A new year is on the horizon, and with it will come thousands of law school hopefuls, countless hours of LSAT study, and widespread feelings of fear, anger, and eventual triumph. So assuming we’re not all dead in a week after the Mayans murder us in our sleep, what joys will 2013 hold for those of us in the LSAT world? Here are our entirely unscientific, wholly speculative predictions:

Four New LSATS

We’re really going out on a limb here, but there will be four administered LSATs in 2013 – February 9th, June 10th, October 5th, and December 7th. As always, the June test will be administered at 12:30pm for all the sane people, while the other three will start at 8:30am for those of a more masochistic persuasion. And while the June, October, and December tests will be released afterward, don’t expect any removing of the February test’s veil of secrecy. There’s no reason to think that they won’t continue hiding it away in the Winter LSAT Vault buried deep in Newtown, PA.

Reading Comprehension and Logical Reasoning Stay the Same

Don’t expect too much different in 2013 for Reading Comprehension. Nothing really stood out this year other than a few really hard passages (!), but that’s the case every single year; the LSAT’s hard, and people whine about it. You’re still going to get four passages of varying difficulty, with one and only one being a comparative passage. This lack of change will apply for Logical Reasoning, too. Other than a few very tricky questions (which, too, is par for the course), nothing stood out in 2012.

Games Will Keep Their Changes

The biggest change of 2012 was the fact that each game was spread out over two pages, effectively doubling your workspace. LSAC announced this change as permanent (for now), so you can practice games with an extra sheet of scratch paper if you’d like. Also, the dreaded replace-the-rule questions are probably with us to stay. While they didn’t show up in October, they were on the June test, so keep studying for those.

Note: As of August 2024, the LSAT will no longer have a Logic Games Section. The June 2024 exam will be the final LSAT with Logic Games. Learn more about the change here.

Number of Test Takers Will Continue to Decline

It appears that the law school applicant bubble has finally burst, and far fewer people are taking the LSAT than during recent years. We will most likely see that trend continue in 2013, which is good news for you – fewer applicants means less competition. It won’t make getting a higher score easier, but there will be fewer higher scores overall.

So all things considered, 2013 should be a fairly unsurprising year for the LSAT, but only time will tell for sure…