- The LSAT is administered four times a year by the Law School Admission Council. Test dates typically fall in June, September or October, December, and February. It is advised that college students hoping to gain admittance to law school during the following school year should take the LSAT by December, with the September/October exam session being the most popular.
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There are five different 35-minute sections of multiple choice questions on the LSAT. A 35-minute writing portion comprises the final part of the LSAT. One of the multiple choice questions is an unscored section simply used to try out future test questions, though test takers are not made aware which of the sections is the experimental one.
The five multiple choice sections of the LSAT are made up of three different types of questions, including reading comprehension questions, analytical reasoning questions and logical reasoning questions. Typically the writing portion of the LSAT is a decision prompt. -
The reading comprehension question format on the LSAT usually consists of four reading passages, each followed by five to eight questions covering reading and reasoning ability. Typically each reading passage is between 400-500 words in length and discusses law, arts and humanities, physical sciences, or social sciences.
In the analytical reasoning questions on the LSAT the test taker is asked to use their skills at understanding relationships and then draw logical conclusions about them. These questions usually require the test taker to make deductions about people, places, or things according to certain statements or rules given in the question.
The logical reasoning section of the LSAT includes short passages, each followed by one question that requires the test taker to comprehend the argument in the passage, analyze it, criticize it, or to complete the argument.
In the writing portion of the LSAT a decision prompt is given, followed by two different options for making the decision. The test taker must choose one of the options and defend it over the other. -
The LSAT is designed to measure a set of skills considered essential for success in law school. These skills include the ability to read and fully understand difficult, detailed passages, the ability to manage and order sets of information and to draw conclusions from them, advanced critical thinking capabilities, and the ability to understand, analyze, and criticize arguments.
LSAT scores range from a low of 120 to a high of 180, with the median score of 151. The essay portion is not included in this score, as that section is sent directly to the admissions office of the law school choices provided by the test taker.
Most law school admissions offices consider the LSAT score and the undergraduate GPA of each applicant to be the two most deciding factors in deciding whether they will accept or reject the applicant. Typically these admissions offices use a formula to combine the LSAT score with the GPA according to different criteria in order to come up with a statistic for the probable success each applicant will have in law school. They then use this statistic to accept or deny prospective law school students. - Some type of tutoring or studying for the LSAT exam is highly recommended by the LSAC. Oftentimes full-length classroom courses to prepare students for the LSAT are given at undergraduate universities, while private tutoring and study guides are also readily available for LSAT preparation.
