While most students on campus are concerned about how the early kickoff time for the Kentucky football game will affect their tailgating schedules this weekend, law school hopefuls are more concerned about how the game will affect their futures.
The Law School Admission Test, commonly known as the LSAT, will be administered on campus this Saturday at 8:30 a.m. in Himes Hall. The students are slated to still be testing long after the game begins at 11:20 a.m.
Test takers were sent an e-mail warning them about the “circus-like atmosphere on campus,” according to Cassandra Rideau, a Kaplan representative and agriculture business finance senior who is taking the exam on campus Saturday.
The e-mail directed students to arrive on campus extra early to avoid traffic and parking concerns. According to the e-mail, the test will now be administered in the basement and second floors to avoid noise disturbances.
The LSAT exam, which is required to apply to nearly all law schools in the country, is offered four times a year, and students are allowed to take it three times within a two-year time frame.
Saturday’s test date is popular among students because law school applications are normally submitted in the fall semester, said Deborah Williams, a campus representative for Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions Center.
“They are only offered four times a year, so this is a big deal,” Williams said. “This [test date] is a popular one.”
Students can switch testing centers, but it costs $30 to make the change, Rideau said.
Southern University is the only other center in the Baton Rouge area. The test is also being administered at Southeastern Louisiana University, the University of Louisiana Lafayette, Louisiana Technical College and other universities around the state.
A.J. Million, sports administration senior, will also be taking the test on campus Saturday. He said he is disappointed that the football game will interfere with the test time.
“I was planning on taking the test and then heading straight to the tailgate, that’s why I scheduled to take the test on campus,” Million said. “I’m disappointed that I have to miss a home game during my senior year. Plus, it’s going to be hard to focus when I know I could be doing other things with the rest of the [93,000] fans in Tiger Stadium.”
Samantha Goates, history senior, decided to take the test at Southern University to avoid distractions.
“I’m not all that upset about it,” Goates said. “I realize that the early kickoff was out of LSU’s hands, but I had decided to take it at Southern long ago. I didn’t want to have to deal with the extra-loud tailgaters. We obviously know going in that even several hours before the game isn’t exactly prime concentration time anyway. It’s unfortunate for the people that are taking it here on campus, but you could see it also was fairly avoidable with the other testing centers around town.”
 
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Contact Laura Furr at [email protected].