LSAT Scores
LSAT Scores: LSAT scores are incredibly important for students wishing to be admitted to law schools. The equation is simple - the higher a student scores on the LSAT, the better their chances of getting into a competitive law school. Schools usually combine students' LSAT scores with their GPA to create a composite index. Different schools give different amounts of weight to the LSAT score. Schools often rate each of their candidates with a single number and decide on a minimum number an applicant needs in order to be considered. Many law schools make the LSAT score the biggest single factor in admissions.
If a student takes the LSAT more than once, most law schools average the two scores. This means that a low score on one exam can have devastating consequences that may be impossible to erase. In short, scoring low can disqualify students as candidates for law school.
The first step to getting those coveted high scores on the LSAT is understanding the scoring system itself. First, the testing service determines how many correct responses the student gave on the test. They do not deduct anything for wrong answers, so it is crucial for test-takers to answer all questions. They then convert the raw score to something known as a scale score, which ranges from 120 to 180. This accounts for differences in individual question difficulty and other factors. Students do not receive scores for the individual sections.
The LSAT is not perfect. And to caution law schools from treating tiny differences in test scores as actual differences between applicants, the testing service reports score bands instead of just one number. The bands are usually 7 points plus or minus the test-taker's score. When students take more than one LSAT and the scores are averaged, the testing service reports smaller score bands because they have more information about that student and thus a smaller margin of error.
In order to place students in relation to their competition, law schools use percentile ranks in addition to the band scores. For example, a percentile rank of 70% means that the student scored better than 70% of their peers and worse than 30%. Interestingly, in order to score perfectly on the LSAT, students do not need to answer every question correctly. In order to place in the 90th percentile, a student would have to get about 3 out of every 4 questions correct. To place in the 75th percentile, a student would need to respond to 2 out of every 3 questions correctly. And if a student answered half of the questions correctly, they would place in the 40th percentile.
There are a few reasons the LSAT score is so critical in the admissions process. They have to do with the unreliable nature of the other admission factors. GPAs of different students from different undergraduate universities are hard to compare objectively. Some classes in which students received top grades may not be applicable to the law profession. Essays on applications may not accurately reflect the student as far as personality traits and academic excellence. Personal references are not objective and are also extremely hard to compare. So applicants to law school are stuck with the LSAT. Fortunately, it is possible to prepare effectively for the exam and excel on test day.
