Any disadvantage to signing up now for Feb as a fall back?

Jules802

I will be taking the December LSAT and was wondering if there is any disadvantage to signing up for the February test now (to keep the option open as a fall back) since registration dates will be passed by the time we get December scores. I know that LSAC says they will refund all costs if after receiving your December score you no longer wish to take the February test. I'd love to plan in advance and get my preferred test center but don't want to drop money if there is any downside to this.
Any thoughts? Thanks!

Alex

@Jules802 said:
I'd love to plan in advance and get my preferred test center but don't want to drop money if there is any downside to this.
Any thoughts? Thanks!

Are you planning on applying this cycle? I know that many schools don't accept February scores, so if you did need to retake in Feb, you would likely not be able to apply to many schools. Not sure if that's the case....

Otherwise, no, I don't see any major downsides.

WinWin2016

most schools accept Feb LSAT including Columbia law school. I even heard some schools accept June LSAT for the same year cycle. ( low ranking schools). No i would even say its a good idea. I think if you get wait-listed and you Feb LSAT is significantly higher maybe it can help you as well.

twssmith

Maybe a few thoughts to consider:

@Jules802 said:
I will be taking the December LSAT

- Have you taken the LSAT before or is Dec your first take? If it is your first take, you might want to wait until you have actually taken it and then evaluate your decision to sign up for Feb test.
- Unless your specific test site has a history of filling up in early registration, you still have until Dec 21st to sign up for Feb test with no late fee.
- Since you have already paid for Dec and then you decide that you are not completely prepared for the test, you still have until Nov 8th to change your test date to Feb with only a change test date fee as opposed to paying for both tests.
- May this not happen to you! After signing up for Dec last year, I paid the fee to switch to Feb and then realized that the Feb was undisclosed and not the smartest decision given my PT performance at the time so I attempted to switch my date to June. Problem!! LSAC does not do rolling test dates changes from cycle to cycle with June being the beginning of each cycle.
- The Feb test is non-disclosed test that can be a huge disadvantage in my opinion unless you already have a strong score and just want to increase that score. You will receive the email with only your score and percentile - whereas for the disclosed tests, you get the PDF of each section of the test and a copy of your scantron to use for analytics to evaluate your experience.

One of the biggest concerns might be that you are already considering a back-up of Feb before you take December. Please check out David - @"Accounts Playable" webinar of the 6 Tips on doing it right. During his office hours Wed night, he was very strong in his belief that confidence is a huge component of the 6 aspects he identifies. If you are already setting yourself up for a backup date, that could be detrimental to your mindset going into the actual test day. Link to his webinar:)

https://7sage.com/webinar/davids-six-tips-on-doing-it-right/

Hope this helps with your decision:)

Jules802

Thanks for all the feeback and info! @twssmith I just listened to that webinar, great resource, thank you!