The LSAC has released figures based on research about the correlation between study methods and LSAT scores.

Some of the study methods they analyzed included:

• Studying sample questions in the LSAT Info Book
• Taking the free sample LSAT in the LSAT Info Book
• Working through LSAT Prep Tests
• Using LSAT prep books or software not published by the LSAC
• Attending a commercial test prep course or coaching course
• Attending a prep course or coaching course provided by their university
• Self Study

Here are the results for 2005-2008:

As you can see the methods of test prep seemed to have the biggest difference on test scores were:

1. Working Through the Official Prep Tests= +2.4
2. Studying with an LSAT Book not published by the LSAC= +1.93
3. Commercial Test Prep or Coaching Course= +2.19

Now, to be clear, this is correlation and not causation, so this is not to say that these methods of preparation caused increased test scores. But it is an interesting causation.

Source: Summary of Self-Reported Methods of Test Preparation by LSAT Test Takers for Testing Years 2005-2008. Josiah Evans, Andrea Thornton, Lynda Reese.

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The answer is “It depends.” If you are looking at sheer mathematical numbers, here are the official stats on students who retook the LSAT in 2007-2008:

The average gain from the first to the second test for the years 2000-2007 goes as follows:

So, should you see an increase if you retake the test? Yes. On average though, you are probably not going to see whopping gains.

To see how Law Schools react (by school) to the retake score, be sure to check out this great information at Top Law Schools on retaking the test (about half way down they give a list school by school of how they deal with LSAT retakes.

Sources:

The Performance of Repeat Test Takers On the Law School Admission Test: 2000-2001 Through 2006-2007. Thornton, Marcus, Amodeo, & Reese.

Repeater Data- LSAC Website.

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This is part II in the series on the History of the LSAT.

The first LSAT test was officially administered in 1948 and required a full day of testing to cover its 10 sections:

• Verbal Analogies
• Sentence Completion
• Paragraphs
• Word Classification
• Reading Comprehension (2 Sections)
• Figure Classification
• Debates
• Contrary and Irrelevant Statements
• Reasoning

In 1949, the word classification, figure classification, debates, reasoning and one of the reading comprehension sections were removed. Best Argument, Data Interpretation, Principles and Cases and Gottschaldt Figures Test items were added.

Then in 1950, changes were made again based on the results of validity studies. The test in 1950 consisted of:

• Principles and Cases
• Data Interpretation
• Reading Comprehension
• Opposites
• Debates
• Best Argument
• and Gottschaldt Figures

In 1951, the test was shortened to a half day test, sections were changed again to:

• Reading Comprehension
• Principles and Cases
• Data Interpretation
• Contrary & Irrelevant Statements
• Figure Classification Types

The test lasted this way for about 5 years, until 1956 when Contrary & Irrelevant Statements were dropped and Directed Memory and Error Recognition were added.

In 1961, a writing section was added to the test as well as a general background section, both of which were given scores in addition to and separate from the LSAT score.

In 1970 the General Background, Figure Classification, and Organization of Ideas were all removed from the test. At that time Directed Memory received a name change to “Reading Recall”.

1971 returned the test to a half day. The test at that time consisted of:

• Reading Comprehension
• Data Interpretation
• Reading Recall
• Principles and Cases
• Error Recognition
• Sentence Correction

In 1975 Logical Reasoning and Practical Judgment were added to the test and replaced Reading Recall and Comprehension.

In ‘76, Quantitative Comparison replaced Data Interpretation, and in February of ‘78 Usage replaced Error Recognition.

In 1982 the test began to resemble the tests of today with sections of  Issues and Facts, Analytical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension and Logical Reasoning. In 1989 Issues and Facts was dropped and  second Logical Reasoning section was added in June 1991.

Source: A Compendium of LSAT and LSAC-Sponsored Item Types 1948-1994, Lynda M. Reese and Ruth Anne Cotter.

This is part I in a series on the History of the LSAT. The purpose of the series is to introduce the LSAT student to the foundational concepts of the exam in order to help them understand its purpose and in so doing master the test.

Standarized Testing and Law School

Beginning in the 1920’s, George D. Stoddard and Merton L. Ferson developed the first standardized test for admission to law school. In 1930, Yale created its own test as well. Both tests were designed to supplement several criteria in evaluating a candidates fitness for law school. The test would be used in addition to looking at a student’s academic record to determine the student’s aptitude for the legal profession.

These fathers of law school testing sought to create a test that when put along side the student’s desire to work in the legal profession and their ability to work as demonstrated by their academic record would be highly predictive of their competence in the legal profession.

These early law school standardized tests focused on exercises of synonyms and antonyms, verbal analogies, reading comprehension and recall.

These tests were not substantially different than the normal aptitude tests created by the Army to judge recruits prior to WWI.

Transitions:

In 1945, Frank Bowles, admissions director of the Columbia Law School contacted the president of the College Entrance Examination Board, John Stalnaker, suggesting the development of a new  and more developed standardized test to judge the fitness of law school candidates.

Bowles initial hopes for the LSAT were that it would

• have a high predictive value of one’s capacity for law school
• be highly reliable
• be easy to interpret
• have a low cost
• be related to the legal field
• be no more than 1-1.5 hours in length

The Original Fathers

In 1947 representatives from Columbia met with the testing organization. At that meeting was Columbia professor Willis Reese, who was the main professorial oversight of the original LSAT. The meeting sought to involve Harvard and Yale along with Columbia in the creation of the test, which they hoped would correlate strongly with the results of student grades in the first year of law school. This new test would cover

• reading
• analogies
• syllogistic reasoning
• & practical judgment

Shortly after the meeting, the group began contacting universities with law schools from around the country to help share in the financial cost of creating the first version of the LSAT.

A big win for the creation of the LSAT came when Harvard acknowledged its need for the LSAT. Because of the influx of war veterans who were applying to Harvard Law from schools all over the country, from which Harvard had no historical data, this new type of evaluative test couldn’t have come at a more opportune time.

Thus at the foundation of the LSAT was the idea that the test could evaluate candidates on a standardized measure that would be common across test takers and not on variable measures like GPA or undergraduate studies which was not consistent nor even across candidates.

At the same time the LSAT was not intended to be the only metric used in judging fitness for law school. It was, like its predecessors, meant to be used in conjunction with other measures like GPA, extra curricular activities and references.

Source: William LaPiana, Professor,  New York Law School, at the LSAC Annual Meeting in 1998.

What is the LSAT: The LSAT is the standardized test to get into law school. All American Bar Association approved law schools require applicants to take the LSAT to be admitted.

How often is the test given: The test is given four times a year.

What is the test like: The test have 5 sections, four of which are factored into the student’s score. In addition a 35 minute writing sample is administered as well.

What does the test measure:

• Reading Comprehension
• Analytical Reasoning
• Logical Reasoning

Today’s tip is short and sweet, but powerful! Ready? Learn from your mistakes. When you take your practice tests, don’t just grade them to see what score you achieved. Look at what you missed. Copy the problems down. Why did you miss them? When you take other practice tests, are you missing the same type of problems? Rather than getting discouraged, use this as competitive intelligence and study those type of problems hard. Application of this tip will lead to fruit.

Want to control your own destiny on the LSAT? Here’s a tip- practice with your watch. I know many of you, like myself, would be lax with this point, but using a timer ruthlessly in your practice will let you know how to pace yourself, how long certain sections and questions are taking you and exactly how much time you have left.

Add to that the fact that at the test is timed, controlled and is a high stakes test in which you will feel the pressure of the minutes and seconds drifting away, anything you can do to prepare you for the pressure ahead of time will only help your performance when it really matters.

This is the first in a series of LSAT tips that will provide you with bite sized actionable insights to boost your score.

Tip: Begin with the goal in mind. (Read the question and the answer choices first).

Simply put, the LSAT is not an open ended test. Questions are not in short answer or essay from (apart from the writing sample). Chunks of information are presented and after the chunk of information  questions are asked with various answers to choose from.

Get a jump on the test by reading the question and answer possibilities first BEFORE reading the chunk of information. This will allow you to know what you are looking for, thus saving you time and allowing you to wade through uneccesary fluff.

Put this into practice as you take the test and watch your efficiency and thus your score rise.

Its important to define terms, and “classical” is a loaded term with different meanings to different people. The way I am using it here is to refer to an older form of education style in which students were responsible for their own growth and learning and which tutors and teachers encouraged them in their path and presented them with thought provoking materials that stimulate growth.

Having been a teacher in today’s classrooms, and a product of today’s classrooms myself, I think the student has become more of a passive absorber of information that is dispensed by the teacher, rather than a measure of responsibility being placed on the student for their own growth and development.

All that to say, the information provided on this website will be for the purpose of helping the inquisitive student preparing for the LSAT to grow and advance in their preparation, but the responsibility for implementation will thoroughly be on the student.

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