The September/October LSAT (sometimes given in September) is the most popular of LSAT administrations, but simple popularity should not be the reason for doing anything in life, or else you might end up being a Red Sox fan, and who would want that?

The September/October LSAT is the most popular administration of the test, according to the overall numbers and what we’ve divined from the tea leaves here at Blueprint Test Prep. More people enroll in LSAT test prep classes during the summer than at any other time during the school year, and we can only figure that students just wanted to find a room that had air conditioning. Or maybe there’s something else.

So let’s get into it. What is it about the September/October LSAT that sets it apart?

First and foremost, college-age test takers have much more time to study for this incarnation of the test than any other because the majority of the preparation takes place over their summer vacation. At Blueprint Test Prep, we’ve also found that this leads to more students taking prep classes.

Additionally, the September/October LSAT comes at a good time in the rolling admissions cycle for law schools. Coming at the end of summer, the test results are released typically right around when application season is just beginning so it is nearly perfect timing. While the June test affords a prudent test taker even more leeway, the September/October test provides no actual drawbacks in terms of rolling admissions, at least according to what we’ve discovered in our considerable research at Blueprint Test Prep.

Taking the test in September/October also provides people with the hopefully unneeded option of retaking the test. If you wait til December to the take the test, and you bomb or get stuck under a dresser on test day, then your only recourse will be to take the February test, which, unfortunately, is cutting it very close as far as law school admissions go. With the September/October test, you don’t back yourself into that awful corner.

So, the official Blueprint Test Prep word on the September/October test? Generally, we at Blueprint Test Prep feel that it is one of the two best administrations of the test, as far as timing goes, and it probably beats the June test for college students in that they get so much more time to study because it is over their summer vacation. So if you are going to prepare for the test correctly, we at Blueprint Test Prep recommend two steps: 1) settle on a method of preparation (whether that’s with a prep class like Blueprint Test Prep or via self study) 2) sign up for the September/October test. In our humble opinion at Blueprint Test Prep, it’s really your best option if you are taking the test as a college student.

 

Article edited by Jodi Triplett and Trent Teti of Blueprint Test Preparation. Blueprint Test Prep has been a purveyor of LSAT 
preparation since 2005.