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The 2014 LSAT Awards

BPPaaron-lsat-blog-awards-2014-red-carpet
With 2014 almost through, it’s time for us to hand out the LSATys – our annual awards recognizing things that stood out on this year’s LSATs. So put on your finest and get ready to walk the red carpet, because we’re awarding each of the following a golden #2 pencil. Or maybe just a regular #2 pencil.

Biggest WTF Moment goes to…
Game 4, June 2014. Every LSAT has hard questions. It’s normal to leave the test center shaking your head at a few of them. But the fourth Logic Game on the June 2014 exam elicited the biggest collective freak-out in a while, possibly since the infamous mauve dinosaurs “dropped” in June 2009.  The game isn’t impossible, and LSAC has put out similar games in the past, but still: that game was weird.

Boringest Reading Comp Passage goes to…
Clinical equipoise, June 2014. You’re asleep already, right? If you haven’t done it yet, spoiler alert: the passage is just as thrilling as it sounds.

Best News for Aspiring Law Students goes to…
The continued decline in LSAT administrations. The February 2014 LSAT was the first in quite some time to show a year-over-year increase in the number test takers. This led to some speculation that maybe the downward trend was over and that the number of test takers might begin to rebound. Fortunately for law school applicants (and unfortunately for law schools), that hasn’t been the case. The June and September LSATs both had significant year-over-year declines in the number of tests administered (the September LSAT was even a record low), and law schools have more spots than ever for current LSAT preppers.

Worst April Fools’ Joke goes to…
A couple blog commenters indicated that their proctors called the five minute warning five minutes too early on the first section of the June LSAT. I have three comments: 1) That’s not funny. 2) June is a couple months too late. 3) The math behind the warning isn’t that hard. This proctor gets his golden #2 pencil, but we’re not handing it to him. We’re shoving it, uh, elsewhere.

Best Legal Victory Over LSAC goes to…
The Department of Justice. In the past, LSAT test takers who received accommodations were as rare as unicorns. Scratch that—there are enough furry conventions out there that it’s safe to say there were more unicorns than accommodated LSATs. All of that changed with one settlement. It’s still not easy to get accommodations, but now it’s a realistic goal if you have well-documented learning disabilities.

Best Subtly Devious Move goes to…
This one goes to LSAC for one of the games on the February 2014 LSAT. The February LSAT is undisclosed, and so it’s often rumored to be weird or different. That’s not true; the February LSAT is just like any other LSAT. But LSAC did a tremendous job of feeding those rumors this February, when they (supposedly) put a circular ordering game on the LSAT. There hadn’t been one of those in about ten years. Way to play up the mystery, LSAC.

That wraps up the 2014 LSAT Awards. Congratulations to our winners on what is surely the highlight of their year. And happy 2015! The committee can’t wait to see what the new year holds.