Weighing LSAT flex or changing test date

[niwilson]

Hey all- I am weighing doing the LSAT Flex this August or rescheduling my test for October. Obviously, there's the chance that October will also go Flex, but my thinking is I would have more time to prepare if that happens. The idea of taking the test on my computer makes me want to die, especially because I don't know if I'll be able to find a good quiet place to do it. ALSO: I find it extreeeemely difficult to read critically without marking up text a ton. Does anyone know what the options are like for this, both on the normal LSAT and LSAT-Flex? Like I'm talking I neeed a pencil/pen/stylus. The Powerscore homework is helpful, but even the underline button doesn't really cut it for me. Thanks in advance!

[KelseyWoods]

Hi niwilson!

It's hard to say definitively whether you should postpone until the October test or not without knowing more about how long you've been studying, where your practice test scores are at, etc. But let me discuss some of the factors that might affect your choice and help you make a decision:

1) Marking Up the Digital LSAT/LSAT-Flex: Whether you're taking the in-person Digital LSAT or the LSAT-Flex, you will have the same options as you see in the PowerScore digital tests and practice sets (underlining & 3 colors of highlighters). For the in-person Digital LSAT, you would take the test on a tablet and be provided with a stylus that you can use to underline and highlight on the tablet screen. Neither the Digital LSAT with the stylus nor the LSAT-Flex allow you to take notes directly on the screen, but for both you would have scratch paper that you can write on and use for each section. So whether you will be taking the in-person Digital LSAT or the LSAT-Flex, it's going to be important for you to practice using the digital markup tools until you get as comfortable with them as possible.

2) Will the October LSAT be a Flex?: Though LSAC has not made an announcement about the October test yet, they will most likely announce their decision within the next week or so, before the registration deadline for the October test. If I was a betting person, I would put money on the October test being another Flex. But we won't know for sure until they make their announcement. There's obviously been a lot of uncertainty and continues to be a lot of uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and our response to it. So it's difficult to predict when the LSAT will again be offered in person. I suspect a lot of it will depend on how college/university re-openings go this fall, as many LSATs are administered on college campuses. Unless you are willing to wait at least another year to take your LSAT, you should probably not postpone just based on the hope for an in-person exam. However, as you said, it might be worth postponing to give yourself more time to practice with the digital tools and find a quiet place to take the exam.

3) Taking an LSAT at home: It can absolutely be stressful to take the LSAT at home and for some people finding a quiet location with strong wifi is difficult. But there are some benefits to taking the test at home. The main one is that it allows you to practice the test in the exact conditions you can expect to have on test day. So instead of the uncertainty of taking the test in a testing center that you are unfamiliar with, using a tablet that you have never used before, you can take the test on the exact device and in the exact location that you will be taking it on test day. You can even try out different locations to find the one you like best.

4) Why you might want to go ahead and take the August test: LSAC recently announced that they will be reinstating test taking limits for the October LSAT, whether or not it is a Flex. That means that the August test is the last test that does not count toward your test taking limit. (Read more about the test taking limits here: https://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewtopic.php?t=32442). Also, if you haven't taken an LSAT before, the August test is the first test to offer a Score Preview. For an additional fee, you can see your score before deciding whether you want to keep or cancel it. (Read more about Score Preview here: https://www.lsac.org/lsat/taking-lsat/l ... re-preview). This means that you can take the August LSAT without affecting your number of retakes and you can even see your score before you decide whether to keep it as part of your LSAC transcript or not. If you're feeling a bit nervous about taking the test on a screen in general, you might want to think of August as a kind of "practice run." If it goes well, great! But if it doesn't go well, you've had the experience of taking the Flex which will make you even more prepared for the October test. If you wait until the October test and it for some reason doesn't go well, you'll have to wait until November or later for a retake.

Hopefully this gives you some helpful things to think about as you are weighing your options!

Best,
Kelsey