The LSAT, the Necessary Step for Entering Law School

Becoming a successful law school student requires specific skills, including excellent logical and verbal reasoning proficiency. The Law School Admission Council (LASC) is the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) administrator, making sure that prospective law students will have successful educational years ahead of them.

Understandably, entering a new educational institution like a college or university is stressful and has its own challenges. Becoming an aspiring law student at a promising institution may seem like a far-fetched dream. Still, you can hopefully obtain your desired law school admission with a proper plan and perseverance. The first step is to complete your knowledge of the LSAT. When you do this test inside-out, it will be easier to develop a plan.

So read the following article to learn everything you need to know about the LSAT. Radviser is going to cover every detail for you. 

What Is the LSAT?

The LSAT is a standardized test that evaluates prospective candidates based on their knowledge and skills in reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, logical reasoning, and writing. This test is the only acceptable test for entering any of the 203 law schools around the United States and Melbourne University, having a deciding credential in assessing the prospective students’ qualifications. More institutions in Australia, Canada, and other countries are starting to adopt the LSAT as a part of their admission process every day. Hence, the importance of this exam is not a secret.

The LSAT consists of 2 parts. The first part consists of 4 sections of Multiple-Choice questions. The second part is an unscored LSAT Writing sample. Although the unscored writing section will not be included in your final score, your answers will still be sent to law schools. Therefore, it is effective in your overall evaluation.

The time duration for answering each section is 35 minutes, making the total time of 175 minutes. The candidates can take a break between the third and fourth sections, raising the test duration to 190 minutes.

Multiple-Choice LSAT Questions

The multiple-choice part of the LSAT covers three scored sections and one unscored section, which allows LASC to validate new test questions for future use. The unscored section can be any one of the question types — Reading Comprehension, Analytical Reasoning, or Logical Reasoning — and can occur at any point in the test. Because of this reason, you have no other option but to answer all of the questions.

1. Reading Comprehension Section

Reading Comprehension questions measure your ability to read and understand examples of long-form, complex materials that are similar to those that you’ll encounter in law school.

2. Analytical Reasoning Section

Analytical Reasoning questions measure your ability to understand a structure of relationships and draw conclusions about that structure.

3. Logical Reasoning Section

Logical Reasoning questions assess your ability to analyze, critically evaluate, and complete arguments.

LSAT Writing

LSAT Writing is separately administered online. You can take LSAT Writing at your convenience, as early as 8 days before the date of your multiple-choice test. LSAT Writing will continue to be administered remotely for all test takers. The LSAT Writing section presents a decision problem, and you will be asked to choose between two positions or courses of action and defend your choice. In other words, it provides you with two scenarios to make your argument. There are no “right” or “wrong” positions; the writing sample is designed to let you demonstrate your persuasive writing skills. Law schools will examine the reasoning, clarity, organization, language usage, and writing mechanics you make in your sample. Copies of your writing sample are sent to all schools you apply to.

The Importance of the LSAT Score

Being the most revealing advocate of your suitability as a prospective law student, the LSAT score can make you succeed in walking out of the admission process with triumph. This does not actively demonstrate that you will be disqualified from ever entering a law school with a minimum score. However, promising law schools have a specific ideal score range as their ultimate measuring tool for selection. That is why it would be excellent if you learn about the desirable LSAT score in your preferred law schools for two reasons:

• First, it will assist you in pinpointing a better study plan.

You need to realize where you are now and how much you know. Then set the desirable LSAT score and the material you need to learn to achieve that score as your target destination. Develop the best strategies and schedules and include them in your study plan to help you get from your starting point to the target.

•   Second, it will assist you in applying for the right institution.

After receiving your LSAT score, you will have a pretty good idea about the institutions that you may get accepted to as a student. This will decrease the chance of getting constantly rejected because you have picked the law schools realistically based on your LSAT scores.

Just to give you an idea, the majority of students accepted in the top 20 law schools received 160 or higher on their test. You may need to receive 155 and above to be accepted in the top 40 schools.

The LSAT Exam Preparation

As mentioned, you will need a suitable study plan to help you navigate your studies. This study plan doesn’t need to be ironclad and can be changed along the way according to your needs. It is essential to stick with your plan and stay motivated. This is a very challenging thing to do, especially for students handling part-time jobs or college. But keep remembering your dream and stay on the side of motivation and hard work.

Gather as many resources as you can. Don’t forget to ask one or a few law students or experts to advise what to read and what resources to use. After all, you can use their experience for free. Some programs offer budget-friendly suggestions with considerable discounts so it would help you a lot to search for them.

The next step is to commit to practicing and studying. With constant practice, you will pick up the necessary knowledge and skills to make an argument. If you want to become a law student and become a lawyer one day, you need to treat your study material as a matter of life and death. The case patterns will come to you and make studying much easier.

The LSAT Attempt Restriction and Fee

In the exam rules, one year is considered from June to May. Candidates can take the exam only 3 times in one year, 5 times in 5 years, and 7 times in total. The registration fee is US$200. In addition, US, Canadian, and Australian candidates with financial limitations can apply for a specific program that may help them take the test at a lower price twice in two years.

You can visit the LSAC website for more information on the LSAT test and exam dates. To know more about the process you can keep up with our updated Library!