Yay! It’s LSAT time.

(This post discusses the times of year the LSAT is given, and the amount of time a test-taker has when taking the LSAT. For other information about the test, check the tags at the end of this post.)
As we all know, the LSAT is given 4 times per year. For three of those times (the February, October, and December administrations), it is given in the morning. Although it is supposed to start soon after 8:30am, test-takers have found out the hard way that sometimes in a busy test center the total waiting time adds up, such that they don’t leave the test center until 2:00pm. For the June test administration, you don’t have to set your alarm clock, because you don’t need to report for duty until 12:30pm.
This post applies to most students taking the LSAT (Saturday Sabbath Observers and for some foreign testing centers this information is not relevant.)

What kind of LSAT time do you have when taking the test?

For each scored section of the LSAT time is limited to 35 minutes. (The unscored section of the test, the writing sample, is limited to 30 minutes. But it is unscored after all, so let’s not worry too much about it right now.) There are 5 sections that require 35 minutes each. The breakdown is 1 reading comp section, 2 logical reasoning sections, 1 analytical reasoning section, and 1 section that will be either reading comp, logical reasoning, or analytical reasoning. (But it is usually analytical reasoning, or sometimes logical reasoning. For more information about this, check the blog tags for ‘lsat info’.) There is a short, 15 minute break after the third section. This is the only time that you are permitted to eat those cheese and crackers and drink that juice box you brought from home and obediently stored in a clear plastic bag during the test.
So, best case scenario is that you get to the test center at 8:30am, get checked in and started by 8:45am, take three sections until 10:30am, eat your cheese and crackers until 10:45am, and test again until 12:15am at which point you are free. Except that the best case scenario almost never happens, unless you are taking the LSAT in February in rural Nebraska and there are only 3 other people taking the LSAT with you. Here is a more realistic scenario: you arrive at 8:15am, but can’t find a parking space because there are a million other things going on at the testing campus that nice autumn morning. After stressing to find a parking spot, you run into the testing center, only to find 100 people in line in front of you. It takes well over an hour to get everyone checked in and in their seats. Then all the various delays that come from having so many people crop up at every step of the way, from handing out test booklets, to collecting test booklets before break, to getting everyone back after break, etc, etc.

So, if you needed convincing, this is just one more reason to take the LSAT in February or June if you can. option. The December administration is the next best option (except that it seems like the most stressed out people are the ones who take the December LSAT, bringing even more unneeded stress into the room.) The October LSAT is always going to be the busiest LSAT times, so be warned, your check-in times will be longer, your testing rooms will be fuller, and your experience will be all-around that much worse.

To get more information about LSAT time issues, and what to expect on test day, I encourage you to check the tags on this blog for ‘test day’, ‘lsat advice’, and ‘lsat info’.

Tags: lsat advice, test advice, test day