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Law School Admission Test (LSAT): US law school admissions test

The dominant US law school admissions test. Developed jointly by 9 leading US law schools in 1947-48 to provide an objective measure of aptitude for legal study. The LSAT is administered ~130,000 times annually and remains essentially required for US and Canadian law school admission. Known for its distinctive Logic Games (Analytical Reasoning) section.

Read About the Test

About the Law School Admission Test (LSAT)

By the late 1940s, US law schools were facing growing applicant pools (driven by the GI Bill's funding of veteran legal education) and needed an objective screening instrument. Nine leading law schools (Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, Virginia, Yale, and the University of Chicago) collaborated with the Educational Testing Service to develop the Law School Admission Test, first administered in 1948.

The LSAT is distinctive among standardized tests for its Analytical Reasoning section (popularly called 'Logic Games'). This section presents complex constraint-satisfaction puzzles - 'Six runners are competing in a race. Anna finishes before Brent. Carla finishes after Dave. Etc. - which runners can finish first?' - and asks the test-taker to make valid deductions. No other major standardized test has anything quite like this section.

The LSAT also has Logical Reasoning sections (analyzing arguments) and Reading Comprehension sections. Total testing time is about 3 hours; scores are reported on a 120-180 scale. The LSAT went through major revisions in 1991 (current format introduced) and 2024 (writing sample moved to separate administration; one Logical Reasoning section dropped).

The LSAT is the most predictively valid standardized admissions test for its target outcome: the correlation between LSAT score and first-year law school grades is approximately 0.50, substantially higher than the SAT-college-GPA correlation (~0.35) or the GRE-graduate-GPA correlation (~0.35). This is partly because the LSAT measures skills (logical analysis, reading dense argumentative text) very specifically aligned with law school work.

Copyright note: LSAT items are copyrighted (LSAC). Released LSAT PrepTests can be purchased from LSAC for study purposes but cannot be freely reproduced.

The 4 subtests

#1
Logical Reasoning (2 sections of 24-26 items each) Analyze short arguments, identify assumptions, draw valid conclusions, find flaws.
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#2
Analytical Reasoning / Logic Games (1 section, 22-24 items) Constraint-satisfaction puzzles. Make valid deductions from given rules.
Copyrighted
#3
Reading Comprehension (1 section, 26-28 items) Read dense argumentative passages; answer questions.
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#4
Writing Sample Take and defend a position on a given prompt. Not scored but sent to law schools.
Copyrighted

Sample Items (Illustrative)

Items are presented as multiple-choice questions or prompts requiring written responses. Logical Reasoning and Analytical Reasoning items typically have a single correct answer, while Reading Comprehension and Writing Sample items require more subjective responses.

Sample 1 · Logical Reasoning
A recent study found that students who study late at night perform better on exams. Therefore, studying late at night causes improved academic performance. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument?
Example response: Many students who study late at night also consume caffeine, which is known to improve alertness and performance.
Sample 2 · Analytical Reasoning / Logic Games
A gardener is planning a flower bed with roses, tulips, and daisies. The flower bed must contain exactly 3 roses, 2 tulips, and 1 daisy. The roses cannot be adjacent to each other. In how many different ways can the gardener arrange the flowers?
Example response: The correct arrangement would involve placing the roses in alternating positions with the other flowers, ensuring no two roses are adjacent.
Sample 3 · Reading Comprehension
Read the following passage: 'The Industrial Revolution marked a significant turning point in history. It transformed economies that had been based on agriculture and handicrafts into economies based on large-scale industry, mechanized manufacturing, and the factory system.' What is the author's main point in this passage?
Example response: The author is emphasizing the transformative impact of the Industrial Revolution on economic structures.
Sample 4 · Writing Sample
Consider the following situation: A city council is deciding whether to allocate funds to a new public library or to a community sports complex. Write an essay in which you argue for one option over the other.
Example response: A strong response would present a clear position, such as supporting the public library for its educational benefits, and provide logical reasoning and evidence to support this choice.

These are illustrative samples, not actual items from the protected test.

Source

All test materials and historical content on this page are transcribed from:

Educational Testing Service / Law School Admission Council (1948). Law School Admission Test (LSAT).

LSAT items are under LSAC (Law School Admission Council) copyright. We document the test's history.

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Historical test materials are obsolete and are not valid modern IQ assessments. This page is preserved for educational, research, and historiographic purposes.

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