LSAT SCORE

LSAT LOGIC GAME

Scoring on the LSAT

You will receive one overall score for the LSAT, ranging from 120 to 180. There are no separate scores for the individual multiple choice sections.

In addition, Law Services also reports a "score band" - a range of scaled scores above and below your score, indicating a "true score" at a reasonable level of confidence. Finally, you will also receive a percentile score, ranking your performance relative to the scores of a large sample population of other LSAT takers.

Score Bands

The LSAT, like all tests, has some measurement error associated with it. Law Services now reports "score bands" to remind everyone not to treat test scores as precise values. They are meant to caution users of test scores (i.e. admissions officers) against treating small score differences as reflecting "true" differences in test taker skills or abilities.

A score band is a range of scaled scores above and below the score reported for a particular test in which a test taker's true score is represented at a reasonable level of confidence.

The size of the band for most LSAT scores will be about 7 scaled-score points (plus and minus three from the actual score), at a 68% level of confidence. That means that a test taker's true score will fall within the reported score band approximately two out of three times. For instance, we are 68% certain that the true score of someone who gets a 150 is between a 147 and a 153.

Please note, however, that the average of multiple scores will produce smaller score bands. Consequently, each additional test an individual takes yields more information, thereby diminishing the measurement error associated with the average score.

Average Score = 150

Band for Average Score = 149-151

Percentile Rank

Law schools use percentile rank to determine where your score places you in comparison to your competition. More than 50% of test takers receive scores between 145 and 159, representing less than 1/4 of the possible scaled scores. Scoring 160 or above, therefore, would put you in an elite group.

The difference between the 50th and 75th percentiles is about three extra questions right per section. Essentially, that's the difference between being barely competitive at any law school and being squarely in the running for dozens of excellent programs.

The difference between the 90th and 95th percentiles is less than two additional correct answers per section - the difference between being marginally competitive at a Top 20 law school and being a front runner.

Snapshot: LSAT

The LSAT is, among other things, an endurance test. It consists of 175 minutes of multiple-choice testing, plus a thirty-minute writing sample. Add in the administrative details at both ends of the testing experience, plus a break of ten to fifteen minutes midway through, and you can count on being in the test room for at least four and a half to five hours.

The Breakdown

The LSAT consists of five multiple choice sections:

• 2 Logical Reasoning
• 1 Logic Games
• 1 Reading Comprehension
• 1 Experimental Section

In addition, there is a Writing Sample section in which you'll have to compose a short essay.

Logical Reasoning

Logical reasoning questions evaluate your ability to understand, analyze, criticize, and complete arguments. The arguments are contained in short passages taken from a variety of sources, including letters to the editor, speeches, advertisements, newspaper articles and editorials, informal discussions and conversations, as well as articles in the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences.

Each logical reasoning question requires you to read and comprehend the argument of the reasoning contained in the passage and to answer one or two questions about it.

Logic Games

Logic games are designed to measure your ability to understand a structure of relationships and to draw conclusions about the structure. You will be asked to make deductions from a set of statements, rules, or conditions that describe relationships among entities such as persons, places, things, or events. These questions simulate the kinds of detailed analyses of relationships that law students must perform in solving legal problems.

Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension questions measure you ability to read examples of lengthy and complex materials with understanding and insight. These questions require you to read carefully and accurately to determine the relationships among the various parts of the passage and to draw reasonable inferences from the material in the passage.

This section contains four passages, each approximately 450 words long, followed by 5-8 questions that test your reading and reasoning abilities. Passages are drawn from a variety of subjects, including the humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, ethics, philosophy, and the law.

Writing Sample

You will be given thirty minutes to complete a brief writing exercise. Although this exercise is not scored, it is used by law school admissions officers to assess your writing skill. Read the topic carefully and spend a few minutes considering it and organizing your thoughts before you begin writing.

There is no right or wrong position on the writing sample topic. Law schools are primarily interested in how skillfully you support the position you take and how clearly you express that position. No special knowledge is required or expected.

Experimental Section

The experimental section allows Law Services to test questions for use on future tests. This unscored section will probably look exactly like one of the others; so don't waste time trying to figure out which section is experimental. Just do as well as you can on every section, and you're covered..