Law School Admission Test (LSAT)

What is LSAT?

The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is a standardized test required for admission to law schools. It is administered by the Law School Admission Council. Test takers can attempt the test either at home with a live, remote proctor, or in person at a Prometric digital testing center.

It tests the reading comprehension, logical reasoning, and analytical reasoning of the candidates.

Where is the LSAT used?

LSAT is used for law school admissions in

• United States of America for Juris Doctor programs
• Canada for Common Law programs
• Australia for admission to the University of Melbourne
• In India, the Law School Admission Test India (LSAT India) is used by a few private colleges as a part of their admission process for Law programs.

LSAT India is available only in the online remote-proctored mode. The Law School Admission Test India (LSAT India) dates are available in January 2024 and May 2024.

Important Dates for the LSAT Exam

The upcoming LSAT Exam dates are

For the testing year 2023-2024

• April 2024
• June 2024

For the testing year 2024-2025

• October 2024
• September 2024
• November 2024
• January 2025
• February 2025
• April 2025
• June 2025

Law School Admission Test India (LSAT India) Dates

The Law School Admission Test India (LSAT India) dates for 2024 are:

• January 20 to January 21
• May 16 to May 19

LSAT Paper Pattern

The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) consists of four sections. Each section has multiple-choice answer-type questions. The time duration of each section is 35 minutes.

One out of the four sections is unscored and is used for experimental purposes to prepare questions for future LSAT exams. The test takers are not told which section is the unscored section.

There is a 10-minute break given between the second and the third sections.

The sections are (not in order):

• Reading Comprehension
• Analytical Reasoning
• Logical Reasoning
• Unscored Section (Can be Reading Comprehension, Analytical Reasoning, Logical Reasoning)
• LSAT Writing

Detailed Sectional Analysis

1. Reading Comprehension
   • The Reading Comprehension section of the LSAT tests the applicant’s ability to understand complex tests and draw insights and inferences from lengthy materials.
   • This section contains four passages, each 400-500 words long, and each of which is followed by five to eight questions. The reading passages use high-level vocabulary, are densely written, and contain arguments or complex rhetorical structures (multiple points of view).
   • Three out of the four sets consist of a single passage. The other set consists of two related shorter reading passages, called Comparative Reading.
   • The Comparative Reading questions test the applicant’s ability to understand the relationship between the passages. These passages can be related to generalization/instance, point/counterpoint, and principle/application type.
   • Reading passages can be from any subject, for example, social sciences, humanities, physical and biological sciences, and law.
2. Analytical Reasoning
   • The Analytical Reasoning section of the LSAT exam contains four “logic games”. These include grouping, matching, and ordering of elements.
   • Each game includes a premise in the beginning and is followed by a set of rules to be taken into consideration while solving the set.
   • Individual questions related to the game might modify the initial rules, hence quick reorganization by test takers is required.
   • This section contains 22-24 questions in total.
   • From August 2024, the Analytical Reasoning section will be replaced by another Logical Reasoning section.
3. Logical Reasoning
   • The Logical Reasoning section contains 24-26 questions in total.
   • Before each question, a short argument of a set of facts is provided. The followed-up questions require the test taker to critically examine the arguments, and find the argument’s assumption, choose a statement that would either weaken or strengthen the argument, or select an alternate conclusion for the argument.
   • The arguments are drawn from various sources, such as general interest magazines, advertisements, newspapers, scholarly publications, etc.
   • It is not required to have specialized knowledge of logical terminology such as “ad hominem”, “syllogism” etc to attempt the questions in the Logical Reasoning section.
   • However, a university-level understanding of concepts such as argument, assumption, conclusion, and premise is expected.
4. Unscored Section
   • The unscored section can either be of the type of Reading Comprehension, Logical Reasoning, or Analytical Reasoning. Test takers at the time of attempting the test are not told which section is the unscored section. The sequence number of the unscored section is not fixed. It can appear at any time as the first, second, third, or fourth section.
5. LSAT Writing
   • The LSAT Writing samples are not scored, however, the LSAT Writing is compulsory for all test takers to receive the final LSAT Score. The LSAT Writing Sample is also sent along with the LSAT Scores to all the Law Schools the test taker applies to. However, it is up to the Law Schools to decide if they consider the LSAT Writing Samples during their admission process or not.
   • The LSAT Writing is an on-demand exam that is administered online which is proctored using a secure proctoring software that the test takers have to install on their computers.

LSAT India Paper Pattern

The Law School Admission Test India (LSAT India) has 92 multiple-choice questions in total, divided into four sections.

The four sections of the LSAT India exam are:

1. Analytical Reasoning – Number of Questions(23)
2. Logical Reasoning(1) – Number of Questions(22)
3. Logical Reasoning(2) – Number of Questions(23)
4. Reading Comprehension – Number of Questions(24)

TOTAL – 92

The duration of each section is 35 minutes, hence the total time of the LSAT India exam is 2 hours 20 minutes.

There is no break provided in between during the entire exam.

US Universities offering Law School Admission Test

1. University of Chicago
2. Harvard University
3. University of Pennsylvania
4. Stanford University
5. Yale University
6. Columbia university
7. University of Virgnia
8. Florida State University
9. University of South Carolina
10. Rutgers University