Law School Admission Test (LSAT)

The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is a standardized exam used in the United States, Canada, and a number of other countries to evaluate the skills of individuals seeking admission to law school. The specific skills evaluated include critical thinking, reading comprehension, and logical and analytical reasoning. LSAT scores range from 120 to 180, and an applicant’s score often plays a key role in his or her acceptance into a law program. The LSAT is administered by the nonprofit Law School Admission Council (LSAC), which was founded in 1947 to standardize and streamline the law school admission process.

Overview

Prior to 1947, the law school admission process varied greatly among different law schools. Standardized aptitude tests were used by institutions such as Yale University, but such tests remained relatively uncommon. As more Americans sought higher education in the years following World War II, however, law school administrators quickly recognized the need to create a standardized admission test. In the summer and fall of 1947, representatives from various law schools met with members of the College Board to discuss the proposed test, eventually forming the organization that would become the LSAC. The LSAC administered the first LSAT in 1948, and by 1950, a total of 6,750 such tests had been administered.

The format of the LSAT has been revised on numerous occasions since the test’s introduction. As of 2015, the test comprises one written section and five sections of multiple-choice questions. The written section consists of a prompt that requires test takers to choose one of two points or opinions and write a persuasive essay arguing in favor of that point and against the other. This section does not affect the final test score; however, the writing sample is sent to the institutions to which the prospective law student applies. Of the multiple-choice sections, four are scored, while the fifth is an unscored experimental section frequently used to test potential questions for future versions of the LSAT. The test does not state which section is the experimental section, and as such, the LSAC advises test takers to complete each section as if it will be scored. Thirty-five minutes are allotted for each section of the test, and the test day as a whole may take up to seven hours. Tests are administered four times each testing year, in June, September or October, December, and February.

The LSATs are scored by machine, although a test taker may petition to have the test rescored by hand if he or she believes the original score to be incorrect. The raw score received is then converted to a score on the LSAT scale, ranging from 120 to 180. According to the LSAC, the mean score among test takers in all countries for the 2011–12 testing year was 150.66. The extent to which an applicant’s LSAT score affects his or her likelihood of being accepted into law school varies based on the institution in question and the applicant’s background, and some law schools have considered waiving LSAT requirements for applicants whose undergraduate grade point averages are above a certain threshold. A number have applied and successfully received dispensation for certain students.

In a heavily debated move, the American Bar Association (ABA) made a change to its rules concerning the LSAT and law school accreditation in August 2014. According to the new policy, law schools can now fill up to 10 percent of their class with students who have not taken the standardized test. However, this new policy comes with certain conditions. The students accepted without LSAT scores need to be at the top of their class and have received high scores on the SAT, the American College Testing, the Graduate Record Examinations, or the Graduate Management Admission Test. By February 2015, two schools, the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School and the University of Iowa College of Law, announced that they would begin taking advantage of this change. Critics of the ABA's decision have pointed to the mounting pressure that law schools have been facing to boost their enrollment numbers. According to the ABA, enrollment numbers have decreased by 17.5 percent since 2010. Supporters, on the other hand, argue that the LSAT is not necessarily a good indicator of how well a student will perform during law school or in a future law career.

Bibliography

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