Extra time on LSAT

notwilliamwallace

I'm prepping for the exam with a friend who has a pretty serious chronic illness. He has applied to get 25% extra time on the LSAT. Although I think that, given his illness, he deserves the added time, I'm confused whether that extra time can be of significant help. If he's approved, he'll get 8 extra minutes per section.

I haven't taken the exam yet but I understand that time constraint is one of the biggest challenge that the exam entails. However, I also believe that if you're not familiar with the exam by test day, those 8 extra minutes will never be enough. Him and I had a mini argument on this topic.

What're your thoughts on this? Especially the folks who have taken this dreadful exam previously.

Pacifico

In the vast majority of cases, if you're not prepared, no amount of time will improve your score. While there are a very small number of people who hit the 98th percentile or higher on their diagnostic, this is almost never the case. Furthermore, there is a general consensus (across all standardized tests) that for people who do not require extra time, to be allowed extra time can be very counterproductive because you start to second guess yourself among other issues. If your friend thinks that 8 extra minutes per section will allow them to do well on the LSAT without actually being prepared, then he is in for a rude awakening. Extra time simply levels the playing field (which is more easy to understand in the case of learning disabilities like ADD or dyslexia) to put people with certain issues on the same relative footing as people who must take it under the standard time conditions. It does not afford those people special power or opportunities to suddenly see the Matrix of the LSAT and get a 180. For people with learning disabilities, 43 minutes can "feel" like 35 minutes feels to someone without a learning disability. Or that first number could be 70 minutes, it just depends on the severity of the learning disability. You can't learn the LSAT in 8 minutes, so I don't see how it would help you when you're in the testing room.

NYC12345

I think it depends on how your friend uses the time. If he uses the extra time tools down and comprehend what he's reading, than I think that his score will surely improve. The majority of mistakes test-takers make are due to careless mistakes (misreading the question, not identifying the conclusion, etc.). Also, getting accommodations granted by LSAC is a long process, so make sure your friend submits the required forms on time.

Petrichor

LSAC published a study that had data up until 2012, the study compared average scores and those who had extra time did somewhat better (approximately 4-5 points).

NYC12345

The average doesn't tell the whole picture. It's more likely that people who were initially scoring in the 140/150 range see an increase of 10+ points (maybe even 15), while those who were scoring in the high 160/low 170s range only increase a few points. Either way, every point counts.

Petrichor

The distribution of scores might be somewhat different but an average of 155ish vs 150ish seems to imply that the population of accommodated test takers as a whole only does slightly better.