With the countdown to the June LSAT now in the single digits, it’s time to have a serious conversation.

Not everyone reading this is prepared for the LSAT next week. Others will have a bad day (either because of illness or an RC passage on which you freeze up).

So we need to talk about what to do in these cases.

First, how do you know if you’re ready, and what should you do if you’re not?

To tell if you’re ready, look at your last 2-3 LSAT practice tests. Are they within 5 points of your target LSAT score? If so, you should most likely sit for the exam on LSAT test day. While it’s true that most people see a slight decline in their LSAT score on LSAT test day (trying to solve logic games while adrenaline is coursing through your veins is tough enough, but then you also have to fill in a bubble with slightly-shaking hands), it’s still worth taking if you’re in the ballpark and want to get an LSAT score on the record. You never know what’s going to happen in October, and if you end up missing that LSAT for some reason, you’ll want to have a June LSAT score to fall back on.

If you’re not close to your target LSAT score, then it’s time to withdraw from the June exam. Don’t just take the absence – it makes you look bad. Instead, call up LSAT (or sign into your LSAC account) before midnight the night before the exam (EST) and withdraw. Any sign that you ever were enrolled for the LSAT will be expunged from your record, and no law school will even know that you were supposed to take it.

There are two caveats here:

1) If your LSAT score has been steadily increasing over the past few PTs, and you think you’re still improving, you might want to consider riding out that trend until October. However, getting an LSAT score on your report that matches your target is still a good thing, even if you plan to retake it for a higher LSAT score in October.

2) If you absolutely will not be able to prep at the same level you have been, take the June LSAT. Plenty of people postpone, thinking that they’ll be so much more prepared in a few months. Then, they give themselves a week off. One week turns into two weeks, and then a month, and then October rolls around and they’re in the same boat (or a worse one) than before. Don’t let this be you.

So that takes care of those of you who aren’t prepared for the exam. What about those of you who have a bad day? Smelly, mouth-breathing kid sitting next to you? Band practice outside the LSAT testing center?

If you think you underperformed so badly (time was called and you were still on the first game) that you don’t even want to finish, you can cancel your LSAT on the spot. There’s an area on the score sheet that instructs you through the process. Fill it out, leave, probably drink quite a bit, and then start prepping for October.

If you sit through the entire LSAT, however, but feel bad afterwards, give it a few days. Watch our video here. Realize that almost everyone thinks they bombed the LSAT when they leave the testing center (hell, I almost canceled my test because of a bad experimental section).

Then, if you still think you should cancel, you have 6 calendar days from the date of the LSAT to do so.

You’ll have to do so in writing (since they need your signature; otherwise, your jerk roommates could play an unbelievably cruel practical joke on you), so a fax or overnight mailing is in your future. You can read the full LSAT score cancellation instructions here.

For those of you who are prepared and do have a good test day, however, expect LSAT scores to be released on July 6, at the latest. Scores are traditionally released via e-mail a few days early. So you’re done studying, but you have a whole new thing to obsess over! Remember, Gmail updates automatically – there’s no need to continually hit refresh.

Good luck next week, everyone!