Rescheduled December 14th Exam

[Brendan G]

Hi PowerScore,

I had a quick question in regards to the upcoming rescheduled December exam on Saturday. This will be the 3rd time I am taking the exam (I took it once in October 2012 with minimal preparation for a score of 156 and then in June 2013 with the purchase of Kaplan study guides - poor decision- and received a score of 161). My goal is to reach a score of 165 with this final exam. While I have been hitting around my goal score on the practice exams I have been taking during the course of my enrollment in the Full Length LSAT course, after the cancellation last week I let off the gas a bit, and now I am experiencing a bit of nerves with the sudden announcement of the exam being scheduled for the 14th. I was hoping to see if anyone could shed some light for me on a couple questions.

First, is there any preparation between now and Saturday that is recommended? Currently I plan on taking a practice test today and one tomorrow, and also doing some timed sections separately.

Second, if I leave the exam on Saturday with feeling of apprehension about my performance, would it be wise to cancel and retake in February? If so, what type of implications might this have on my application process/ schools evaluation of my application. And piggybacking off of this, since this is my third time taking the exam in 2 years, if I do cancel, will I still be allowed to take it in February?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Jason Schultz]

Brendan,

Hello, and welcome to the board.

To answer your last question first, a cancelled score does count towards the 3 tests in two years policy. So if you were to go that route, you would not be able to re-take the test in February.

Backing up then to your earlier questions, with the test only a few days away then my recommendation is to focus what practice time you have on timing. Make sure that you are finishing sections by keeping on pace throughout, managing your time, doing the questions in the order that best serves you, etc.

And I would stop doing that after tonight. With the test on the 14th, not much you can do on the 13th will swing your score significantly - with one exception. Relax as much as you can, make sure you can go into the test room on Saturday with a clear head and a decent night's sleep. I'm not sure where you live, but with the December test its a good idea to knock off early the night before and wake up a little earlier the day off, just to account for any possible weather delays. Also, if this will be a new test site, make sure you are familiar with the parking situation and have all your supplies ready to go.

Good luck!