Using LSAT practice tests to achieve high scores on the LSAT

Before looking at how to get maximum benefit from LSAT practice tests it is worth describing what you can expect in the LSAT exam.

1. What is the LSAT?
2. Why is it important?
3. Using LSAT practice tests to achieve a high score
4. What is the structure of the LSAT exam?
5. How is the test administered?

1. What is it?
Law schools have used the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) as part of the admission process since 1948. It tests your critical reading and analytical thinking skills as a measure of how you will respond to training in law. The final LSAT score, which is in a range from 120 to 180, provides a method of measuring your overall ability to succeed in the first year of law school.

2. Why is it important?
The score that you achieve on the LSAT can directly influence whether or not you are accepted into the law school of your choice. The final LSAT score is a highly correlated predictor of how well you will perform in your first year of law school. The LSAT and the GPA scores combined offer the best predictor of law school performance and many law schools use an index combining these in the admissions process.

Many law schools use the LSAT score as the single most important factor in deciding who gets admitted. The LSAT score can also be used as a means of reducing the number of applications to a more manageable level.

Once you have chosen the law schools that you wish to study at, you should find out their median LSAT ranges and any LSAT score requirements that they may have. For example, the top 10 law schools tend toward candidates in the top 10%, i.e. those with an LSAT score of at least 164.

As all the ABA accredited law schools use the LSAT score you must make sure that you are well prepared to achieve a high score. The best way to do this is to use LSAT practice tests.

3. Using LSAT practice tests to achieve a high score
Feedback from LawSchools360.com visitors has confirmed that Kaplan's free LSAT practice tests are the most effective LSAT preparation available, as the detailed score report that you receive breaks down your performance in each area of the LSAT practice test and provides extensive tips on any further LSAT exam preparation you may need.

We highly recommend that you complete the Kaplan LSAT practice tests and study the explanations given for each answer, as our visitors have confirmed that preparing with the use of these LSAT practice tests is the key to success.

Some key facts about LSAT scores that are worth bearing in mind when you are completing the LSAT practice tests:

• The LSAT scores are determined by how many questions you answer correctly and there is no penalty for a wrong answer in the LSAT exam. You should therefore complete all the questions, even though, in the final moments of your LSAT exam, some educated guesswork may be required.
• On average, responding correctly to 3 out of 4 LSAT questions will put you in the top 10 percent of all LSAT exam takers.
• On average, responding correctly to 2 out of 3 LSAT questions will put you in the top 25 percent of all LSAT exam takers.

Keep these in mind when you receive your feedback from the Kaplan LSAT practice tests and see where you can improve your score to achieve the LSAT score needed for the law school of your choice.

4. What is the structure of the LSAT exam?
The LSAT is a standardized test that is split into five 35 minute sections, namely two Logical Reasoning sections, one Logic Games, one Reading Comprehension and an experimental section in any of these sections to test new questions for future LSAT exam takers.

In each of the Logical Reasoning sections, you have between 24 and 26 questions testing your ability to analyze and evaluate arguments.

The objective of these sections, which taken together will account for 50% of your final LSAT score, is to test your ability to see and understand complex reasoning. This is a fundamental skill that you will have already developed and will use extensively in law school and during your law career.

In the Logic Games section, you have to answer between 23 and 24 Basic Logic, Systems of Order and Outcomes type questions.

The objective of this section is to measure your ability to understand a structure of relationships and to draw conclusions from it. The logic games questions simulate the analysis of relationships that you will have to perform when solving legal problems when you are at law school and in your future career.

In the Reading Comprehension section you have to complete between 26 and 28 questions covering the topics of Identifying Purpose, Identifying Structure and Ascertaining Main Idea.

The objective of the reading comprehension section is to test your ability to read in-depth, scholarly passages and understand the structure, purpose and logic of these.

5. How is the test administered?
The LSAT exam is still administered as a paper-and-pencil test so you can move around within a section to answer the questions that you find easiest first before returning to those you find more difficult.

An advantage of this is that you can print off LSAT practice tests and study under exam conditions as part of your preparation.

The LSAT exam is administered at test centers worldwide four times a year in February, June, October and December, and you should plan ahead to ensure that you can sit the LSAT exam well in advance of the law schools' admission deadlines.

If, for any reason, you need to repeat the LSAT exam (you can do so up to three times in any two year period) your scores from the latest test and all preceding LSAT exams within the past five years are provided to your chosen law school.

Click here for free LSAT practice tests from Kaplan