I certainly wouldn't count on being able to take it. You might want to think about June or July, in addition, or instead.
Admitted Students Weekends
For those of you who have already been admitted to law school, but might be retaking. You may have noticed that many admitted students weekends at law schools have been canceled or put online.
If this is affecting you, I wouldn't let it impact your ability to connect with admissions. officers and make a positive impression on them, and so if you want to set up a phone call with them or a video call simply to ask questions, that would be to your benefit -- both to create a good impression and for you to learn more about the school as well. Definitely don't miss out on that opportunity.
Law school admission officers are very accessible. They're very friendly. They want to help you and they understand obviously if you can't visit the campus, especially these days. They'll do whatever they can to share that information with you through another means.
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