Maryland Test Centers

[simaba]

What are the best test centers in Maryland for the June LSAT?  I can't seem to find the Kaplan test rater site online anymore.  Any help would be appreciated!  Thanks!

[fortook]

Best?  They should all be almost exactly the same.  Almost all are at community colleges or universities.  Pick the one closest to you. 

Did Kaplan actually tell you it matters? Their focus on the irrelevant boarders on incompetence. There are no tricks or quick fixes.  I have heard about bad test centers people have gotten stuck with, but it was the proctors (and they are not constant) and rarely happens. 

[Jeffort]

Best?  They should all be almost exactly the same.  Almost all are at community colleges or universities.  Pick the one closest to you. 

Did Kaplan actually tell you it matters? Their focus on the irrelevant boarders on incompetence. There are no tricks or quick fixes.  I have heard about bad test centers people have gotten stuck with, but it was the proctors (and they are not constant) and rarely happens.

This ^above advice is flat out incorrect.  Should is different from what is true in reality.

The quality of the test center does matter regarding desk top space.  Proctors vary from one administration to the next but the desk size and physical space per location you have available to use in each facility does not. 

Juggling the test book, answer sheet, pencils and an erasure can be very difficult in a test room with the tiny flip-up desks that are only slightly larger than a single 8 1/2 X 11 inch piece of paper and also on several other small desk types that are attached to the chair. 

Simaba, I am not familiar with specific test facilities in Maryland since I don't live near their.  If there is one available where the test will be administered in a law school classroom that is convenient to get to from where you live, go with it.  Law school classrooms all have big wide desks with plenty of desk space to spread things out on. 

The desk conditions can make a difference in how well you perform.  You certainly do not want to have to waste valuable time per section shuffling the test-book and answer sheet back and forth due to limited desk-top space since that subtracts from time you have available to analyze and solve the questions correctly.

[fortook]

Do you work for Kaplan?  Has anyone taken the LSAT on a flip top desk?  Ever?  I have never seen a test center (regardless of whether I was taking it or not) that used flip top desks.  All had desk tops- All.

Focusing on something like this is a waste of time and effort and will drive you crazy.  Focus on the questions man, not whether the test center has florescent light or not.  Do not worry about the test center- you have enough to worry about- frickin Kaplan.

[Jeffort]

Do you work for Kaplan?  Has anyone taken the LSAT on a flip top desk?  Ever?  I have never seen a test center (regardless of whether I was taking it or not) that used flip top desks.  All had desk tops- All.

Focusing on something like this is a waste of time and effort and will drive you crazy.  Focus on the questions man, not whether the test center has florescent light or not.  Do not worry about the test center- you have enough to worry about- frickin Kaplan.

I've been insulted and accused of many things in the years I've been providing LSAT prep and law school advice on the discussion forums, but never before have I received such a bad insult as being accused of working for Kaplan.   

You are obviously new, relatively uniformed and inexperienced. 

Yes, people have had to take the LSAT on flip-up desks as well as on other crappy desks and also in test centers where the facilities were not great in ways that can and did impair the performance of some test takers.  Not all test centers provide equal testing conditions.

Doing a little research to select a good test center is not crazy.  It is a responsible and reasonable thing to do in order to help insure sure you don't face any conditions that might impair your performance on test day. 

You are giving bad advice bro.

[fortook]

Ok, first this is not personal.  I'm not trying to insult or offend you, we have a disagreement.  In most disagreements there is an inherent subjectiveness- which is just a way of saying there can be disagreements without one side being absolutely right or absolutely wrong.  Welcome to the world.

I am not giving bad advice- in any venture taken, there are details to focus on and details not to focus on, because otherwise the important aspects are neglected for lesser aspects or aspect where you have no control.  Focusing on something like this is a waste of effort due largely to the total amount of relevant details (like the actual format of the test, or logic games, or time).  I'm not saying the test center choice is unimportant independently, but in relation to everything else any test taker must focus on it is not worth focusing on- the vast likelihood is that the OP will have a test center with desktop- so much so that s/he should not address it. Incidentally, while power outages are possible, do not worry about individual power grids, the vast likelihood is that there will be lights in the room- do not worry about something that is consequential, but you really can't control.

Let me explain my point with an analogy: something like the brain eating amoeba is nasty and horrible to think about and yes people do die from it (there was a recent outbreak in LA), however the likelihood of being infected is so remote and the control one actually has is so small, that from a rational perspective focusing on defending yourself from the parasite is wasteful.  The same is true for being hit by an meteor or anything else where the control and risk outweigh the effort of what possibly can be done.

I'm not wrong, neither are you. We disagree on where and what merits time and effort in the face of overwhelming total aspects of the LSAT.  How far do you think we should take this- is it important (meaning how much can actually be controlled and how much effort is really applied) to worry about sunlight coming through the window and where (in a valley, etc.) to set up a test center?

Its basic a basic opportunity cost analysis: what are you giving up to focus on something as amorphous as this?