Congratulations to all of you who successfully completed the October 6 LSAT.  It is a huge accomplishment just to take the test.  The scores are supposed to come back on October 31st and while we are hoping that they might come back earlier, you should know that the deadline for signing up for the December 1 LSAT is October 29, 2 days before the scores come back.  It is a $160 to sign up for the test and you can get $48 back if you decide not to take it, so consider it a $112 insurance policy if you are thinking you might want to take it again in December.

We are in countdown mode to the October 6 LSAT.  Ironically, you still have a few days to decide whether you want to take this on Saturday.  You can withdraw your registration on the 5th.  You don't get any money back but it does remove it from your record.  Keep up with the studying for the next few days.  Be very protective of your health, both physical and mental this week.  Finally, no studying on Friday.  It is mental health day.  Let your brain recover so it will be rested for Saturday.  In the meantime, figure out where your testing site is, where you are going to park, pack your 1-gallon plastic bag and get your passport photo taken to affix to your ticket.  Make sure your car has gas, a working battery, your printer has ink for printing out your ticket, your driver's license is not expired and you are go to go.  Let us know how things go this weekend so we can go to plan B, whether that is thinking about the December test or working on applications.

This year is a bit unusual with only 8 weeks between the October and December tests.  Normally there is nine.  Because of that, we will be having the first week of the December class during the last week of the October test.  We recognize that if you are looking at taking the test on October 6, you may not know whether you will need to take it again in December.  We want you to know that we will be flexible and whenever you make that decision, we will be ready to help you.

Sorry for the gap in posts, but we are busy getting so many of you ready to take the October LSAT.  A couple of thoughts on that, know that there is still loads of time to make a difference in your score by October 6.  Also, you don't need to make a decision today on whether you are going to take it in October or not.  The deadline to change the test date was yesterday.  The good news is that outside of being out the money to register to take the test again, it doesn't matter.  It will show on your academic summary report that you were registered to take the test on October 6 but didn't take it.  The law schools don't care why you didn't take it.  They are looking for a score.  You can wake up the morning of the 6th and decide that it is not the day for you.  If you need to take it in December, then we will work towards then.  In the meantime, plan on doing this on October 6 and put the energy and effort into it accordingly.  Let us know if you need extra help.

If you haven't signed up yet for the LSAT, the deadline is next Tuesday.  All the testing sites in the area still have plenty of room. If you don't sign up by Tuesday, it will cost you an additional $69 to sign up through the 14th.  After that, you can't take it in October.  September 14 is still 3 weeks away from the day of the test so if you are waiting until you feel ready to sign up for the test, you may have to just sign up for it.  There is a lot of learning that can go on between now and then and it is hard to judge that far out if you will be peaking by then.  The good news is that if you get to the end of September and realize that there are some concepts that with a bit more work, you will get them, you can sign up for the December test and just not show up for the October one.  The only consequence is that you are out the $160 that it cost to sign up to take the test.  The law schools do see that you were signed up for the test but did not take it.  However, it does not matter at all in the admissions process.  The law schools want you to take the test when you know you are going to perform at your ability.

Okay, so it looks like we have 2 more days of summer this year.  Fortunately, it should be better by Saturday.  Speaking of, the building is checking for parking passes this Saturday and the 25th so make sure they are on your dashboard.  If you don't have one, ask Steven.

If you haven't done so already, it is a great idea to go visit a law school.  Both of our local law schools encourage potential applicants to come visit them.  I recommend that you go see both even if you are not considering one of them.  It is a great opportunity to see what they similarities are as well as what can be different.  It will give you sense of what you are looking for.  You can contact Seattle U. at http://www.law.seattleu.edu/Office_and_Administration/Admission/Visit_the_Law_School/Visit_a_1L_Class.xml.

I hope everyone enjoyed their two days of summer here in Seattle.  I apologize to the Saturday class for the heat of the room.  It looks like that was it for sun this year so we should be okay from here on out.  We still have room in this round of classes so if you know anyone who is thinking about applying for the fall of 2013, have them give us a call.  New and interesting from the LSAC world, they are not posting next year's testing dates until January of 2013.  Much later than what they normally do so we will not be able to set our class dates until early next year.  They assured me that they will be the same 4 written tests spread out along the same time frame throughout next year.  I am not sure why the delay in releasing the testing dates.