The Law School Admissions Test will be modifying its test format, starting with tests administered in August 2024.
The LSAT’s multiple-choice portion currently consists of an analytical reasoning section, a reading comprehension section and a logical reasoning section. The analytical reasoning section, often referred to as logic games, asks test takers to make inferences on various claims, for which test takers often sketch diagrams to aid in their thinking.
“From the information you are given about a set of circumstances, you have to draw conclusions and answer questions,” said Rebecca Ray, assistant dean for admissions and financial aid at the University of Illinois College of Law. “Most people were helped in answering those questions by drawing diagrams during the exam.”
The analytical reasoning section was the subject of a 2017 lawsuit brought against the Law School Admission Council, the LSAT’s governing body, which claimed the section was discriminatory against visually impaired test takers.
“Two blind individuals brought a lawsuit against LSAC, claiming that because they could not draw the diagrams, they were disadvantaged, and that particular section was discriminatory towards them,” Ray explained.
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The updated format will remove the analytical reasoning section and instead contain two graded logical reasoning sections.
Research by LSAC shows that the newly proposed format will not affect the difficulty of the LSAT, as there is no significant difference in scores between the current and proposed forms of the test.
“They had around 200,000 tests, and they compared the medians and means of those exams, with the logic games and without the logic games, and it is basically the same score,” said Eddie Collins, president of the pre-law fraternity Kappa Alpha Pi at the University.
However, Collins added that because the research did not give in-depth specifics on how results were gathered, and until the new format is administered in August 2024, it is difficult to say for certain if the format will be beneficial or harmful to test-takers.
Ray similarly emphasized that the test’s difficulty would not be affected, adding that the changes are generally welcomed by people planning on taking the test.
“The data shows that there is really no difference in LSAT scores between the old format and the new proposed format, so I don’t know that it’s actually going to affect scores or anything like that, but I think most people are going to be happy about the change,” Ray said.
The analytical reasoning section has a historically divisive reputation among LSAT takers, with many people considering the section’s unconventional question style to be challenging.
Prospective law students planning on matriculating in August of 2024 will be unaffected by the changes; however, individuals taking the test after June of 2024 will need to consider the revised format.
“If you are applying to law school in the future, you just need to be mindful of the timing of your exam and what kind of preparation you are doing,” Ray said.
Collins suggested that people planning on taking the LSAT next year should assess their strengths and consider how having the newly proposed test format would affect their scores.
“‘Do you want that portion to be involved in your score? Do you think that it would be beneficial for you to take the logic games?’ and then say, ‘OK, I’ll take another one and see which score is the best,’” Collins said.
