{"id":39,"date":"2013-08-27T14:33:33","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T18:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/prelaw\/?page_id=39"},"modified":"2026-08-13T14:52:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T18:52:52","slug":"the-lsat","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/prelaw\/the-lsat\/","title":{"rendered":"The LSAT"},"content":{"rendered":"

About the LSAT
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is designed to provide law schools with a common measure of applicants’ aptitude for legal study. It is a 2.5 hour, standardized test administered eight<\/strong> times each year. Most test takers will take the test in person at a Prometric digital testing center. The LSAT is the only admission test accepted by all American Bar Association (ABA) approved law schools. Some law schools will accept the GRE or JD-Next in lieu of the LSAT.\u00a0
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The LSAT consists of four, 35-minute multiple choice sections and a 35-minute (unscored) writing sample section. Three of the multiple choice sections contribute to the test taker\u2019s score. The unscored (experimental) multiple choice section is used to pretest new test questions. The kind and placement of this section will vary.<\/p>\n

A 35-minute (unscored) writing sample section, LSAT Argumentative Writing, is taken separately from the multiple choice portion of the test. Most test takers will have a total of 50 minutes \u2014 15 minutes for prewriting analysis and 35 minutes for essay writing \u2014 to complete this component of the LSAT. Copies of the writing sample are shared to the schools to which you apply.<\/p>\n

The LSAT is designed to measure skills that are considered essential for success in law school: the reading and comprehension of complex texts with accuracy and insight; the organization and management of information and the ability to draw reasonable inferences from it; the ability to think critically; and the analysis and evaluation of the reasoning and arguments of others.<\/p>\n

The two multiple-choice question types in the LSAT are:<\/p>\n

1.) Reading Comprehension Questions<\/i>
\nThese questions measure your ability to read, with understanding and insight, examples of lengthy and complex materials similar to those commonly encountered in law school work. The reading comprehension section contains four sets of reading questions, each consisting of a selection of reading material (either a single complex passage or two shorter related passages), followed by five to eight questions that test reading and reasoning abilities.<\/p>\n

2.) Logical Reasoning Questions<\/i>
\nThese questions are designed to evaluate your ability to understand, analyze, criticize, and complete a variety of arguments. Each logical reasoning question requires you to read and comprehend a short passage, then answer a question about it. The questions test a variety of abilities involved in reasoning logically and thinking critically.<\/p>\n

Registering for the LSAT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Detailed information\u2014test dates, fees, and registration deadlines\u2014is available online through the Law School Admission Council website at www.lsac.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you are considering taking the GRE or JD-Next in lieu of the LSAT, we encourage you to meet with a pre-law advisor to help decide which admissions test may work best for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About the LSAT The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is designed to provide law schools with a common measure of applicants’ aptitude for legal study. It is a 2.5 hour, standardized test administered eight times each year. Most test takers will take the test in person at a Prometric digital testing center. The LSAT is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5582,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/prelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/prelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/prelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/prelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5582"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/prelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/prelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8916,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/prelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions\/8916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/prelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}