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Law School Admission Test

The Law School Admission Test is an examination administered by the LSAC, intended to provide law schools in the United States and Canada with "a standard measure of acquired reading and verbal reasoning skills that law schools can use as one of several factors in assessing applicants".

The LSAT is a graduate access examination which is necessary from students who want to get into a law school. The purpose of the LSAT is to differentiate among them.

The LSAT measures the skill to read and comprehend difficult texts, manage and organize information, and process information to obtain conclusions. In addition to the required reasoning abilities, the LSAT measures the examinee's speed, accuracy and skill at planning, discipline, and mechanics.

The test is administered four times a year at hundreds of locations around the world, usually in February, June, October, and December (however, this may vary).

The Law School Admission Test is a 101-question, multiple-choice, skill based test which evaluates the reading and verbal reasoning skills of applicants for law school. The LSAT test is for 4hours-25 minutes. The fee to take the LSAT is $123.

Test description

The LSAT is composed of five 35-minute multiple-choice sections and one 30-minute essay. Various different test forms are used for each exam, each presenting the multiple choice sections in a different order; this is intended to make cheating more difficult. It consists of:

Logical reasoning
This includes two 35 minute sections, each containing 24-26 multiple-choice questions focusing on analyzing and evaluating “arguments”.

In its official LSAT Superprep, the LSAC scores questions on a difficulty range from 1-5. Most logical reasoning sections have 2 or 3 level 5 questions. Questions in the section are generally arranged in order of difficulty, with some exceptions.

Analytical reasoning
Informally known as the "logic games" section. This includes one 35 minute section with 24 multiple-choice questions focusing on logic games, basic logic and skill to make logical connections and conclusions. Each test's segment contains four different "games". The material usually includes grouping, matching, and ordering of elements.

Reading Comprehension
this includes one 35 minute section with 26 multiple-choice questions focusing on how well applicants' understood the given passage generally taken from the humanities, the social sciences, philosophy, and others.

Experimental Section
Each exam includes one experimental section, used to test new questions for future exams; this includes one 35 minute section with 26-28 multiple-choice questions focusing on arguments, logic games, or reading comprehension. The score in this section does not count towards the final score. The student does not know which section is experimental. Examinees can determine which type of section was unscored as soon as they run into an additional section of a given question type.

Writing Section
This includes a 30 minute essay section focusing on applicants' writing and presentation skill, taking a stand on an issue and ability to argue a position. The writing is all the time the final section of the test.

LSAT Scoring

The LSAT is scored on a scale of 120 to 180 points, with an average score of 150.
Examinees have the option of cancelling their score within six calendar days of the exam (well before they learn their score.) LSAC still reports to law schools that the student registered for and took the exam, but releases no score. Score reports will however reflect that scores were cancelled at aspirant request.