About the LSAT

What is the LSAT?

The LSAT (Law School Admission Test) is a standardized test required for admission to most American Bar Association approved law schools. According to Law Services, the producers of the test, the LSAT is designed “to measure skills that are considered essential for success in law school: the reading and comprehension of complete texts with accuracy and insight; the organization and management of information and the ability to draw reasonable inferences from it; the ability to reason critically; and the analysis and evaluation of the reasoning and argument of others.” The LSAT consists of the following four sections:

• 1 Section of Logical Reasoning (short arguments, 24-26 total questions)
• 1 Section of Reading Comprehension (3 long reading passages, plus one set of short Comparative Reading passages)
• 1 Section of Analytical Reasoning (4 logic games, 22-24 total questions)
• 1 Experimental Section of one of the above three section types

You are given 35 minutes to complete each section. The experimental section is unscored and is not returned to the test taker. A break of 10 minutes is given after the second section.

Although it is no longer administered on test day, students are still required to submit a timed writing sample as part of the LSAT. This is mandatory and must be completed within a year of taking the test. Students are assigned a Decision Prompt Writing Sample Topic, which follows the following scenario: a choice between two options is introduced, two criteria to be considered in making the decision are stated, and then the two possible courses of action are detailed. The writing sample is not scored, but a copy is sent to all the law schools to which a student applies. Only one LSAT writing sample is required, so students do not need to submit a second (or third) sample if they already have one on file.