With the autumn equinox right around the corner, ’tis the season for law school admissions counselors to live out of their suitcases while attending one law fair after another. It’s also the season—given the tech issues for a second straight LSAT—for law school applicants to question the nature of their relationship with LSAC. Oof. Let’s dust ourselves off from the September LSAT and take a few minutes today to do our loop around the news of the week and look ahead to this week’s set of law fairs and recruitment events.

The September LSAT

Another LSAT and another wave of issues, unfortunately. While the August LSAT was particularly beset by problems with online proctors, a number of September LSAT test takers encountered significant tech issues, up to and including the exam simply stalling out.

In fairness, let’s acknowledge that there will always be issues with any test administration. Prior to transitioning to the online LSAT, LSAC only offered the exam in person. While no one had to worry about their proctor disappearing or their internet connection cutting out in a live setting, other problems could arise. I have certainly read my fair share of LSAT addenda regarding construction noise outside a test venue, fellow test takers getting sick or having panic attacks nearby, testing at a hotel with a loud wedding reception happening in the adjacent ballroom, or—a personal favorite—taking the LSAT on a college campus on the same day as a big football game and having to walk several miles in from remote parking. Precious memories!

However, we know that the proctor issues from the August LSAT were far more prevalent than the norm. A quick review of LSAC’s “Test Registrants and Test Takers” report shows that there were 131,752 LSAT test takers in the 2022–23 cycle. Of those tests takers, there were 107,077 reportable scores. That’s an 81.2% conversion rate. The lowest conversion rate for any one test was 79.3% in April 2023. For the August 2023 exam, that conversion rate is just 74.6% as of the writing of this blog (12,413 reportable scores out of 16,632 test takers). To use some technical jargon—that ain’t good! While initial reports are that the issues with the September LSAT were not as widespread as those on the August version, it would not be surprising to see another sub-79% conversion rate this test iteration.

So what does this mean for applicants from an AdComm vantage? Put simply, the issues of the past two months have been so significant and so widespread that admissions officers are more than aware of the situation. If a student scored significantly below their practice exam scores due to proctor or tech issues, or if a student had to cancel one score (or both scores!), AdComms will immediately remember “Oh, that’s right, the August 2023 LSAT … what a mess.” 

Further, these issues may result in a slower start to the admissions cycle. Most LSAT takers in August, September, and October are applicants for the present cycle. In many cases, these are students who already have a reportable score but they just want one more crack at boosting their profile by a few points. If that boost didn’t happen in August, and if it didn’t happen in September, then maybe they will give it one more try in October. And if that’s the case, that may mean that a student who planned to submit applications in October is now targeting early November for submission. We’ll start receiving application data from LSAC at the end of September and can assess if this chain reaction is occurring.

Law Fairs and On-Campus Recruitment Events

The big law fairs of the coming week remain down in the Southwest but we also get our first two LSAC Forums of the year!

September 18—University of Texas-Austin and Texas State
September 19—UT San Antonio
September 20—Texas A&M and the Toronto Forum
September 21—University of Houston
September 22—UT Arlington and the National HBCU Pre-Law Fair/Summit
September 23—Chicago Forum

As always, be sure to check in on LSAC’s Recruitment Calendar for the most comprehensive list of upcoming events and details thereof.

While the Texas events are always nice (other than driving or flying from Houston to Dallas for that last event!), the real headliner here is the Chicago Forum. The LSAC Forums are always the biggest law fairs of the year, and Chicago is one of the larger events of this subset of events. If you’re attending a Forum, be sure to wear some comfortable shoes, bring your deep reservoir of patience (since lines can be long), and read up on some pro tips for attacking Forums here.

When not getting their fill of Tex-Mex lunches at law fairs or navigating Chicago traffic (it’s an underrated bad-traffic city that usually flies under the national radar…), law school admissions officers will continue to host on-campus events. While you can find a comprehensive list of events on our website, we want to draw attention to: