From a 1945 complaint to a 1948 exam
Before the LSAT, law schools had no reliable way to predict how an applicant would do.1 The first administration came 22 years after the first SAT.6
Ten sections, nine kinds of question
These are the question types LSAC lists for the first test. Reading Comprehension had two sections, which makes ten. Every section tested verbal skills, and none tested law.1,3 The order and timing of the sections aren't given in the sources.
Answer like it's 1948
Pick a question type and answer three items. These three formats are familiar from other tests. The other six types, such as Debates, aren't described in enough detail to rebuild.
Items written for this page, not from the 1948 test. Not scored on the LSAT scale.
Choose the word that completes the relationship.
Amendments to the original
Critics say the LSAT is not a conclusive predictor of how students do in law school. They point to support systems, money pressures and motivation as major factors in long-term success.6
References
- [1]Law School Admission Council. The history and future of the Law School Admission Test (presentation). AACRAO (PDF).aacrao-web.s3.amazonaws.com (PDF)
- [2]Law School Admission Council. Mission & history.lsac.org
- [3]LSAT history. Manhattan Review.manhattanreview.com
- [4]History of the LSAT. TestMax Prep (2018).testmaxprep.com
- [5]Wikipedia contributors. Law School Admission Test (accessed 29 Sept 2026).en.wikipedia.org
- [6]Law School Admission Test — history, format, scoring. Education Encyclopedia, StateUniversity.com.education.stateuniversity.com
Related historical tests
The college-admissions aptitude test that came first. The LSAT followed the same model of a standardized reasoning test for admissions, applied to law school.
A six-section admission test for medical schools, created to reduce high dropout rates. It shows a professional school using a test to predict early success two decades before law schools did.
The first national college-admissions intelligence test in the US. The LSAT inherited its approach of aptitude over subject knowledge.
The general graduate-admissions test, launched the following year. Together with the LSAT it marks the post-war spread of admissions testing beyond undergraduate entry.
A multi-aptitude battery for school guidance, published a year before the LSAT. It includes verbal reasoning and language tests close to the LSAT's original all-verbal design.
The WWII test given to about 12 million recruits. Wartime testing made standardized exams familiar and routine in the years just before the LSAT.