The LSAT (Law School Admission Test) is a standardized test used for law school admissions. It assesses your ability to think critically, reason logically, and make deductions – all of which are necessary for success in law school.
Basics and test structure
The LSAT is a multiple-choice exam that assesses your readiness for law school by asking you to read critically, reason logically, and think analytically. It is the only test that all ABA-accredited law schools in the United States and Canada accept although some schools accept GRE scores instead of an LSAT score. A good LSAT score is widely regarded as the most critical component of a law school application and the best predictor of future law school success.
The LSAT has two sections. The first section has several 35-minute sections of multiple-choice questions. The LSAT uses three questions to assess your critical reading, verbal reasoning, and analytical thinking abilities.
Two sections of Logical Reasoning assess your ability to analyze and evaluate arguments.
Not only do you need to determine whether an argument is strong or weak, but you must also understand what causes that strength or weakness.
The Analytical Reasoning section, also known as “Logic Games,” evaluates your basic logic skills, such as deductive reasoning and finding structure within organized data.
The Reading Comprehension section examines your ability to identify main ideas and details, draw inferences, and extrapolate from scholarly passages.
The experimental section of the LSAT test will look like any other section his experimental section tests new test items for future use and can appear during the test.
The 30-minute Writing Sample, which follows the test, assesses your ability to argue one position over another. This essay is not graded, but the essay is sent to law schools to help with admissions.
Change in the test pattern
Each category currently has one scored section. This is a significant change from the test’s pre-pandemic structure, which included five sections in total and two scored sections of Logical Reasoning. Because of the high demand for remote proctors, LSAT-Flex exams were shorter than traditional LSATs. The test will no longer be known as the LSAT-Flex as of August 2021, but it will be available remotely until June 2022. To ensure fairness, LSATs will only have three scored sections (until at least 2023).
Test duration
You will have 35 minutes to complete each of the LSAT’s multiple-choice sections.
If you are taking the LSAT-Flex, you must complete all three sections in order. If you take the exam in-person (before or after August 20, 2021), you will have a short break after the second section. You will have 35 minutes to complete the LSAT Writing section regardless of how you take the scored portion of the LSAT. You’ll have to make a separate appointment for the writing section and take it from home.
LSAT Scores and Percentiles
The number of questions you correctly answer (your “raw score”) corresponds to a number on that 120-180 scale.
For each correct answer, you receive one raw point. There are no penalties for incorrect answers, and no question is more weighted than the others. After your raw score is converted to a scaled score, it is situated within a range called a “score band” that is reported to law schools along with your actual score. You’ll look at your scaled score’s percentile rankings to see how it compares to those of your fellow test-takers. The percentile ranking indicates the percentage of your peers that you outperformed with your score.
So, if you got a 161, you scored in the 80th percentile, beating out the scores of 80% of test-takers.
Deciding on a target score
The average admission scores for the programs to which you are applying are the more important numbers to consider. Examine admissions statistics and incoming class profiles to learn more about where you stand compared to other applicants. If your GPA is below the median or at the median of the entering class at a school, you might want to retake the exam. You should aim for an LSAT score above the median for the best chance of admission. If your GPA is higher than the median of a school’s entering class, you should be able to apply.
Test preparation strategies
Try to spend 10-20 hours per week on preparation during those three months. It is not uncommon for students seeking a significant score increase to prepare for the LSAT for six months or more because there is much to learn. Adopt a study method that fits your learning style. Take mock tests to get a baseline score. This helps you to understand your strengths and weaknesses. If you feel a tutor will help you with your weak areas, you should find a tutoring program. Tutors help create personalized study experiences and test-taking strategies.
Regardless of how you prepare, some one-on-one time with an expert can go a long way,
so working with a coach or tutor is always a good option.
At Miles Smart Tutoring, we provide classes for LSAT prep that help review essential concepts from the exam point of view
Impart test-taking strategies to help students excel even when they don’t know the answer. While we employ a variety of methods and techniques, our LSAT tutors emphasize the Socratic method as it helps students think through the logic of each question to find answers. This teaching method has benefits as it carries over to future classes and helps develop self-reliance for students. These strategies will also have a significant carry-over to all other tests and job interviews.