LSAC Cancels 2020 April LSAT Because of the Coronavirus

Decision to Cancel

LSAC has just released a statement confirming what we’ve long suspected: the April LSAT administration in North America will not take place this year. What’s far more unexpected however is what they’re doing instead. We’ll get into these details further in just a moment. There’s no word yet on plans for June and beyond. We expect a similar delivery process in June if regular in-person testing can’t safely resume by the planned test date. We’ll continue to provide updates as we learn more. In the meantime, this is great news for March and April enrollees, as most schools will undoubtedly extend deadlines to account for this new test, including waitlist and scholarship decisions!

Accommodations for Affected Students

• LSAC is adding a test date in May that will be administered at-home. Approximately 18,000 students that the cancellations affect will have the ability to utilize this rare opportunity. To be clear, there will not be open enrollment for this May exam. So, unless you were registered for the March or April exam, this May test is not an option for you.
• The test will take place over a few days, in the second half of May.
• This May exam will only have three sections. Yes, you’re reading that correctly. Instead of the normal 5 sections, they are removing the experimental section and one of the Logical Reasoning sections. The intention is to reduce the test length and take into consideration bathroom breaks, interruptions, etc.
• The scoring scale remains the same for this test! This means the test will have its own unique conversion curve where the approximately 75-question count will be used to determine the final results.
• The May test is also going to be nondisclosed. Those testing will receive a score and percentile, but not a hard copy of the test content.
• May’s at-home test will be accessible on PCs and Macs. Most hardware and software formats will be supported as will any accommodations such as extra time. Oddly enough, you will not be able to take the test on a tablet.

More information is available on our last post that covers the March LSAT cancellation. You can find the full April test announcement on LSAC’s website. This landing page addresses any other questions you may have regarding the virus and how it will affect the LSAT. For more information on how to protect yourself from the virus, please visit the CDC’s website.