The Law School Admission Council administers and conducts LSAT, in order to gauge the analytical, reasoning, and comprehension skills of law school aspirants. It was originally restricted only to graduate legal programs in the USA, but is now used by schools in several other countries, including Canada and Australia.
LSAT is the most popular
law school entrance examination in North America both because it is accepted by every reputed institution and because it is the best predictor of law school academic performance. Therefore, it is also used by test takers to gauge whether joining law school is the correct decision for them based on their aptitude and interest. The test follows a multiple choice format, and lasts approximately 2.5 hours.
| Exam Name | LSAT (Law School Admission Test) |
| Governing Organization | Law School Admission Council |
| Official Website | https://www.lsac.org/lsat |
| Registration Date | All year round (online examination) 1-2 months in advance (offline examination) |
| Registration Fee | $222 |
| Mode of Exam | Remote (online) proctored examination. Test Center offline examination. |
| Accepted in | USA, Canada, Australia, with local versions in other countries (e.g. LSAT India) |
| Exam Frequency | 15 times per year |
| Exam Duration | 140 minutes (+ up to 20 minutes spent in compulsory and optional breaks) |
| Total Questions | 98 to 102 |
Most candidates choose to register for the LSAT online, though they can also apply via phone.
There are no strict eligibility criteria - either based on age or academic qualifications - for candidates who wish to appear for the LSAT. In practice, almost all test takers have a bachelor's degree in any discipline, as this is a prerequisite for law school applications. There are also no location criteria. For example, a candidate in India may choose to attempt either LSAT India or the international LSAT or both.
There are four sections in the LSAT, of which one (the Unscored or Variable section) is similar to one of the other three, but with experimental question types.
| Sections | Time (Minutes) | Questions/Tasks |
| Reading Comprehension | 35 | 24-25 |
| Analytical Reasoning | 35 | 24-26 |
| Logical Reasoning | 35 | 24-25 |
| Unscored Section (similar to any one of the above three) | 35 | 26 |
| Total | 140 (not including breaks) | 98-102 |
Each section is allotted the same amount of time (35 minutes), and the total number of questions is 100, on average. Candidates who have one or two more questions than others will be compensated by slightly lower average difficulty of questions. In addition to the four main sections of the LSAT, candidates must also complete a simple writing assignment. This is not part of the main test, and is made available via the test taker's application account online approximately a week before the projected test date. Candidates must complete this before their overall LSAT score is released, even though it does not directly impact the score; it is a qualificatory step rather than a marked section of the exam.
The syllabus for the sections of the LSAT is similar to those of other general aptitude entrance examinations, but with a higher level of difficulty.
The LSAT Reading Comprehension section tests the candidate's ability to quickly read and correctly interpret diverse, dense, and verbose passages that are similar to those encountered in law school (e.g. briefs and contracts). The section usually contains three long passages with five to eight questions that test the understanding of the issue at hand, and two shorter passages with questions about the relationships between them.
The LSAT Analytical Reasoning section is similar to the logical reasoning segment in several management entrance examinations. Candidates may expect questions related to seating arrangements, precedence ordering, data sufficiency, and data interpretation. The questions are not typically related to the legal field directly; rather, they indirectly test the skill of real life problem solving. During this section, most candidates use the rough paper provided to draw schematic sketches of the given data.
Each question in the LSAT Logical Reasoning section gives a scenario to the test taker, and describes it in 100 words or fewer. Based on this scenario, candidates must look through five options, and pick out the only one which follows logically from the facts given. This is often thought to be the hardest section of the paper, given that the test taker must read a total of 250+ words (scenario + options) within 70-80 seconds, and then apply logic to eliminate/confirm each option. The best way to prepare for this section is to solve as many sample papers as possible, and try to increase the score steadily between attempts.
Every individual who wishes to appear for the LSAT must accept the LSAC Candidate Agreement. This is a very detailed online document that seeks to ensure two main things: that test takers undertake not to use any unfair means during the online or offline exam, and that candidates undertake not to share any details of individual questions or solution methods for specific problems. All candidates are bound by the terms of the agreement, and failure to comply with any of the terms may lead to cancellation of a scheduled test appearance or permanent disqualification from the LSAT process, depending on the severity of the offense.
The LSAT is held a total of 15 times per year, spread over eight months from August to June every year. Most months have two consecutive exam dates. Candidates should aim to register at least two months before their preferred LSAT date.
| LSAT Test Date | Last Date for Registration | Deadline for Changes, Regular Cancellation, and Late Registration |
| August 11 and 12, 2023 | June 29, 2023 | July 6, 2023 |
| September 8, 9 and 10, 2023 | July 25, 2023 | August 9, 2023 |
| October 13 and 14, 2023 | August 31, 2023 | September 6, 2023 |
| November 10 and 11, 2023 | September 28, 2023 | October 5, 2023 |
| January 12 and 13, 2024 | November 30, 2023 | December 7, 2023 |
| February 9, 2024 | December 26, 2023 | January 3, 2024 |
| April 12, 2024 | February 29, 2024 | March 6, 2024 |
| June 7 and 8, 2024 | April 23, 2024 | April 30, 2024 |
Since the pandemic, a majority of candidates appearing for the LSAT have taken the test online. This is administered on pre-decided dates, and can be taken from the comfort of the candidate's home, as long as they have access to a computer with a webcam and microphone, and a fast internet connection.
Depending on their location, candidates can still appear for the LSAT in the offline mode. For example, the USA and Canada have several test centers in major cities which conduct the computer based test in secure locations.
The table below lists the exam fees related to registering for the LSAT and associated costs.
| Service | LSAT Exam Fees |
| LSAT Registration Fee | $222 |
| Credential Assembly Service (sending scores to all schools of interest) Fee | $200 |
| Detailed Credential Assembly Fee Report (per law school to which the student is applying) | $45 |
| Official LSAT Score Report | $50 |
| Score Audit (non-refundable, even if the final score is higher) | $150 |
| Request for Test Date Change (within 10 days after the registration deadline) | $135 |
| Request for Test Date Change (11+ days after the registration deadline) | $222 |
The application fee for local versions (e.g. LSAT India) varies by location, and is usually less than 50% of the international LSAT registration fee.
There are two helpful categories of free resources available via LawHub, which is the official brand associated with the LSAT. The sample tests are very important. Not only do they allow the candidates to gauge the difficulty and question format of the examination, they also serve as a way to test the interface and computer peripherals.
The LawHub website also has several tutorial videos: these serve as useful preparation resources, and candidates can use them to plan the amount of time allocated to each topic. Several test takers opt to join private coaching classes to further improve their LSAT prospects. The main advantage of this is that candidates get access to many more mock tests than otherwise.
There are three rules that govern the total number of LSAT attempts for a candidate. First, no individual may appear for the LSAT more than seven times in his/her lifetime. Second, the maximum number of allowed attempts within the most recent five year period cannot exceed five. Finally, no candidate may take the LSAT more than three times within a single calendar year.
The LSAC reports all last scores of a candidate within the previous five years as of the date of sending the information. Candidates may not choose which scores are sent. Most schools process this information in the same way: by considering the average, highest, and most recent LSAT score within the previous five years.
The official LawHub LSAT sample tests are designed to provide a realistic simulation of the test interface, question format, and difficulty. Therefore, they are very close to the actual examination in every respect. The only difference is that the four sections will always be present in a certain order in the sample tests. However, in the final LSAT session, the four sections may appear in any order; this will change from day to day.
Any of these actions during the remote LSAT session may lead to a warning from the proctor or cancellation of the attempt:
The proctor is authorized to terminate the session and cancel the score at any time, if he/she feels that the test taker's behavior is suspicious. Therefore, candidates must avoid any of the errors listed above in order to have a smooth LSAT experience.
In general, most LSAT candidates are allowed one unplanned disconnection from the server without any issue. If this is caused due to a genuine internet connection problem, and if it only lasts for a short period of time, the test will be frozen for a few seconds or minutes during the disconnection, and resumed after that. After any such resumption, candidates must complete the security check-in process again, as they had done at the start of the test, to confirm their identity and prove that there are no other persons present in the room used to take the test.
If there are repeated disconnections and the proctor feels that they are being used deliberately for reference/unfair purposes, he/she may terminate the session at his/her discretion. If there is a catastrophic loss of internet connection during the test, and the candidate is able to provide documentary evidence of the issue, he/she may be accommodated at a later date without having to pay the registration fees again. In such a case, the test taker will start from scratch, and any partial progress made will not be saved.
The three scored sections of the LSAT are Reading Comprehension, Analytical Reasoning, and Logical Reasoning. There is also a fourth section, which is a repeat of one of these three section themes, with different questions in new formats. Therefore, a test taker can be sure that the unscored section is one of the two test segments whose theme is repeated, but there is no way to be sure which of those is the unscored section.
The variable section is used by the LSAC to test question types for use in future versions of the test. By including it in current tests, the LSAT authorities are able to accurately gauge the difficulty of the questions, and make sure that future versions of the test are fair and balanced in difficulty.
