The LSAT is the law school admission test. It is administered by the law school admission Council, which is a not-for-profit organization that provides products and services to candidates and law school. For the law school admission process, the LSAT score is on a range of 120 to 180. The median score is around a 152. How many sections are there? There are four sections to the LSAT. How long are they? How many questions are there? Each section is 35 minutes and so there are three types of questions. Reading comprehension, analytical reasoning and logical reasoning. 

So one of the sections, which can be any type of question, is ungraded. It's an experimental section that the law school admission Council uses to develop future questions. Three of the sections are graded and those three sections, the score is basically computed. You get a raw score from the number of questions you get right in those sections, and it doesn't matter which section. It's the total number of questions that you get right that matters. So that's a candidate's raw score and then the law school admission Council takes that score and converts it to the LSAT score so that they can compare scores across administrations. 

There is another component of the the LSAT which is called LSAT writing. It's also 35 minutes long and it's taken on a candidate's own computer using secure proctoring software. For the LSAT writing a candidate is given a prompt and then they need to write a persuasive essay. The LSAT writing is not graded, but it goes into the candidates LSAT report and is sent to law school admissions committees who then have that writing sample to use as part of their admissions determination. The LSAT writing must be completed before a candidate can access their LSAT score report or have their score report sent to a law school admissions committee. 

The law school admission Council makes free practice tests available on their website. Some candidates have also found it helpful to work with a private company. Some companies offer test prep courses either, live or self-guided studies. One important thing to keep in mind about the LSAT, is it doesn't test substantive knowledge, it tests the skills that are necessary to succeed in the first year of law school. So a great way to develop these skills is through taking courses through the management department's pre-law option. 

One thing to keep in mind is admissions committees use a holistic process to evaluate candidates including the LSAT score, but also other factors such as undergraduate GPA, personal statement, letters of recommendation, the LSAT writing sample, and other factors. If any students have questions about the process, please feel free to reach out to myself or any of the legal studies faculty. We would love to meet with you and answer any questions you may have.