How Does the LSAT Test Measure Logical and Verbal Reasoning Skills?
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The First Step to Law School Admission
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The first step to being accepted to any law school is passing the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). It is the method law schools use to measure logical and verbal reasoning skills. Law school admissions offices take undergraduate grade point averages as well as LSAT scores into consideration when approving applications. Each law school determines how much weight to give LSAT scores and other criteria when accepting law students.
LSAT Test Measurement
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The LSAT exam is made up of five sections which take thirty-five minutes to complete. The format of the questions is multiple choice and an additional part of the LSAT is a writing sample. The actual writing sample is distributed to all the law schools applied to along with the LSAT scores. The scores achieved on the LSAT are indications of a person's ability to excel in law school. LSAT results helps law schools determine if the applicant has the ability to comprehend complex reading assignments, organize details and form logical conclusions.
The three major section of the LSAT exam are: Reading Comprehension, Analytical Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, and the Writing Sample.
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Measuring Verbal Reasoning Skills with LSAT
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The Reading Comprehension section of the LSAT requires the applicant to read the passages carefully. The questions require you to understand the text and draw certain conclusions from the reading. After reading the 450-word text, the multiple choice questions involve: the main theme, meanings of vocabulary in the passage, understanding the information given, the way the passage is organized, the idea that is being conveyed, and the author's tone and use of words. The multiple choice questions consist of easy questions where a large percentage of applicants get the answers correct, middle difficult questions where about half of the test takers will get the correct answer, and very difficult questions where a small group will get the correct answer.
The Comparative Reading section of the LSAT helps determine a person's ability to see the differences between text passages, how the passages relate to each other, and understanding the arguments presented in the text.
The way the applicant answers the variety of multiple choice questions in the Reading Comprehension section of the exam determines how LSAT measures verbal reasoning skills.
Measuring Logical Reasoning Skills
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The two sections of the LSAT that measure logical reasoning skills are the Analytical Reasoning and Logical Reasoning sections. These two sections measure how the applicants comprehend the organization of relationships, and how they make logical conclusions about the structure. The LSAT gives hypothetical conditions, and rules that describe situations between people, things, events, and places in the analytical section of the exam. The applicants have to solve the legal problems in the same way a law student would. Some questions will start with a certain assumption and the applicants have to decide what effect the assumption will have on the outcome.
The Logical Reasoning questions measure the applicants' ability to comprehend, analyze, and criticize different arguments. These are taken from news articles, editorials, speeches and passages from humanities and science. The LSAT measures logical reasoning skills by evaluating the way applicants recognize the arguments, forms logical conclusions from the information given, recognizes and uses principles and reasoning skills, and determines a resolution for the arguments.
Preparing for the LSAT Logical and Verbal Reasoning Skills
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It is a good idea to do preparatory testing for the LSAT. Familiarize yourself with the structure of the exam, the types of questions asked, the wording of the test directions, the techniques for taking the test, and answering questions.
Get a sample LSAT test and time yourself just as if you were actually taking the test. There are also books available that include sample tests, questions, and explanations of the correct answers. The better prepared you are, the more comfortable you will be on the day of the test. Keep in mind that this is the first step toward your law degree, preparation and studying exam questions is a must for success.
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Resources
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