The June LSAT-Flex administration just wrapped up. This means, for the second time ever, a collection of aspiring law students got to take the Law School Admission Test from their own homes, using their own computers. These Flex-ers also got to choose the time they took the exam, and only had to do three sections (as opposed to the typical five). If you’re like me (old) and have been through many LSAT administrations, the Flex format continues to shock the system.
And yet, based on the post-exam chatter I’m hearing … most of y’all who took the June LSAT-Flex didn’t seem all that stunned by the Flex format. You weren’t per-Flex-ed by the format, as one might say (Ed. note: Or not). In fact, the post-exam chatter following the June LSAT-Flex was not all that different from that following a totally normal LSAT.
Which, on some level, makes sense. After all, we’ve been through the shock of the new with the LSAT-Flex already. The intrepid May test takers already ventured into the unknown; they were the true Flex-plorers (Ed. note: He’s dropping this Flex-pun bit at this point, we promise). After hearing the May test takers regale their Flex-periences (Ed. note: Gotcha. OK, dropping it fr now), June test takers knew what to expect.The check-in and tech issues that plagued many May test takers largely disappeared in June. We heard very few reports of long check-in wait times, or obtrusive proctors, or glitching software. The overall administration of the June LSAT-Flex, in fact, was very smooth. This wasn’t the case for every test taker, unfortunately. However, there seems to be a positive trend forming: students experienced the worst delays on the first day of the May Flex exam, but in each subsequent day the LSAT-Flex was administered, we saw fewer and fewer reports of issues.
Unlike May, the post-exam discourse wasn’t dominated by fuming test takers who had to wait over an hour to start the test. Instead, the focus was on the exam itself — of, for instance, a particularly difficult comparative passage with a strange structure, or a vexing third logic game. [There were multiple Reading Comprehension, Logic Games, and Logical Reasoning sections used for the June LSAT-Flex, so your mileage may vary on how difficult these were. (And if you’re worried about having a “harder” or “easier” section than your fellow June Flex-ers, it’ll all get balanced out by the exams’ “curves.”)] So, overall, most comments felt very familiar to this old, seasoned LSAT recapper. (Other than the fact that, without an experimental section on the Flex-exam, there were no “Was the LR section with the talking monkeys question the experimental???”-style comments, reducing the number of post-exam comments by at least 80%.)
This means, of course, there are a lot of people wondering if they should cancel their LSAT-Flex score. If this sounds like you, read up on LSAC’s official cancellation policy here. The same cancellation policy applies to these Flex exams that applied to any other LSAT. You have six days to cancel. You won’t be able to see your score before canceling, and you won’t get a refund if you decide to cancel. So, it’s a big decision, but you have a bit of time to make it. Sleep on it.
Also, consider this: nearly every law school will simply use your highest LSAT when constructing your academic index, or whatever calculation it uses to assess your application. Although law schools will see every score you got on the LSAT in the last five years, the vast majority of them won’t hold having multiple LSAT scores against you to a significant degree. For most test takers, our recommendation is don’t cancel. Choose to receive your score, just on the chance that you’ll be happy enough with the score that you don’t have to study for the next exam. If you have to take it again, well, you’ll be in the same position you would have been had you canceled. For a more thorough discussion of this issue, check out this blog post.
No matter the decision, congrats on getting through this LSAT. Even if the post-exam conversations felt quotidian, your accomplishment is anything but. You’re well on your way to becoming a law student, and then a lawyer, and then, hopefully, using your career for the betterment of a society that could certainly use some more justice. Congratulations.
