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January LSAT Deadlines Are Here

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The January 2019 LSAT is just a couple weeks away, which also means that the deadlines to change or get out of this exam have arrived. Students signed up for the January LSAT have until today, January 11 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time, to change the test location or postpone the LSAT to another date (both requiring you to pay an extra $125). And today is also the deadline to withdraw from the LSAT altogether for a refund of $50.

With little time to consider these options, let’s go through some of the reasons why it would or would not make sense to take advantage of these options before today’s deadline.

First, if you’re going to pay to change your test location, do you have a really good reason for changing location (like maybe you realized you signed up for the exam in Springfield, Oregon instead of your local Springfield, Illinois)? Otherwise, $125 is a steep price to pay for an experience which is relatively similar across test locations. If the current location doesn’t work out, and you decide later to take the LSAT again and want to get a better idea of all your test center options, you can always check out Blueprint’s most recent guide to LSAT test centers.

If you are like many LSAT students and are starting to feel panicked with the exam a couple weeks away, thinking about postponing the exam until you’re better prepared, it’s most likely in your interest to stick with the January exam. There is still a lot of material you can cover effectively in the last two weeks, not to mention the work you can do to build confidence before the exam. This question, again, comes down to the reason why you are thinking about postponing. If you can afford to postpone and you’re doing so because an illness kept you from studying for a significant time, that could be a good reason for waiting until you’ve had a real opportunity to prepare. But if you are one of many students who just generally wonders if you would get a better result if you waited a couple months, know that this plan can backfire. When students postpone unnecessarily, they may take so much time to prepare that they start to burn out, or they let their foundational LSAT skills slip over time. It’s normal to feel exam anxiety at this point, but don’t let those fears hold you back from reaching the end of your LSAT journey.

Finally, if you are thinking about getting out of the LSAT altogether for a refund of $50, the choice comes down to whether the rather paltry refund is worth it. If you decided to leave your law school ambitions behind completely to open a zebra farm, by all means, take your $50 (though, if you have zebra money, maybe you don’t even need the refund). But if you plan to take the LSAT at some time in the future (you just don’t know when), perhaps taking this LSAT is still in your best interest. As above, you may be more ready than you think you are. And with money and time already invested, this could be your best chance to follow through on the LSAT and see how far you’ve come in your studies.

In sum, the deadlines for moving, changing or canceling the January LSAT are here, but these choices simply don’t make sense for most LSAT students. You’ve been planning this for a while, and in all likelihood, sticking with your plans will be your best option.