COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — One of Emily Hughes’ first memories after entering law school at the University of Cincinnati in 2017 is an assistant dean scrawling “July 28-29, 2020” across a chalkboard.

“Does anyone know what these dates are?” he asked. One student hummed the graduation march. But, no. It was the date of the bar exam.

The educator advised students not to get married, have a baby or host a party during the three-month study period leading up to the test, said Hughes, 25.

“We have been planning around it for three years,” she said. “They tell us horror stories just to let us know how stressful and important this test is. And now it’s all very uncertain.”

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization that develops the exam — the National Conference of Bar Examiners — has raised the possibility that the July test may not be offered because it requires hundreds of students and monitors to gather in a single location, potentially spreading the virus. But the conference doesn’t plan to decide until May 5, leaving some 46,000 law students in limbo.

Some have pushed for a decision sooner.

“It’s offered only twice a year, in a huge convention hall, so it creates a perfect storm for what the virus is able to do,” said Ohio State University law professor Deborah Jones Merritt.