Reschedule LSAT date
Something came up, now you need to reschedule your LSAT date. Hey, stuff happens.
Before we go too far into this post, this would be a good time to cite the standard disclaimer.
The standard disclaimer for all LSAC rules and regulations: LSAC changes some rules every year. (Back in the day, test takers could reschedule after the test had already taken place, nowadays LSAC has swung the pendulum to the complete opposite end, as you will read below.) Depending on how old this post is when you read it, the cancellation/rescheduling rules may have been changed yet again. Always confirm all information on the LSAC site.)
Now that we have that out of the way…
Current LSAC rules require that you if you want to reschedule your test date, you must do so approximately three weeks in advance. Obviously this isn’t going to work if you had a last-minute emergency, or even a 19-days-before-the-test-date emergency.
So now that you are T-minus-3 weeks and counting. What are your options?
1. You could go sit the test ‘for practice’ with the intent of cancelling your score before you even leave the test center (or shortly thereafter). Just be careful of one minor thing. Currently LSAC limits you to 3 LSATs during a two year time period. Cancelling your score will count towards one of your three tests. In reality, virtually no one actually needs to take more than three LSATs, but still, it is worth pointing out. If it is actually possible for you to make the test, then why not get the experience so as to be better prepared for it next time?
2. You could simply not show up on test day. If you don’t show up at all, then the absence is noted but, hey, as I said above, stuff happens. Maybe you were too sick to get out of bed. It would be a really odd admissions officer that held an absence against you.
So my generic recommendation is, if you are in town and have the time to take the test, get your money’s worth by taking it, just for practice, then cancel the score.
Neither option is going to materially prejudice your applications. Law school applicants tend to get themselves worked-up about fairly innocuous issues like this. But the important thing to make sure you don’t end up with a score that doesn’t reflect your true LSAT potential. That would be a true tragedy.
Tags: last advice, lsat info, test day
