I am aware that Kaplan offers a similar website (--LinkRemoved--) with test center reviews. That said, I think TLS as a userbase can do better.
The format is simple:
City/Location:
Test Center: (If it your test center has an acronym, please spell it out and then provide the acronym in parenthesis)
Test Date:
Parking:
Approximate # of Students in Room:
Quiet/Comfort:
Temperature:
Proctors:
Desk space:
Miscellaneous Complaints/Comments:
I will start it off.
City/Location: Austin, TX
Test Center: Austin Community College, Highland Business Center (ACC, HBC)
Test Date: June 10'
Parking: Plenty of parking. However, since I work at the building I know that they are now enforcing a student parking permit requirement. That said, I am not sure if they would ticket cars on LSAT administration days. The "visitor" parking section is rather limited. I have parked across the street at the hotel, the adjacent mall, and the adjacent Specs strip center before and have not been towed.
Approximate # of Students in Room: I signed in at the ground floor and they gave me a room number that I would be taking the test in. There was not very many students in my room. Probably around 15-20.
Quiet/Comfort: The room was adjacent to a staff/student lounge that had a TV on. I could barely hear it through the wall. I thought it was going to bother me, but by the time the proctors started reading the instructions I was able to phase it out (or someone turned it off). It didn't end up affecting my performance and I didn't think about it again till after I finished the entire test. Other then that the room was very quiet. No sniffling students or cellphones going off. HBC is more of an "office" building then an actual campus. I have had many staff meetings in the room and so was very familiar/comfortable with my surroundings. Nice bright red clock on the wall to read the time.
Temperature: Not too hot or too cold. If anything on the cooler side of things. If you are usually cold it might be smart to take a sweater/additional layer.
Proctors: I believe there was two proctors, maybe three. They were incredibly professional. My bottled water didn't fit in my ziplock bag and they didn't seem to care. They just sat at the front of the room, called the 5min warning and the end of section "pencils down" on time. No hovering over peoples backs or walking amongst everyone. I did see one student have a hoody. It was not "over" his head, but the proctors did not seem to mind. I also saw a student who did not have a zip lock bag and I don't remember the proctors caring. They did ask if we had any cellphones and that we would be dismissed if we kept them in the test room. They also, in accordance with LSAT rules, did not let us use the bathroom till the beginning of the first section. They followed the directions, but were not overly dogmatic. All in all, I believe they did a great job.
Desk space: This is where this testing center shines. LARGE tables to work on with 6ft+ between students. The people who were assigned to sit by me were absent so I pretty much had an entire 20ft table to myself. They also let a student move to an absent student's seat so he could get additional room. I guess 6ft on either side was not enough for him. It was not stadium seating. It was a medium sized room with a chalk board at the front. Comfortable chairs that were not attached in anyway to the table/desk.
Miscellaneous Complaints/Comments: When I was researching test centers it was between this location and the University of Texas. At the time I did not know the ACC location would be held at HBC (where I work). I was afraid that UT would administer the test in a stadium seating lecture class room with those small flip out desks and uncomfortable wooden chairs. The only thing I would have done differently is ensure that the TV was turned off in the adjacent lounge. That said you are split up into many different rooms within the building and so other peoples' experiences with staff/room/temperature/noise could be different with respect to this test center.
