About the LSAT
Information | LSAT
About the LSAT
The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is a half-day standardized test administered by the Law School Admission Council and required for admittance to all U.S. law schools approved by the American Bar Association (ABA), most Canadian law schools, and many non-ABA-approved law schools.
The LSAT is designed to measure skills considered essential for success in law school: accurate and insightful reading comprehension of complex material; the ability to organize information and infer reasonable conclusions from it; analysis and evaluation of the reasoning of others; and critical thinking. Law school admissions officials include this test score in the several factors they use to assess the eligibility of applicants.
What to Expect on the LSAT
The exam consists of several 35-minute sections of multiple-choice questions. The sections include one reading comprehension section, one analytical reasoning section, and two logical reasoning sections. The final section, a writing sample, is required at the end of the exam. LSAC does not score the writing sample, but copies are sent to all law schools to which you apply. The ABA recommends that you allow several months to prepare for the LSAT, and that you thoroughly familiarize yourself with the LSAT format and types of questions.
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Registration
The LSAT is given four times a year: February, June, October, and December. Many law schools will require you to take the LSAT by the December prior to the September for which you’re applying, but, in keeping with the recommendation to prepare months in advance, both the ABA and the LSAC advise taking the test as early as possible—in the October preceding your target September, or even the June before that (i.e., 15 months before your target September!).
You must be pre-registered to take the test, and there is a fee. Once you are registered, you’ll receive an admission ticket that your test center will require on the day of the exam. The registration fee for the LSAT is US$115. If you register late, add another US$58.
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2005-2006 LSAT Exam Dates
Saturday, October 1, 2005
Saturday, December 3, 2005
Saturday, February 4, 2006
Exam Dates for those who observe Saturday Sabbath:
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005
Monday, February 6, 2006
See LASC/LSAT Registration for Regular and Late Registration deadlines, and other important details about test reports and, if necessary, changing your registered test date.
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Test Locations
The LSAT is given at hundreds of test sites, but not necessarily at every test center on all listed test dates. Seating is limited at each test center so it’s recommended that you register as early as possible to increase your chances of being assigned to your first-choice location. If you register online, you can check test center availability in real time. If you register by mail, and both of your test center selections are full or unavailable, you’ll be assigned to a location as close as possible to your requests, but the availability of a test center within a reasonable distance from your original choices isn’t guaranteed. (Our recommendation: register online if you can.) Ultimately, your LSAT admission ticket will reflect your assigned test center.
Nonpublished Test Centers
LSAC makes every effort to accommodate test-takers. If it’s impossible for you to travel to a test center listed in LSAC online registration, and you’re more than 100 miles from an open, published center, the LSAC will consider your officially-submitted request for a nonpublished test center. See LSAT Test Center Locations.
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The Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS)
At some point, if you are applying, or intend to apply, to U.S. law schools, you’ll also need to register with the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS). The LSDAS functions as a clearinghouse and control center for the various pieces of your law school admission packet. It houses, centralizes, and standardizes undergraduate academic records to simplify and render consistency to the law school application process.
For candidates applying to U.S. law schools, registration with the LSDAS is required by almost all ABA-approved law schools as well as several non-ABA-approved schools. Canadian law schools, however, do not participate in the LSDAS and therefore do not require registration.
LSDAS membership is generally five years, but if you register for the LSAT at any time during this period, it’s extended five years from your latest LSAT registration. You don’t need to register for LSDAS at the same time as you register for the LSAT, but the Law School Admission Council does recommend that you set up your LSDAS account at least six weeks before you plan to apply to law school. This should allow enough time for you to collect your transcripts and the other necessary documents.
The 2005-2006 LSDAS Registration Fee is $106. Once you're registered, paid up, and have a complete LSDAS file, the LSDAS assembles your application pieces and prepares a report for each law school to which you apply. To be considered complete, your LSDAS file must have:
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About the Law School Admission Council
The LSAC is a nonprofit corporation with more than 200 law school members in the United States and Canada. All law schools approved by the American Bar Association are LSAC members, along with fifteen Canadian law schools recognized by a provincial or territorial law society or government agency.
The LSAC administers the Law School Admission Test (LSAT®), which is taken by an average of 135,000 prospective law students every year. The LSAC also provides a number of other important services and programs to law schools and their applicants. See About the LSAC for full information about the services the LSAC offers.
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The Insider's View
Linda Abrahams, President and Founder of Accepted.com, a premiere graduate school admissions consultancy, recommends that you take advantage of optional essays in your law school application:
"Many law schools are following the business school model of offering an optional essay for interested applicants. You want to be one of those applicants. Yes, it is more work. Yes, it is another thing to squeeze into an already packed schedule, but hey—you're going to be a law student. Get used to it! Your goal is to rise above the crowd, to surge to the top of the applicant pool. You need to convince the adcom that you have more to say, that you do not shy away from challenges, that you are the crème de la crème. And about what should you write? Your experience working for Habitat for Humanity, what it was like to have a hitless season in college baseball, only to score an out of the park home run in the playoff game, or about your family's trip to Costa Rica and how it broadened your horizons. Some schools will give you a list of suggested topics, but many will simply say, "Is there anything else you would like the admissions committee to know about that is not included elsewhere in your application?" Use this opportunity to demonstrate your writing skills, your determination to rise to the challenge, and to give them another insight into who you are outside of the numbers."
If you could use a little confidence-boosting with this or any other law school essay, talk to Linda and her staff of veteran writing-for-admissions editors at Accepted.com.
Back to top
Links to LSAT Prep:
Kaplan LSAT Prep Classroom Course
Kaplan LSAT Online Prep Course
Peterson's Online LSAT Prep
MicroEdu Online LSAT Prep
The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is a half-day standardized test administered by the Law School Admission Council and required for admittance to all U.S. law schools approved by the American Bar Association (ABA), most Canadian law schools, and many non-ABA-approved law schools.
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The LSAT is designed to measure skills considered essential for success in law school: accurate and insightful reading comprehension of complex material; the ability to organize information and infer reasonable conclusions from it; analysis and evaluation of the reasoning of others; and critical thinking. Law school admissions officials include this test score in the several factors they use to assess the eligibility of applicants.
What to Expect on the LSAT
The exam consists of several 35-minute sections of multiple-choice questions. The sections include one reading comprehension section, one analytical reasoning section, and two logical reasoning sections. The final section, a writing sample, is required at the end of the exam. LSAC does not score the writing sample, but copies are sent to all law schools to which you apply. The ABA recommends that you allow several months to prepare for the LSAT, and that you thoroughly familiarize yourself with the LSAT format and types of questions.
Back to top
Registration
The LSAT is given four times a year: February, June, October, and December. Many law schools will require you to take the LSAT by the December prior to the September for which you’re applying, but, in keeping with the recommendation to prepare months in advance, both the ABA and the LSAC advise taking the test as early as possible—in the October preceding your target September, or even the June before that (i.e., 15 months before your target September!).
You must be pre-registered to take the test, and there is a fee. Once you are registered, you’ll receive an admission ticket that your test center will require on the day of the exam. The registration fee for the LSAT is US$115. If you register late, add another US$58.
Back to top
2005-2006 LSAT Exam Dates
Saturday, October 1, 2005
Saturday, December 3, 2005
Saturday, February 4, 2006
Exam Dates for those who observe Saturday Sabbath:
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005
Monday, February 6, 2006
See LASC/LSAT Registration for Regular and Late Registration deadlines, and other important details about test reports and, if necessary, changing your registered test date.
Back to top
Test Locations
The LSAT is given at hundreds of test sites, but not necessarily at every test center on all listed test dates. Seating is limited at each test center so it’s recommended that you register as early as possible to increase your chances of being assigned to your first-choice location. If you register online, you can check test center availability in real time. If you register by mail, and both of your test center selections are full or unavailable, you’ll be assigned to a location as close as possible to your requests, but the availability of a test center within a reasonable distance from your original choices isn’t guaranteed. (Our recommendation: register online if you can.) Ultimately, your LSAT admission ticket will reflect your assigned test center.
Nonpublished Test Centers
LSAC makes every effort to accommodate test-takers. If it’s impossible for you to travel to a test center listed in LSAC online registration, and you’re more than 100 miles from an open, published center, the LSAC will consider your officially-submitted request for a nonpublished test center. See LSAT Test Center Locations.
Back to top
The Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS)
At some point, if you are applying, or intend to apply, to U.S. law schools, you’ll also need to register with the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS). The LSDAS functions as a clearinghouse and control center for the various pieces of your law school admission packet. It houses, centralizes, and standardizes undergraduate academic records to simplify and render consistency to the law school application process.
For candidates applying to U.S. law schools, registration with the LSDAS is required by almost all ABA-approved law schools as well as several non-ABA-approved schools. Canadian law schools, however, do not participate in the LSDAS and therefore do not require registration.
LSDAS membership is generally five years, but if you register for the LSAT at any time during this period, it’s extended five years from your latest LSAT registration. You don’t need to register for LSDAS at the same time as you register for the LSAT, but the Law School Admission Council does recommend that you set up your LSDAS account at least six weeks before you plan to apply to law school. This should allow enough time for you to collect your transcripts and the other necessary documents.
The 2005-2006 LSDAS Registration Fee is $106. Once you're registered, paid up, and have a complete LSDAS file, the LSDAS assembles your application pieces and prepares a report for each law school to which you apply. To be considered complete, your LSDAS file must have:
- A current LSDAS account and number
- At least one reportable LSAT score
- All undergraduate, graduate, and law/professional school transcripts
- Letters of Recommendation (if they’re required by the law schools to which you are applying)
- Payment for all required reports and other requested services
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About the Law School Admission Council
The LSAC is a nonprofit corporation with more than 200 law school members in the United States and Canada. All law schools approved by the American Bar Association are LSAC members, along with fifteen Canadian law schools recognized by a provincial or territorial law society or government agency.
The LSAC administers the Law School Admission Test (LSAT®), which is taken by an average of 135,000 prospective law students every year. The LSAC also provides a number of other important services and programs to law schools and their applicants. See About the LSAC for full information about the services the LSAC offers.
Back to top
The Insider's View
Linda Abrahams, President and Founder of Accepted.com, a premiere graduate school admissions consultancy, recommends that you take advantage of optional essays in your law school application:
"Many law schools are following the business school model of offering an optional essay for interested applicants. You want to be one of those applicants. Yes, it is more work. Yes, it is another thing to squeeze into an already packed schedule, but hey—you're going to be a law student. Get used to it! Your goal is to rise above the crowd, to surge to the top of the applicant pool. You need to convince the adcom that you have more to say, that you do not shy away from challenges, that you are the crème de la crème. And about what should you write? Your experience working for Habitat for Humanity, what it was like to have a hitless season in college baseball, only to score an out of the park home run in the playoff game, or about your family's trip to Costa Rica and how it broadened your horizons. Some schools will give you a list of suggested topics, but many will simply say, "Is there anything else you would like the admissions committee to know about that is not included elsewhere in your application?" Use this opportunity to demonstrate your writing skills, your determination to rise to the challenge, and to give them another insight into who you are outside of the numbers."
If you could use a little confidence-boosting with this or any other law school essay, talk to Linda and her staff of veteran writing-for-admissions editors at Accepted.com.
Back to top
Links to LSAT Prep:
Kaplan LSAT Prep Classroom Course
Kaplan LSAT Online Prep Course
Peterson's Online LSAT Prep
MicroEdu Online LSAT Prep
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