Q: "Do I have to be smart to take LSAT exam?" (A: No.)

This post was made in diret response to a question which I received in my e-mail inbot. In redacted form, it reads,

“…I’m getting the impression from the LSAT’s confusing application process that this test might be too much for me to handle. Were you surprised or stumped by what you saw?”

(I have redacted the rest of the e-mail for privacy reasons; it consists an additional sentence regarding exam dates, and the rest is irrelevant.) First and foremost, I was thoroughly taken back by this e-mail because of how it addresses me as having taken the LSAT exam, despite never having posted on this blog to that effect! Interesting, but not really. As it turns out, this isn’t a blog reader but instead a former student, however I believe the blog to be ideal for publishing my response thereto. And so, without further adieu, I shall proceed:

Hello, fine stranger, and thank you for going out of your way to request the input of this muzzle-mouth marmoset (or, with no less frankness, this slack-jawed primate). As I am sure you are aware (although your e-mail does not confirm such), I completed my first LSAT exam at my local in-person testing center last month in easly September. After having done this, it is with absolute certainty that I hereby proclaim that, regardless of supposed intelligence or stubborn thickness, yes, you absolutely can take the exam, and no, you don’t have to be ‘smart.’ Here’s why…

Many non-pre-law students are under the misguided impression that the LSAT consists of at least some of the complex, rigorous ethical challenges by which lawyers are bound whilst practicing. (This characterization works in order to discourage people lacking enough self-confidence to try it.) However, in actuality, the LSAT (Law School Admissions Test) contains absolutely no legal-ethical or law-based questions whatsoever, and is in fact principally consisting of two forms of questions: LR (Logical Reasoning) questions, which present themselves in the form of short paragraphs, and RC (Reading Comprehension) passages, which are medium-sized, screen-length comprehension-based questions.

In other words, there are only 2 (two!) types of questions. The entire test is divided into 4 sections (the number varies between test-taker) with at least 2 sections consisting of logical reasoning questions, and 1-2 sections of reading comprehension. 1-2 of the sections can wind up unscored, however there is no knowing which. (I think that, on my last time, I received one scored RC, an unscored one and two LR’s.) By taking a small amount of each day and devoting it to answering some questions, you can easily train your brain to immediately recognize certain literary devices within RC passages, and also mentally map the formal logical propositions made by the LR texts. It has nothing to do with any form of contrived intelligence (to an extent, perhaps the IQ of at least a high-functioning idiot savant might be necessary) but instead (jokes aside) depends entirely upon your self-determination.

Finally, let it be said last that there is no excuse not to take the exam, even if you are feeling unprepared for it. Each law school applicant is permitted 4 additional chances to re-take the exam. In every case, your highest LSAT score will be preferred by admissions (even if it’s not the most recent exam you took) and a student’s number of attempts are not held against applicants. Finally, there is a written portion, but it is hardly challenging. You have up to a year after your test to complete this, but 1-2 weeks after the multiple-choice part is ideal. This portion is unscored and can be taken online at a suitable location with any laptop. (In fact, the written portion is conducted entirely from browser, which means that it does not require any of that shitty proctor software that colleges were using for a short while!)

On that note, the LSAC has recently begun offering test-takers the option to ‘cancel’ their scores before they are finalized. There is absolutely no reason to justify doing this! ‘Canceling’ a score does not negate it from your 5 attempts, nor does it provide any sort of financial compensation for the test. It is a waste of money and I strongly recommend against it.

Now, don’t get the wrong idea from my post that the LSAT is somehow ‘easy’ or otherwise a piece-of-cake. It is a lengthy, stress-inducing exam which is designed to make it next-to-impossible for most test-takers to finish. As such, most test-takers finish with unanswered questions that severely impact their score. It is best to minimize unanswered questions as much as possible, even if that resorts to random answer picking (any answer is better than none). It does require a certain familiarity with logical reasoning, but it is not by any means designed to be flabbergasting. The most common hurdle I have heard mentioned is that non-native English speakers and some poor native speakers may come to struggle with certain language, which trends towards the frequent use of academic jargon (like the words ‘socioeconomic’ and ‘casual connection’). However, coming from this website, any one of you should have no problem with that. People really like to overstate the difficulty of the questions, but they are more-or-less just being worded in a manner that is confusing for those skimming through questions, but entirely logical and sensical to those who read each question thoroughly. And so, if you take away anything from this: read every passage and every question. It really does make a difference!

With that, my own impressions: I was overly concerned with running out of time, and it was this hyperfixation upon the timer clock which probably could have saved me a few extra minutes towards the last two sections. In spite of this, I finished all four of the sections and can confidently state that you can too, so long as you are at least subconsciously mindful of time spent on questions. I ended up scoring a 157, which is a score that exceeded my initial expectations for my first try. It should go without stating that 4 more opportunities to re-take the exam practically guarantee that I should amount to at least 160, which I have been told is considered a high enough score for a competitive applicant looking towards a law school at least some top-100 law schools. Obviously, I’m not a top scorer or anything, nor do I claim to be, however, for this being my first score, I was pleasantly surprised by it, and now ever-confident in my abilities to score higher next time around! (So, with my current score, I would be able to apply without retaking, however, I see no good reason not to put forward the additional effort in the potential wake of an academic scholarship.) I hope this is at least somewhat informative to anyone who stumbles upon this brief, and cheers to you all!

I will post a follow-up after my upcoming exam is finished and give my remarks on what I have since learned.