Hello 7sages,

At last 5 minutes, I tend to be nervous and thus become quite inefficient at the last five minutes for each section, especially for RC section

For LG, I might solve the 4th game or at least the first questions of the 4th game

For LR, I might finish in time, but no time to check those questions circled; if I can't finish this section, I will choose shorter one (but sometimes it's harder one).

For RC, when there's 5 minutes left, I still have a whole passage, and I become too nervous to read and can't remember anything.it turns out I will miss the whole passage. I used to use last five minutes to check the previous passages and give up the 4th one, but I'd like to finish all four passages, so I can increase my RC score.

I've practiced 10 PTs, I think what I need to do to improve my score is:

1. Stay calm at last 5 minutes (first five minutes are much more productive): I do meditation from time to time, and it does relieve my anxiety overall, but not really work for this situation.

2. Read faster without sacrificing understanding :I finished Cambridge LSAT Difficult passages recently, but still hardly finish reading new passages in 3.5 minutes (or including questions within 8.5 minutes).

3. Make a good guess: I have no idea how to do it; sometimes read too fast and eliminate the correct answer.

Do you have any suggestion for me?

Thanks for all your help!

So I just received my results and ended up with a 163. My gpa is a 3.1 and I've been out of school for about 2 years. Worked for a year right after graduating and then stopped working to study for my LSAT. If I apply now, is there any shot of me getting into Fordham, Brooklyn, Yeshiva, St. Johns or even Iowa (ranked high but lsat and gpa are not as competitive), or should I retake the LSAT again? This was my second time taking the LSAT. the first time i canceled my score cause my nerves on test day interfered with my ability to take the test.

This is no joke.

Tuesday, Mar 1st at 8PM ET: PT 51

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Note:

Proctors: there were 2

Facilities: restrooms

What kind of room: it was a classroom in the medical building.

How many in the room: there were about 30 kids

Desks: there were individual desks

Left-handed accommodation: yes

Noise levels: very quiet

Parking: very limited, get there early

Time elapsed from arrival to test: about 20 minutes.

Irregularities or mishaps: none

Other comments: great test center

Would you take the test here again? Yes

Date[s] of Exam[s]: I took it here on June.

Proctors: Let people choose where they wanted to sit. One ate a sandwich during the test...

Facilities: The university itself is nice and small. The room our test was in however...

What kind of room: A small classroom.

How many in the room: About 30

Desks: SMALL FOLDING DESKS. THE MOST TERRIBLE DESKS IMAGINABLE.

Left-handed accommodation: I didn't pay attention.

Noise levels: Terrible. The window was open and you could hear people laughing/yelling outside. People walked by our classroom talking loudly and the proctors didn't even go out to tell them to be quiet.

Parking: I was dropped off.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: About 40 minutes. They had everyone line up outside in four rows and then each row walked single-file to a different classroom. It was strange. None of the other locations I tested at did this.

Irregularities or mishaps: ^The walking/lining up thing really threw me off. It was unexpected.

Other comments: Terrible. Avoid this location if you can for the small desks alone, not to mention all the other weird parts about it.

Would you take the test here again? NO

Date[s] of Exam[s]: October 2015

Proctors: Either the proctor could not read, or it was the first time she read the LSAT instructions.

Facilities: The restrooms are close by. The building is old but it has everything.

What kind of room: Big lecture room(s).

How many in the room: 100+

Desks: Well you have chairs with tablet arms. At lease enough space to put your answer sheet there. I spread the test booklet on my lap and put my watch on the chair next to mine.

Left-handed accommodation: Didn't pay attention but I would say no.

Noise levels: Minimum

Parking: Ample parking close to the building.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: People were still arriving after 8:30 am. I would say we did not start till 10 am.

Irregularities or mishaps: I sat in the front row and the proctors whispered on and on during one section - in the end, I had to stop them.

Other comments: The test center is not at St. Johns Law school, but one of the main lecture hall in the university. Your LSAT instruction sheet will not reveal this till one week before the test. The proctors are not familiar with this test so they are lax about the procedure. You can bring your cell phones to the test center - they will just store the phones in a white plastic box. The bad thing is that one phone went off during the test...

Would you take the test here again? I was reassigned there (from Hofstra). I don't want to take it again at this place even though I got my highest score.

Date[s] of Exam[s]: 2015 Dec

Proctors: Very familiar with the procedure and strictly following them.

Facilities: Restrooms are close by and everything is clean and perfect.

What kind of room: Medium-sized lecture rooms.

How many in the room: 50 - 80

Desks: Long desks, more than enough space to spread out your stuff

Left-handed accommodation: Yes

Noise levels: Minimum

Parking: Ample parking in front of the building.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: Everyone was lined up in the first floor lobby first (testing rooms are on the second floor) and got assigned a piece of paper. If you arrive at 8:25 or later, you probably will have to be escorted to the testing rooms. The test started at around 9:30.

Irregularities or mishaps: Once during the test I heard a car alarm go off for about 15 seconds.

Other comments: The test center is at Hofstra Law School. People there are familiar with the test and the testing conditions are ideal. This place is just quiet throughout. The proctors can be very strict.

Would you take the test here again? Absolutely!

Date[s] of Exam[s]: 2014 Sept, 2015 Oct.

Proctors: Very helpful and friendly

Facilities: Hard to locate but proctors will guide you.

What kind of room: Court room. Seating was uncomfortable

How many in the room: Less than 30

Desks: A lot of desk space available during the test

Left-handed accommodation: Very good.

Noise levels: Door to the room was squeaky

Parking: Very accessible. Free parking on Saturdays

Time elapsed from arrival to test: Total test time took 6 hours

Irregularities or mishaps: N/A

Other comments: I wrote here twice and I recommend it

Would you take the test here again? Yes. Hopefully don't have to re-write though.

Date[s] of Exam[s]: October 3, 2015 and December 5, 2015.

Proctors: Somewhat strict. Had three proctors just for my room. They spoke among themselves during the test taking.

Facilities: Very old and not conducive for test-taking. Had a small lecture hall desk that could barely fit the materials and my pencils, watch, etc. Needed to use the desk next to me for most items.

What kind of room: Old-school science lecture hall

How many in the room: 50+

Desks: See above

Left-handed accommodation: Yes

Noise levels: Bells were ringing from the main campus throughout the test

Parking: N/A

Time elapsed from arrival to test: About an hour? There were a lot of people at this center and it took time to split the group up into smaller groups and get situated in the test taking room.

Irregularities or mishaps: The bells on campus were weird

Other comments: No

Would you take the test here again? No

Date[s] of Exam[s]: December 2014

Proctors: Three very nice facilitators from the college

Facilities: Very new, private test taking room. Everyone sat in small carrels/cubicles so you could not see anyone else or be distracted. Plenty of room on the desk for extra pencils, sharpener, watch. They would not let you keep a water bottle or kleenex on the desk though.

How many in the room: Around 20

Desks: Private full sized desks.

Left-handed accommodation: Yes

Noise levels: Very quiet

Parking: N/A

Time elapsed from arrival to test: We started promptly.

Irregularities or mishaps: None at all!

Other comments: Bathrooms close to testing room.

Would you take the test here again? Absolutely! But thankfully I don't need to :)

Date[s] of Exam[s]: October 2015

Proctors: All the proctors were really nice and courteous. The only issue we had in our room was that a lady miscounted the people in the room... twice!! We had to sit there an extra ten minutes for them to figure out what the heck what going on.

Facilities: The building is beautiful (restrooms and testing rooms). Nothing to complain about here.

What kind of room: Law Classrooms

How many in the room: I don't remember the exact number, but it was in the range of about 20 - 30.

Desks: The desks were in good condition and pretty sturdy. They are the standard long desks a few people share as they face toward the front.

Left-handed accommodation: N/A

Noise levels: Other than the other people sitting around you? Nothing out of the ordinary... except I had a guy blowing his nose every 5 min...

Parking: Parking is a breeze. It's right next to the building. I'm actually not sure if I had to pay for parking, but I did it anyway. It was $5, the last thing I wanted to worry about that day was whether I had to pay for parking.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: About 30 min.

Irregularities or mishaps: I briefly mentioned this part above.

Other comments: Nope.

Would you take the test here again? Sure!

Date[s] of Exam[s]: Dec. 7th 2015

Proctors: 4-5

Facilities: 2 story - testing upstrairs, split into different rooms based on last name

What kind of room: regular law school classroom

How many in the room: approx. 30-40

Desks: 20-25

Left-handed accommodation: there was, unsure as to amount available

Noise levels: very quiet, calming and was able to focus

Parking: free parking, outside in law school parking lot; guarded by security

Time elapsed from arrival to test: approx 1 hour - 1 hour 20 mins

Irregularities or mishaps: none

Other comments: professionalism was apparent, staff was friendly and accommodating

Would you take the test here again? yes

Date[s] of Exam[s]: Feb 2016

Proctors: 6 to 7 Proctors all around the room

Facilities: Osgoode Law School

What kind of room: Mock Trial Room

How many in the room: approximately 100

Desks: Long forum desks with room for one person in between every test taker

Left-handed accommodation: N/A

Noise levels: Low (However, there was a ventilator running due to lack of windows to circulate air in the room which can be distracting to the ones close to it)

Parking: Available close by the building, $6-7 dollar flat rate on weekends

Time elapsed from arrival to test: approximately 25 to 30 mins. Smooth transition.

Irregularities or mishaps: A student didn't receive a writing section paper by the time we got to it and had to wait for the student to be accommodated. Many students felt that Section 3 was cut short so they allowed 2 minutes extra.

Other comments: Compared to a previous facility (Madonna Catholic Secondary School), much efficient administering of the test overall.

Would you take the test here again? Yes

Date[s] of Exam[s]: February 2016

So I just got my Feb score, not particularly high but it’s good enough to get me into the school I desire. During my study, I benefited enormously from this community. So I’d like to say thank y'all and in return I have a couple of things to give: a 180watch, a copy of the Trainer, PT 69 & 70. I thought, to be fair, I’d like to offer these to the first person to contact me who is eligible for an LSAT waiver. Please just private message me. Again thanks and good luck everyone on your future endeavors!

I put a call into the admission office of a top half T14 school that I am very interested in - just to ask them if they would have any issue with me being on their campus, visiting the library, etc. with all of the various chaos going on nowadays. I am a couple of years away at minimum from applying (which I explained on the phone) so I did not ask to formally meet with anyone senior. The person I talked to was very nice and asked that when I came onto campus to come over to the office because they wanted to meet me and have me talk with the director of the specific program I am interested in. Is it too early??

How exactly does yield protecting work? Is it just a case of a particular school encouraging applications from people that they know will have no chance of being accepted? Or, do they somehow use the waitlist to jiggle the numbers? I just saw some videos where even the highest ranked schools are encouraging applications very late in the cycle. Which schools are known to yield protect the most? Thanks.

Proctors: professional, efficient, courteous

What kind of room: small lecture hall. no windows. tiered seating. good temperature ~72

How many in the room: probably over 100 available seats but around 30 of us were spaced nicely throughout the room

Desks: frustratingly small flip desks. had trouble keeping all belongings (watch, pencils, etc) on the table comfortably. half the test booklet was hanging off the desk the entire time....pencils kept falling off... extremely distracting and annoying.

Left-handed accommodation: yes

Noise levels: very quiet

Parking: free across the street from the business building

Time elapsed from arrival to test: prompt, no irregularities

Would you take the test here again? i would not take it again at melcher hall because the desks were a deal breaker. however, if it weren't for that i definitely would recommend taking it at UH because the rest of the experience (proctors, noise, parking, bathrooms) were all exceptional.

Date[s] of Exam[s]: Oct 2015

Ok, there has to be a better (more merciful) way for LSAC to release the scores. This is what I mean:

1) It takes more than three weeks to receive your score. Seriously? I know it's a paper-based exam, but come on!

2) Inconsistency. Release dates vary from year to year. It looks like we can expect scores to be released 1-3 business days before the official release date, but there've been cases when scores have been released on the official release date. How helpful is that when you reload your email/LSAC account every 5 minutes?

3) More inconsistency. Score notifications are released in batches. So that means if you hear your friend has received their score already, you can expect to receive yours on the same day (?). There is no inherent order to the release of scores, so go figure if it's going to hit you first thing in the morning or right as you were about to drift into another blissfully clueless LSAT-score-less night.

Anyway. Just some random thoughts as I'm waiting for LSAC to show some mercy. Anyone else want to share their anxieties, fears, hopes as we approach the big moment? I'm pretty sure I will have to retake, but I'm hoping for a score that won't depress me too much.

Proctors:

Facilities: Tests are administered in an academic building at Salem State. About a dozen classrooms were in use.

What kind of room: Standard classroom

How many in the room: 18-24

Desks: Standard classroom desks. Wooden desk slate attached to plastic chair

Left-handed accommodation: yes

Noise levels: Beyond the occasional car horn heard through the window the room was quiet.

Parking: Street parking and school lot

Time elapsed from arrival to test: No irregularities in time

Irregularities or mishaps: N/A

Other comments:

Would you take the test here again? yes

Date[s] of Exam[s]: 12/5

Test Center Facilities:

Test is in a large lecture hall, with the old-school wooden seats and desks that fold down from the seat in front of you. Usable desk area is around 14 (width) by 16 (height). The size of the desk isn't wide enough to fit the whole width of the test booklet when it's open. Answer sheet therefore has to be underneath the test booklet. At first this really irritated me (upon scouting out the location beforehand), but I did a few PT's where I forced myself to keep the answer sheet under the test, and it is really easy to adjust. I do advise practicing that at least once if your test center is here (or anywhere with tiny-ass desks).

Bathroom facilities were easily accessible. No long lines for the guys.

There are water fountains just outside the test room if you don't want to bring your own water bottle. I didn't because I knew there were the fountains.

Noise level was not an issue at all.

I parked in a nearby public ramp (Union South Garage, enter on E Dayton St). It cost about 7 dollars. I don't think there is any free parking nearby. Madison is not great in that regard. Although I imagine most test takers are UW students so they just walk. I would have ridden my bike if it wasn't super cold. There are a bunch of lots nearby the building, but they are heavily populated with very aggressive signage. I did not take any chances.

Left-handedness wouldn't have been an issue, I don't think. If you're left-handed and you can sit in an old-school college lecture hall and be okay, you'll be okay here, too.

One final note: I'm 6' 1" and weigh around 195, and the combination of the height of the seat bottom off the ground and shape of the seat itself caused my legs to fall asleep and go partially numb. Not cool at all. But my test taking posture is insanely tense; I essentially hunch over the booklet with my face like a foot away. Those of you who share my proportions but are able to employ a more relaxed posture will likely not have any issues. This problem did not in any way affect my performance. It was just super uncomfortable. I still can't believe anyone ever thought designing in seats like that was a good idea.

Test Day:

I think there were about 40-50 of us there, but I could be off by +10-20. Either way, there was a long line that almost stretched outside for the check-in process. The wait wasn't long, however, and the checkin and seating process was fairly seamless. Don't be afraid to go use the bathroom or get something to drink if you see everyone lining up. I saw other people do so and they were fine. I wish I had gone to use the bathroom.

Testing started at 9am on the dot, if I remember right.

Proctors:

All UW Madison college students from what I could tell. All were competent and friendly with the exception of the most important one, also known as the person who makes announcements and keeps time. She would just start talking with no concept that the room was loud with people speaking and that she was a small girl sitting behind her laptop way in the front of the lecture hall on what is essentially a stage. This wasn't really a big deal for the announcements/instructions phase; in fact, I found it calmed me down a little bit to sit there and judge her. Wry animosity helps reduce stress for me, I guess. This was, however, an actual issue with the time keeping. This girl would just jump into the next section without even taking a beat, and that includes starting up again after breaks. I know there isn't supposed to be a break or pause or anything, but she would just sort of mutter behind her computer screen "turn to section blah and start working now" without any pause or warning. It made getting into the next section stressful and jarring, notwithstanding the rush to reset the watch. And this is all in reference to how the proctors on the 7Sage app make the announcements; I'm not saying she was bad compared to me taking my time during a practice test. That being said, again, like the chair issue I described above, I don't think this affected my performance at all; it really just bothered me in principle. I find it frustrating and vaguely insulting that something like this could have messed up something so important, where you need every bit of marginal performance gain you can get, and may very well have done so for some of my compatriots on test day. LSAC: please don't let awkward, quiet, apathetic people who hide behind their computer be your main proctor. It's not that hard.

Overall:

I enjoyed myself. It was fun to write an essay by hand; haven't done that in a couple years. I'm glad I never practiced nor looked at the writing prompts for the essay sections -- it really made the LSAT into an exciting experience. And it reminded me of college finals being in the old school lecture hall (I graduated UG in 2013). Aside from the proctor issue (which I imagine is unlikely to repeat itself) and my perhaps rare issue with the seating, the location was fine. Bigger desks would be great, obviously, but if you practice a few times you get used to it no problem (I literally taped the area of the desk onto my table at home and took practice tests in that area - it's as simple as that to practice).

This was February 2016.

I took my LSAT at the University of Alaska Anchorage center in June of 2015. I went to the test center on a Sunday to try and find the classroom so that there wouldn't be any confusion. The actual place where the test was being administered was part of a shopping mall that was gated off on the weekends. Needless to say, it wasn't that difficult to find on Monday.

The testing center itself was not very conducive for such an important test (I ended up retaking and flying to another state to avoid this place). The proctors could barely read the instructions. They were not clear on their task direction and wouldn't clarify things upon test takers asking. The parking was not explained correctly and one test taker had to leave to move his car prior to starting the test, and they continued the pretest material with him being absent.

They were very rude with trying to make people enter the classroom prior to the advertised time to report. They told people that once checked into the classroom, they were not able to leave (which is true). A couple of people were waiting to make sure they didn't need to use the restroom. There was still 45 minutes until they had to be in the classroom. The "proctors" became extremely rude towards these people because they wouldn't just hurry up and get into the classroom.

Very disorganized place. I would recommend people avoid this test center location.

Proctors: 5 proctors total, with 2 in the back watching. Overall very good. Stuck to the time well, gave clear instructions, announced 5 minute warnings. Only drawback was the proctor who passed out the test forms excruciatingly slowly.

Facilities: Facilities are comfortable. Bathroom wasn't too far away, chairs are comfortable, rooms are well-lit. Bring a watch though, it's hard to see the clock from certain areas of the room.

What kind of room: Medium sized rooms divided into three sections (left, right, middle) that all face towards the front and center.

How many in the room: ~50 in my room. There weren't many people, and it was very spacious. They staggered seating so that you have empty seats on either side.

Desks: My favorite part! LOTS of room for you. They don't have individual desks, they have one long desk for an entire row. Plus, no people on either side of you so you can fan out all of your items to your heart's content.

Left-handed accommodation: Doesn't apply, the desks are for both right and left handed folk.

Noise levels: The only noise came from the other test takers (flipping paper, coughing, sneezing, yawning). But since there weren't too many people, the noise was minimal. The area itself is secluded enough that you won't hear urban noises from the classroom.

Parking: I'm not sure exactly how large the parking lot is since I personally took a cab, but AU provides parking for test takers.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: They start checking you in and putting you into rooms when you arrive. So if you arrive earlier, you will start earlier and vice versa. I would say ~20-30 minutes.

Irregularities or mishaps: None.

Would you take the test here again?: YES! This is a great test center, with ample room, good temp, no noise, and competent proctors. What more can you ask for? (Other than an easy exam, of course)

Date[s] of Exam[s]: December '15

Proctors: The proctors were OK. They provided clear instruction and followed all directions. I sat in front, which was distracting because they seemed to walk in front of my desk A LOT.

Facilities: There were bathrooms near the lecture halls. The door to the lecture hall opens to the outside, like many do in Hawaii.

What kind of room: Large lecture hall, but in the business school and not new. Stadium seating, each hard plastic seat with its own small fold out desk. The stadium seating was angled at a way that made the room very tall like a movie theater. The lighting was a little low which made it straining to read. The room DID have A/C. This was a concern of mine, but the temperature was not a problem for me.

How many in the room: Over 50-75. Pretty much a full room, but at least one desk between testers.

Desks: Bad. These were the little flip desks. Your test booklet had to be folded at all times, and the answer sheet had to overlap the test booklet just to keep everything organized and on the desk. They put at least one seat between testers.

Left-handed accommodation: The desks flipped from the right side. I'm right handed, so I don't remember if they accommodated left handed testers. I do remember one tester sitting in the front at his own desk. I found this unfair since he had a lot of desk space and the rest of us had so little.

Noise levels: There was not noise dampening in the old lecture hall. It was what I expected at the time, but now that I've tested elsewhere, I know that it was higher than it should be. I tested at a law school in Seattle and I literally heard no noise from anyone but myself.

Parking: I purchased a 4 hour parking pass in the visitor lot, and went over time. They gave me a fine even though the lot was empty. I was pissed about this, but wasn't sure where else to park.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: I don't remember exactly, but perhaps an hour between check and the start of the test.

Irregularities or mishaps: No mishaps, but really crappy desks and bad lighting.

Other comments: If they hold tests at the U of H law school, I recommend going to that location instead. If I were to test while in Hawaii, I'd make sure the test center is better or I'd fly for the weekend to the west coast.

Would you take the test here again? Absolutely NOT. Taking the test at the U of H business school is not an option if you are serious about the LSAT. Bad desks, bad lighting, bad parking choices. Hopefully they have changed the location since 2014.

Date[s] of Exam[s]: June 2014

Thanks!

Proctors: Totally kickass! These people are freaking ON POINT. Everything is organized. Rules are all set up. Start to finish setup takes only 45 minutes or so. SO AWESOME!

Facilities: Great. Newish conference center that is not part of the college but rented out to businesses for conferences and whatnot.

What kind of room: Conference hall. Quiet, friendly, great large cushy desk chairs. Plenty of space.

How many in the room: I counted. It was only about 40 or so.

Desks: You are seated at a table, not tiny desks. You have as much room as you need. They seat you with alternating enormous cushy desk chairs, so I could literally have everything all spread out on the desk in front of me.

Left-handed accommodation: I didn't need it, but there would have been no problem for a lefty since the desk goes all the way in front of you.

Noise levels: No problem. The room has very dampened acoustics.

Parking: I didn't drive, but MCCC has plenty of parking. Shouldn't be a problem for anybody.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: 45 minutes. I arrived pretty much at 9:30.

Irregularities or mishaps: None.

Other comments:

I literally sent this exact email to the head of the test center after my test:

Just wanted to thank you guys for being such awesome LSAT proctors! You guys make the test peaceful and low-stress and everything is on point!

Would you take the test here again? I did. And I should point out that I chose not to take it at the test center where I took my first of 3 tests. Instead I traveled 300 miles north to go specifically MCCC. I can't overstate how awesome this test center is!

Date[s] of Exam[s]: June and Oct 2015.