Challenges to taking the LSAT Abroad Forum

[rdementor89]

Hey,

I am considering taking the LSAT while I am studying abroad in China this coming December in Guangzhou. I am hesitant to do this considering some of the logistical challenges. Does anyone have any advice for taking it abroad? Or experience with testing centers in China?

Thanks for your help.

[Chickensoup]

Hey,

I am considering taking the LSAT while I am studying abroad in China this coming December in Guangzhou. I am hesitant to do this considering some of the logistical challenges. Does anyone have any advice for taking it abroad? Or experience with testing centers in China?

Thanks for your help.

Took it in London. The process went as smoothly as you could ever imagine. I think you will need to do some weird stuff where you cut and paste your photo onto a form. Be prepared for that. Other than that, I don't think it is difficult at all.

[geary86]

In Asia, LSAC doesn't disclose anything except your score and percentile...
So you wouldn't know how many questions you missed and on which section.
I also heard that LSAC intentionally makes the Game section more difficult in Asia...

[CyanIdes Of March]

I also heard that LSAC intentionally makes the Game section more difficult in Asia...

Lol what?

[shinobi99]

I believe this is a myth.

I took the LSAT both in Asia and the United States, and found that each time, there was a section that was particularly harder than the rest. And it wasn't consistent which section was hard either. For example, in the States I found the game section to be hard whereas the LR and RC was so easy it was unbelievable. Whereas in Asia, I found the game section fairly easy but the RC was like WTF. So from my experiences, I have a feeling that LSAC likes to switch it up for different tests, and that in the end everyone will be curved such that the distribution of the points are consistent.

[defdef]

i took it in japan in june with no difficulties. plan to do it again in october.

[cahwc12]

I had planned to take the LSAT in Seoul last June (I didn't), and the major obstacle for me was simply the logistics of planning a trip there. I lived four hours south, and since the test was on a saturday morning at 830am, I'd have had to travel there the day before and book a hotel (or find one lucky lady!) the night before. I had other concerns but they were all alleviated by just googling information about my proposed test center, and I think you'll find the same set of information if you search around.

Other than physical logistics and not being able to see your test mistakes after the fact, I don't think there's really anything to be too concerned about.

[DukeofCambridge]

Do NOT do this, if at all feasible.

I took it in London, and LSAC in all of their glorious wisdom decided to pick a test center near Barbican in the City of London. Meaning:

a) it was in a very, very pricey part of town for hotels the night before
b) it was actually difficult to get to on a Saturday morning(reduced train schedule)
c) best of all, they picked a venue that was hidden behind a parking garage. IE, when you went there, following their directions and google maps + mapquest, you found a parking garage. You had to go around the parking garage to find the building.

Thank God I had scoped out the location on the day before, I can just imagine how many poor, nervous people showed up only to find a parking garage where they thought the testing center would be.

[jp2013]

I took it in Seoul in February.

Everything went smoothly, except the heater wasn't working right. I kept my down jacket on and my fingers were freezing the whole time.

[fratstar]

My Uncle took it in Costa Rica by himself and the proctor told him he'd have the standard five minute warning before the end of each section and kept butchering it saying "woops 2 minutes left" while listening to a handheld radio. Still got a 178 but it was really stressfull. This was like 10 years ago though.

[StormyDay]

I took the December 2011 LSAT in Honduras and had a terrible experience.

I lived roughly 6 hours away from the city where the test was going to be administered and didn't have the opportunity to check out the testing center beforehand. So on the morning of, I found out that LSAC hadn't updated the testing center address, even though the building had moved over a year beforehand. I had to go to two different branches of the existing institution before finding the actual testing center - not to mention that at the first place they told me that there was no way that someone was administering a test on a Saturday and I should just come back on Monday. When I finally found the correct location, I was told that the LSAT was not going to be administered at 8:00am (or 9:00am, or whatever time it was my LSAC printout said), but instead at 1:00pm. I ended up running into other 'lost' test takers throughout this whole experience. We were all really stressed out because of all the running around and exhausted by the time the test finally started.

Learn from my mistake - if you plan on taking the test abroad, especially if it's not in the exact city where you live - make sure you head in an extra day early to check out the test center and talk to the actual person who will be administering the test to make sure there are no other changes to the location/time/etc.

Good luck on your LSAT!

[unc0mm0n1]

Hey,

I am considering taking the LSAT while I am studying abroad in China this coming December in Guangzhou. I am hesitant to do this considering some of the logistical challenges. Does anyone have any advice for taking it abroad? Or experience with testing centers in China?

Thanks for your help.

Took it twice overseas once in Paris and once in Turkey. The only advice I'd give you is recon the LSAT site, make sure you know how to get there and what to bring. After that the test is the same. Plus I made both test dates into mini vacations (clearly after the LSAT).

[hallbd16]

In Asia, LSAC doesn't disclose anything except your score and percentile...
So you wouldn't know how many questions you missed and on which section.

Anyone else know about this or where to verify this with LSAC? Would rather know my score etc (otherwise it is really just a February test)

PS I am taking it in Shanghai in December in case anyone else is too.