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Hello,

Does anyone have recommendations for/against certain testing centers in the Bay Area or central coast of CA. I guess I could go down to southern CA as well but that would be much more of a hassle.

Thanks for your help.

I liked UC Hastings a lot - comfortable rooms, long desks w/ chairs (attached) so you have space to work. Big clock. Bring a jacket in the event the a/c is on.

don't take it at berkeley, I've heard horror stories about it. the California ballroom in Oakland is full but that's a nice place. I took mine at college of alameda, the only problem was that one proctor didn't speak english [one girl raised her hand during the instructions and said straight up "I can't understand you!"] and the other proctor was too sick to speak.

alamedaman wrote:don't take it at berkeley, I've heard horror stories about it. the California ballroom in Oakland is full but that's a nice place. I took mine at college of alameda, the only problem was that one proctor didn't speak english [one girl raised her hand during the instructions and said straight up "I can't understand you!"] and the other proctor was too sick to speak.

Alamedaman...wow, we were taking the LSAT together in the same room, apparently. Small world.

I had a GREAT experience at the College of Alameda. Very relaxed proctors, big desks, no outside noise, etc.

JFK Law school in Pleasant Hill was really comfortable with a lot of parking. The room vibrated a bit, but it did not bother me. They had nice big tables for us to sit at, and it felt relaxing.

Oakland Ballroom was nice, had big tables. The proctor had to buzz a tenent to come to one of the interior doors. The tenant demanded to know what was going on and why he should make his large dog stop barking. This was basically in the testing room during the middle of a section. I will be retaking in December.

college of alameda- big desks, but the proctors didn't speak english very well. But who cares? You should know the drill by now. Kinda quiet except there was construction going on nearby for like 3 minutes.

UC Berkeley- SHITTY. Don't take it here. They have small desks and my tets flew off my desk 3 times during the test.

CSU hayward- taking it here for the last time... I took my SAT here and it was amazing.

College of Alameda and Oakland Ballroom are generally considered to be the best in the East Bay. I took it at Alameda, there were big desks and they allowed you to drink during the test. They even did one final bathroom break after all the instructions, right before section 1 started.

UC Berkeley can be a bit of a crapshoot. The rooms change every time, so one person's good experience isn't a reliable indicator. In September, they had everyone report to Pimentel, but then moved people off from there. Some went to ok rooms, but some went to cramped lecture halls.

In general, hotels should be avoided. They're much more likely to have the test in huge banquet halls. More people per room means more potential for distractions. It also means that the administrative b.s. takes longer, and you tend not to start the actual test for a while.

schmo wrote:

alamedaman wrote:don't take it at berkeley, I've heard horror stories about it. the California ballroom in Oakland is full but that's a nice place. I took mine at college of alameda, the only problem was that one proctor didn't speak english [one girl raised her hand during the instructions and said straight up "I can't understand you!"] and the other proctor was too sick to speak.

Alamedaman...wow, we were taking the LSAT together in the same room, apparently. Small world.

creepy. oh there was a public speaking class next door also. this didn't affect me so much, cause when I took TM we had one of our diags in Berkeley on game day. at the student union. so the band was literally feet away. and then the cannon started going off cause it was an early game.

has anyone taken it at CSU EAST BAY?

I'm choosing between either college of alameda or CSU east bay

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UC Hastings was fantastic. Comfortable chairs and a large amount of table space.

It was cold, though, so if you go to Hastings I recommend a sweater or something.

I took it at Stockton and it was fantastic. I had a huge table to myself and the room was small without a lot of people. Well worth the drive.
From LSAT students I've had, they've told me JFK is great, and Berkeley is terrible. I've heard a mix of bad/good about Hastings but more bad than good.

I took it at UC Berkeley in VLSB (in a lecture hall) and had no problems. I guess the desks were kind of small, but bubbling in blocks FTW.

Another vote for College of Alameda. Big desks, final call bathroom break, relaxed proctors (spoke english, but not very well).

Hey everyone, thanks so much for all of the replies. It looks like everything in the Bay Area is full except UC Santa Cruz. Any experience there?

Also does anyone have experience with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo?

I figure if I'm going to have to go to UCSC I may as well go even further south and just show up a day early.

Thanks for all the help.

Anyone taken it at Lincoln Law school in Sac? I think that is where I am taking it.

Monterey College of Law anyone?

DON'T WANT TO GET INTO DETAILS BUT AVOID SAN FRANCISCO STATE LIKE THE PLAGUE!

I took it at Monterey college of law, which is maybe out of the way, but i couldn't have asked for a better test center. extremely, quiet, nice people, big desks!

A little bit out of the scope of the topic, but anyone have any experience of the conditions at UCSB?

I've heard nothing but bad things about taking it in Berkeley (at least in Pimentel).

I took my test at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco and thought it was alright. There were a TON of people there, though (easily over 250).

BioEBear2010 wrote:I've heard nothing but bad things about taking it in Berkeley (at least in Pimentel).

I took my test at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco and thought it was alright. There were a TON of people there, though (easily over 250).

Palace Hotel was HUGE. The upside? Nice bar for afterwards (my preferred post-LSAT location).

The first time I took it was at some law school in Stockton because all the Bay Area spots were full (can't remember the name)... it was pretty comfortable though. It was a pretty small testing site so there weren't a lot of people. I also took it at UC Hastings, which was comfortable, but there are a ton of people there... which is kinda intimidating for some reason.

Knockglock wrote:A little bit out of the scope of the topic, but anyone have any experience of the conditions at UCSB?

A little uncomfortable, but I did okay. It's a little disorganized in general, but the proctors are super chill and understanding. One girl was stoned out of her mind reading the directions, and there were a few surfers who were still wearing rash guards.

The desks are standard lecture desks, so a little small, but serviceable. The building its in doesn't have much in the way of climate control, so plan accordingly (but it's Santa Barbara).

Also, the girls are distracting (a larger than you'd expect percentage are in walk-of-shame mode), so if you aren't a focused person you might want to take it further inland/in norcal.