When's the best time to take the LSAT?

Junior or senior year. While you go for the JD, combine the degree with something more practical like getting your teaching credential or earning a masters in a technical field (i.e. computer science, biochemistry, etc.). A law degree only makes sense if you have connections to get a job. Otherwise it is a useless degree.

Congrats to you on thinking ahead! Most people leave it to the last minute, so you are already ahead of the game.

The optimal time to take the LSAT is between your junior year and senior year, so you have about two years before the test, and about one and a half years before you will need to start putting in more serious study time. Here's how I would broadly lay it out over the next few years:

1. First, take a look at a real LSAT to get a sense of what is on the test. That will get you thinking about what skills are needed and what areas you need to improve upon. Maybe go to http://lsac.org/jd/lsat/lsat-prep-materials and download the free June 2007 practice LSAT and take it as a timed test. Don't worry about your score, just use that test to get a sense of what the exam is all about. And don't take a bunch of tests at this point, just this one to get a baseline score.

2. You may want to think about adding a logic class to your class schedule sometime in the next year. The LSAT relies on a lot of basic principles of logic, and they are typically taught in certain philosophy courses (not surprisingly, philosophy majors as a group have one of the highest average LSAT scores). A basic logic class can help, but it is by no means necessary, so only do this if it is something that interests you.

3. The LSAT features a lot of dense passages and difficult reading, so start including those types of materials in your reading now--good readers have a significant advantage on the LSAT, and in law school. Good places for that type of reading include the Editorial or Opinion pages of any major US Daily newspaper, such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, or the LA Times, and magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, and Scientific American.

4. Aside from the steps above, for the next year you really shouldn't think too much about the LSAT--overstudying is a danger, and I've seen people get burned out on the test when they try to study for more than a year (don't laugh--it happens!). If you want to glance at some LSAT prep books now, I'm partial to the LSAT Bibles--I used them when I took the LSAT.

5. About 5-6 months out from your test date, start prepping for the test by immersing yourself in LSAT material. For the first several months, you can easily stick to using just prep books, and then when you hit the 3-4 month mark from your test date, you can make further decision about how you are studying, such as whether you need to take a course, or get a tutor, etc. There is really no one "best" way to prepare--it depends on the person for what will work best for them. At that point, where you are scoring and how much more you need to improve will have a big impact on the decisions you make, and you don't need to worry about making a prep decision right now.

You've already made the best possible decision by thinking about this early (the LSAT is not a test than can be crammed for, so the more time you have, the better). So, take your time and ask a lot of questions. Good luck!