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Why doesn't LSAC offer expedited grading for the LSAT

It seems like it would make sense to have an option to pay more for quicker processing; there is an option for this for US passports and other various things so why not this as well? I'm sure LSAC wouldn't mind making more money from this option and others wouldn't mind paying more for quicker access to their results.

well, i don't really know, but it may be that if they did so, the vast majority of people would opt for it and they, for whatever reason, regard the current time frame as optimal so don't want to have to go faster for the majority of test takers.

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sokomofo wrote:yeah either that or they're a bunch of sadistic bastards who just like to see us suffer for 3 weeks

Thanks for my smile of the day.

This would put the poors at the end of line.

Eberry wrote:This would put the poors at the end of line.

We already are...

Because they enjoy your pain and sip your frustration as tea.

There really is no reason that expedited grading can't be requested for this test.

On the flip side, anyone remember how long is SAT grading?

how about the real flip side - they give you a blind score (meaning the school can see but you can't) for a reduced price

defdef wrote:how about the real flip side - they give you a blind score (meaning the school can see but you can't) for a reduced price

Didn't take the test... but when I heard this I though. Torture, I would rather have splinters shoved up my finger nails

As someone who lives about 30 minutes from the LSAC office it's incredibly tempting to go over there and demand that they give me my test sheet, the answer key, and a conversion table. But since they won't let me do that I would absolutely take advantage of paying more to get my score the Monday or Tuesday following the test. The way I see it I'll be broke and in debt at the end of all this anyway, what's another $100?

Psib337 wrote:As someone who lives about 30 minutes from the LSAC office it's incredibly tempting to go over there and demand that they give me my test sheet, the answer key, and a conversion table. But since they won't let me do that I would absolutely take advantage of paying more to get my score the Monday or Tuesday following the test. The way I see it I'll be broke and in debt at the end of all this anyway, what's another $100?

Love that outlook. Embrace the debt

Yeah I figured it might disadvantage poorer people , why not just offer them a discount proportional to their needs instead of $100 just $20

I'm assuming it's because they partially determine curve after assessing number-wrong statistics. I heard that they predetermine the curve, but do we know this is completely true?

I think you got it right, they do look at statistics after the test to further confirm the questions are valid(through statistical analysis) so everyone would need to be graded before this occurs. They do occasionally throw out questions.

Yeah, but do they really need 3 weeks to do that? Once they get all of the answer sheets scanned in, it should be relatively easy to analyze the results with some pre-built models. Shouldn't take more than a week to a week and a half.

I understand if they want to keep it as 3.5 weeks officially, in case something comes up, but the scores should actually be posted within 2 weeks, easily.

That said... I recall the SAT and AP tests taking significantly longer. True, there's a graded essay component there. Even so, maybe it makes sense to look at the LSAT as having expedited grading included in the standard fee.

im longing for that sweet sweet GRE insta-score range. walked out of the testing center with a rough estimate and didn't give it a second thought till i got my scores back.

Psib337 wrote:As someone who lives about 30 minutes from the LSAC office it's incredibly tempting to go over there and demand that they give me my test sheet, the answer key, and a conversion table. But since they won't let me do that I would absolutely take advantage of paying more to get my score the Monday or Tuesday following the test. The way I see it I'll be broke and in debt at the end of all this anyway, what's another $100?

Hell, I'd pay extra just for my score. I can wait for all the details.

Living near LSAC is doubly frustrating. Why do I have to wait weeks and worry about my transcripts and LORs to be sent when I could just drop them off?

nick_scheu wrote:Yeah, but do they really need 3 weeks to do that? Once they get all of the answer sheets scanned in, it should be relatively easy to analyze the results with some pre-built models. Shouldn't take more than a week to a week and a half.

I understand if they want to keep it as 3.5 weeks officially, in case something comes up, but the scores should actually be posted within 2 weeks, easily.

That said... I recall the SAT and AP tests taking significantly longer. True, there's a graded essay component there. Even so, maybe it makes sense to look at the LSAT as having expedited grading included in the standard fee.

The GRE folks get their score right then and there. But that's because they take it on the computer. I would hate to take the LSAT on the computer.

I see what you're saying about the time though. I know the MCAT has a curve to worry about, but that is significantly harder to determine, because to determine it, they need to determine the obscurity of the question relative to the knowledge expected. Despite this more challenging task, the MCAT folks get the scores out in roughly the same amount of time as the LSAC. LSAC really doesn't have an excuse, as the tests are relatively the same year after year. That's a monopoly for you.

nick_scheu wrote:Yeah, but do they really need 3 weeks to do that? Once they get all of the answer sheets scanned in, it should be relatively easy to analyze the results with some pre-built models. Shouldn't take more than a week to a week and a half.

Analyzing the statistics takes only a couple of days; a week at most (it's done on a computer). The hold up, as I understand it, is that it takes quite a long time to score all the answer sheets. They have only two scantron machines. One of them is from 1972, and requires the operator to load the answer sheets one at a time. The other one, from the mid-1990s, has an auto-feeder, but it gets jammed up frequently. As one might imagine, the line of temps holding stacks of answer sheets at the LSAC office winds around the corridor, almost down to the stairs at the other side of the building.

All kidding aside, hopefully there are no mishaps with the transportation of the answer sheets. The answer sheets for the Stanford Achievement Tests that were administered at my son's elementary school three years ago fell out of the back of the mail truck somewhere in Idaho, and the school reported that although most of the answer sheets were lost, they sporadically received a small number of answer sheets back over the next 6 months, some were ripped, and some had tire tracks on them.

Yeah, but do they really need 3 weeks to do that? Once they get all of the answer sheets scanned in, it should be relatively easy to analyze the results with some pre-built models. Shouldn't take more than a week to a week and a half.

Exactly. But the next ~1.5 weeks are scheduled to investigate any and all irregularities, such as the test center in Third World Outer Martian Land, where English is an otherworldly-language, who had a dozen 180's....

Eberry wrote:This would put the poors at the end of line.

Welcome to capitalism!

Security and grading reasons. The scores mean a lot, they probably grade them really quickly, and then check test center details, data, complaints...blah, blah....all bureaucracy at its finest.

sokomofo wrote:yeah either that or they're a bunch of sadistic bastards who just like to see us suffer for 3 weeks

+ 1

abcde12345 wrote:

nick_scheu wrote:Yeah, but do they really need 3 weeks to do that? Once they get all of the answer sheets scanned in, it should be relatively easy to analyze the results with some pre-built models. Shouldn't take more than a week to a week and a half.

I understand if they want to keep it as 3.5 weeks officially, in case something comes up, but the scores should actually be posted within 2 weeks, easily.

That said... I recall the SAT and AP tests taking significantly longer. True, there's a graded essay component there. Even so, maybe it makes sense to look at the LSAT as having expedited grading included in the standard fee.

The GRE folks get their score right then and there. But that's because they take it on the computer. I would hate to take the LSAT on the computer.

I see what you're saying about the time though. I know the MCAT has a curve to worry about, but that is significantly harder to determine, because to determine it, they need to determine the obscurity of the question relative to the knowledge expected. Despite this more challenging task, the MCAT folks get the scores out in roughly the same amount of time as the LSAC. LSAC really doesn't have an excuse, as the tests are relatively the same year after year. That's a monopoly for you.

It could be doable if candidates paid a fee to have their responses input into a program right after the test. 3-12 hours later, they should at least get a raw score, and a score band based upon 150/50% with an average curve. LSAC could even include a disclaimer reminding people that this score has not been weighed according to the curve for this particular testing session and etc.