The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is unlike any other exam you have taken in your academic career. The LSAT Exam is skills-based and designed to assess critical reading and analytical thinking skills that are crucial to success in law school.
Before you begin your preparation for the LSAT, it is important that you familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of the exam so that you can be prepared for what is included in the LSAT. First, let’s take a look at the different sections of the LSAT.
LSAT Exam sections
1. Logical reasoning (2 sections) – 35 minutes each- – 24-26 questions each
2. Logic Games – 35 min – 22-24 questions
3. Reading comprehension – 35 min – 26-28 questions
4. Experimental section – 35 min – 22-28 questions
5. Writing sample – 35 min – 1 trial
What is a good LSAT score?
What LSAT score do you need? When considering an LSAT score goal, it is always wise to look at the mean scores of the schools to which you apply.
To begin with, however, here are the basics you may need to know about your LSAT score:
The LSAT is scored on a scale of 120-180. The average LSAT score is 151. This relatively small range of scores means that small improvements in performance can boost your score quite a bit. Use these tips for the LSAT to get a good score.
It also means that small improvements in your score can make a big difference to your percentile ranking (sometimes a one-point increase in your score can increase your percentile ranking by as much as 5 points).
How long does the LSAT Exam last?
The LSAT is divided into six sections, each section is 35 minutes in length with a 15-minute break after the third section.
This adds up to 210 minutes of LSAT test time, or 3 hours and 30 minutes, excluding the break.
For the Fall, December, and February administrations of the LSAT, the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) requires that you arrive at the test center no later than 8:30 a.m. M.
For the June LSAT, the reporting time is 12:30 p.m. M.
This means that part of your preparation for the LSAT should include eating a healthy and filling breakfast on the day of the LSAT test, packing a snack and a bottle of water that you can drink during recess, and planning how to get to the test center so that you can do it easily.
What will you find in the LSAT Exam?
What kinds of questions can you expect in each of the six sections of the LSAT? Let’s take a quick look at each individual section of the LSAT.
Two logical reasoning sections, worth 50% of your total score, test your ability to analyze and evaluate arguments.
1. Logical reasoning requires you to read short passages and answer a question about each one. This is the section that counts the most towards your score: almost 50%.
2. Reading Comprehension, which is worth 27% of your total score, is a section of the LSAT that you are probably familiar with on previous standardized tests.
It tests your ability to make sense of unfamiliar, dense prose, but unlike other standardized tests, on the LSAT you must understand the structure, purpose, and various points of view of passages, rather than the facts.
In the LSAT Exam, you will see four passages, each with a set of 5 to 8 questions to answer. One of the passages will be “paired passages” with questions that will ask you to compare and contrast the passages.
This is the section in which preparers usually have the most difficulty improving.
3. Logic games, which make up 23% of your total score, test you on basic logic, order and result systems, or, in simpler terms, analytical reasoning.
You will be asked to make deductions from a set of statements, rules, or conditions. These questions are posed in sets based on a single passage.
This is the section that many preparers are most intimidated by at first and often find the most challenging due to their unfamiliarity.
4. The LSAT Experimental Section is a wild card. Used by the test manufacturer to see how the questions will perform on future LSAT exams, it is not scored and will look exactly like one of the other sections.
In other words, don’t waste testing time trying to identify it.
5. While the LSAT writing section is not scored, it is sent to law schools along with your LSAT score and can be used to choose from relatively equal candidates, so it is still very important.
Your writing sample is most often used as a comparison tool to confirm your personal statement.
Well, there you have it, the keys to pass the LSAT exam. If you have any comments about this, feel free to leave them in the space provided below.
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