What to Expect From the LSAT

If you’re on the path to becoming a high-powered attorney or other legal advisor, you’ve probably heard of the LSAT. The LSAT exam is one of the first major hurdles to beginning a successful career in law.

But what is the LSAT exactly?

We won’t lie to you; the LSAT is a tough exam. Fortunately, it’s not impossible! Finding the best resources to study and prepare for the LSAT is crucial because a high exam score will open many doors: offers from top universities, opportunities for internships, and ultimately, a position at an established firm.

A high LSAT score makes an impact on many factors in your future career path. Therefore, failing to study adequately or take it seriously can hamper your ability to get into your desired law school. Furthermore, a poor score may render you unable to take advantage of generous scholarships and offers provided to LSAT scorers with 160’s or above.

The best way to CRUSH the LSAT is to get informed. Below we’ll break down what the LSAT is, when it’s administered, how much the LSAT costs and how it’s scored.

LSAT Background Info

The Law School Admissions Test is an exam that assesses the key skills you’ll need to perform well in law school. Contrary to popular belief, the test is not about law; rather, it focuses on reading comprehension, analytical reasoning and logical reasoning.

Some law schools don’t require you take the LSAT, but that’s pretty rare. In actuality, most schools, especially those accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), only accept the LSAT for admissions consideration.

LSAT Exam Schedule and Structure

The LSAT is administered six times a year at various testing centers around the world. Three of the testing dates are disclosed and three are not. The LSAT itself is a half-day test comprised of five 35-minute sections, which include:

• 2 Logical Reasoning Sections
• 1 Analytical Reasoning Section
• 1 Reading Comprehension Section
• 1 Unscored Section
• 1 Writing Sample

One component of the exam that makes it stressful to test takers is that you have limited time to analyze each question. Most sections contain up to 25 questions that need to be answered in 35 minutes. Therefore, you must think quickly and surely in order to succeed on the exam.

The Brand-new 2019 LSAT Format

Up until this year, the LSAT has been offered in paper-and-pencil format. However, a scheduled rollout of a new digital LSAT format is set for July 2019. The LSAT will be fully digital by September 2019, with the first test options available on July 15, 2019. The test will now be delivered on a tablet in each testing location loaded with proprietary software.

In fact, if you’re planning to take your LSAT in July, the LSAT administration is offering a limited time opportunity. Whether you take a paper and pencil version of the test or a digital version on the July 15, 2019, you’ll have the opportunity to see your score and decide if you want to keep it or cancel it. If you cancel it, you can retake the LSAT anytime before April 2020 free of charge.

This is a rare occasion concurrent with testing the rollout of the new digital format. Hence, it probably won’t happen again once the new format is standard in September 2019. Consequently, you should make sure to take advantage of this offer this year!

LSAT Exam Fees

The LSAT is by no means free. In fact, when you register for the exam, be prepared to pay at least a few hundred dollars to get your test taken and credential packets mailed off to law schools.

We’ll be very honest; the LSAT exam administrators can nickel-and-dime unwary test takers. Therefore, be sure to double-check your times, dates, and locations before registering for the exam. Otherwise, you could end up paying a couple hundred dollars just to fix simple registration errors, getting the wrong testing location, or even registering late.

Here’s a list of all the exam fees associated with the LSAT and what they cover:

• LSAT Registration: $180 This is the basic fee to sit for the examination.
• Credential Assembly Service: $185 This service consolidates all your credentials, including diplomas, transcripts and letters of recommendation with your LSAT score to send to prospective schools.
• Late Registration: $100 If you register for the test during the late registration period (11 to 12 day window after regular registration closes) you’ll get hit with this penalty fee.
• Test Date Change: $100 If you have to change your test date for any reason, you’ll be hit with this stiff fee for your trouble.
• Test Center Change: $100 Same goes for if you have to change your test center for any reason.
• Nonpublished Test Center: Domestic $285, International $380 This brutal charge occurs when a student lives 100 miles or more away from an approved test center, and so must take their test at another, non approved testing location.
• Handscoring: $100 This fee is charged to a student if they contest the machine-scored results, and a proctor must score their test by hand.

Decoding Your LSAT Score

Understanding what your LSAT score means can be a little tricky. You’re graded with a raw score first that is then converted by formula into your LSAT score. Essentially, there are usually around 101 questions on each LSAT test. Hence, each question you answer correctly is considered 1 point of your raw score.

The raw score is then converted to a score between 120 to 180, which is your LSAT score. Depending on your raw score, you can probably make an educated guess about where your LSAT score will fall. A 99 out 101 would typically be a 180, for example.

Anything above 150 is a good score, as this is about the average for test takers. Therefore, when you achieve between a 160-180, you’ve got a great score and will probably get a ton of offers!

However, the LSAT score isn’t everything. How heavily it’s weighted in your admissions index depends on how heavily the law school weights your GPA in undergraduate/ graduate studies. Some schools think the GPA is very important, while some factor in the LSAT score at 70% and your GPA at only 30%. Both of these figures are calculated in a formula to determine your admissions index score, which will dictate the offer that school will give you.

Now that you know what the LSAT is, take a look at our recommendations for the best LSAT prep courses and start studying today!