The HELLNat

Ah, the Law National Admissions Test. Sounds rather, global, doesn't it? Well in fact, only 10 universities bother with the damn thing, and I certainly do not blame them.

I had the great displeasure of taking the blasted thing last Wednesday. The format seems quite innocent enough; 80 minutes to answer 30 multiple choice questions based upon 10 academic texts, and then a delightful 40 minute essay at the end to nicely round the two hours off. Oh, glee.

Just three minor problems:

One: The entire thing is on computer. No highlighters, standard 12pt Times New Roman font (which could of been made a bit bigger, at least), looking all prettyful in a scroll box. Oh, and the test center had those old fat screens, ya know, the ones that, after squinting your eyes trying to read whilst heavily focusing, make your eyes feel like they're bleeding.

Two: The texts/questions. Yes, I had a great deal of fun learning about the great criticisms of the pyramids. Sarcasm aside, some where actually interesting. Problem is, I don't particularly care about the writer's unstated assumption. Most likely because I have assumed the assumption myself in order to understand the text, therefore why would I need/want backtrack and figure out the assumption the writer assumed I would assume anyway? Simple. Because if I don't, I'm not going to Nottingham. My future basically rests on a little number between zero and thirty. 19, minimum.

And three: Typing. As a part of the y00f, I realize that I should be 'down with the technology' and computer lit. And I am. Heck I can touch type like nobody's business dawg. But why no spell-checker? I know the obvious answer is because 'they want to check your spelling and you shouldn't be lazy', but really, why? Most spelling errors, from one was competing for an LNat university, would probably be down to typos. And then, why on earth would an undergrad student even think about attempting to write an academic essay without a spell checker? Better still, I can safely say all the lawyers and barristers I saw on work experience were happily right clicking under the red line on the old Microsoft Word. So if it not done at university, and it's not done in the field, why assess how well I can type whilst worrying whether my tree-trunk fingers and furious typing are making me look like I have the spelling capabilities of a three year old.

But, as tests go, it was certainly challenging. My essay was, quite latterly, short and sweet. Emphasis on the former, hopeful wishes on the latter.

Either way, I'm beginning to think Lancaster is actually the University for me. It's an AAB offer with no LNat. Genius.

Hopefully I won't be waiting too long to hear my LNat Uni rejections post-November. Ah well. Easy come easy go.

It's just shame this easy go cost me £40....

xxx