If you or someone you know is preparing to take the LSAT, then you understand how stressful an undertaking this “high stakes” test is. Perhaps more than any other standardized placement exam, the LSAT is crucial in determining one’s admission to law school. In fact, a poor undergraduate GPA can often be offset by a great LSAT score and, as difficult as the LSAT is for a typical student, it is that much harder for students with cognitive, emotional, or learning disorders. Fortunately, for these students, the Americans with Disabilities Act ensures that academic accommodations must be provided on high stakes tests if a proper diagnosis is made and it is demonstrated, through proper assessment and documentation, that a given condition has a negative effect on academic performance.
The Law School Admissions Test or, “LSAT,” is the standardized test thought to assess one’s intellectual readiness for law school. The LSAT is vital in determining the tier of law school to which you are admitted and can affect the amount of scholarship received. The LSAT is comprised of two logical reasoning sections, a reading comprehension section, one unscored experimental section, and a writing section that is unscored and administered separately. Each section is 35 minutes long and the main test (minus the writing section) takes two hours and twenty minutes.
The LSAT is a tough test that is designed to in some ways mimic the verbal and critical thinking skills required to be a successful law student. Law schools put a great deal of weight on a student’s LSAT score when making an admissions decision. If you want to attend law school, especially a good law school, you must make a good LSAT score.
Frequently, when students are preparing to take the LSAT, or after they have taken their first LSAT, they realize that something is “off.” The student may not finish test sections on time; they may consistently fail to perform on a certain type of question; they may have performance anxiety that impairs the ability to think; or they may be unable to focus. There are a plethora of reasons why a student may struggle when preparing for or taking the LSAT. When problems arise, often, the best course is a psycho-educational assessment by a psychologist, which is a process by which a student is evaluated for various conditions that may hinder academic and test performance.
Once you have received a psychoeducational test battery and been properly diagnosed by a psychologist, then a report will be provided that outlines the academic accommodations for which you will likely qualify on the LSAT.
At Bryce Gibbs PhD & Associates, our founding clinicians have assessed college students for over 20 years, interacting with state offices and testing companies including LSAT. In addition to our unique assessment system that accurately and efficiently outlines a student’s psychoeducational functioning, we produce appropriately formatted reports to submit to for the LSAT that are designed for approval. We utilize specific criteria for determining if an accommodation request is even advised; this is not the optimal solution for everyone. If our screening process determines that you meet the ADA standards for accommodations or modifications, then our psychoeducational assessment reports will typically result in an affirmative request. If academic accommodations are not warranted in your situation, we produce a comprehensive strategy to achieve peak performance tailored to your strengths and weaknesses.
If you feel like you may need academic accommodations on the LSAT (or if you have a friend or family member who may need accommodations), then please contact us to start the process of attaining a Bryce Gibbs PhD Psychoeducational Assessment. Our test batteries are specifically designed for college students preparing to take tests such as the LSAT and we can quickly evaluate a student and help initiate the accommodations process. Furthermore, we will continue consulting with students until they have received deserved accommodations.
