LSAT
Law
School Admissions Test
Common
clues: Aspiring atty.'s exam;
Future atty.'s exam; Wannabe atty.'s challenge; Exam for a future
D.A.
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9 times a year
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The
Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) is a standardized test used for
admission to law schools in the United States of America and
Canada that are members of the Law School Admissions Council. It
is scored on a scale of 120 to 180, based on the nationwide
distribution of raw scores: a 180 represents the best score among
all the test-takers, while a 120 represents the worst and a 150
represents the national median. It is administered four times per
year, traditionally in February, June, October, and December.
Yale
Law School
Unlike
other American standardized tests, the LSAT is by far the most
important admissions criterion for law school. The second most
important criterion is undergraduate GPA. Most prestigious law
schools receive far more applicants than they can accommodate;
the examination offers admissions officers a simple and generally
effective way to eliminate a large number of applicants from the
pool. The "best" law schools (such as Harvard, Yale,
and Stanford) usually look for an LSAT score of 170 or above,
while top-50 law schools look for scores of 160 or above.
Also
unlike other standardized tests, the LSAT is very rarely
re-taken. This is because all of a student's LSAT scores are
reported to their law school, not just their highest or most
recent score. Most law schools consider all of an applicant's
LSAT scores in their admission decisions, although a few only
consider the highest or most recent score.
The
LSAT is usually taken in the June or October preceding the year
of admission, although most law schools will let applicants take
the examination in December as well.
The
test consists of six sections; with the exception of the writing
section, all are multiple choice.
Two
logical reasoning sections of 35 minutes each. Each question
begins with a logical statement (e.g. "A is B; therefore C
must be D"), and then asks the student to find unspoken
assumptions, alternative arguments, logical omissions, or logical
errors in the statement.
Sample
question:
When
pregnant lab rats are given caffeine equivalent to the amount a
human would consume by drinking six cups of coffee per day, an
increase in the incidence of birth defects results. When asked if
the government would require warning labels on products
containing caffeine, a spokesperson stated that it would not
because if the finding of these studies were to be refuted in the
future, the government would lose credibility.
Which
of the following is most strongly suggested by the government’s
statement above?
(A)
A warning that applies to a small population is inappropriate.
(B)
Very few people drink as many as six cups of coffee a day.
(C)
There are doubts about the conclusive nature of studies on
animals.
(D)
Studies on rats provide little data about human birth defects.
(E)
The seriousness of birth defects involving caffeine is not clear.
One
reading comprehension section of 35 minutes. Questions reference
brief written passages on a variety of topics, and primarily ask
the student to distinguish the author's intent, tone, and
strategy for writing.
One
analytical reasoning section of 35 minutes. This section presents
the student with a set of condition statements (e.g. "if Amy
is present, then Bob is not present; if Cathy is present, then
Dan is present..."), and then asks the student to derive
various conclusions from the statements (e.g. "How many
people are present?").
One
experimental section, which can be any of the above; it is not
scored, but merely used by the LSAT authorities to test new
questions for future tests.
One
writing sample, which is not scored but is provided to the law
school. There are two possible writing samples: A Decision prompt
and an Argument prompt. In the Decision prompt, the student is
given an argument as well as two positions, and then asked to
present an essay in favor of one position. In the Argument
prompt, the student is given an argument and then asked to
critique that argument. The time limit for either prompt is 35
minutes.
A
complete LSAT administration takes up to seven hours, although
only three and a half hours are needed for the test itself: the
remainder of the time is used for materials preparation, breaks,
and other tasks.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Law School Admissions Test".
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