LSAT Basics

There is no all-night studying session that can prepare you for LSAT test day. Those cute little memorization techniques that helped you cruise through high school and college exams are useless here (and will be in law school, as well). That’s not what LSAT testing is about.

So what does the LSAT test?

The LSAT tests your ability to process information on the fly — an everyday skill required for law school. Ideally, any person off the street should be able to walk into an LSAT testing center and by digesting every word of instruction be able to earn a decent LSAT score.

This shouldn’t diminish the difficulty of the LSAT in any way. It takes hours upon hours of self-enforced LSAT testing before anyone should feel remotely comfortable on LSAT test day. Each section of the LSAT tests you in different ways, and each section deals with a different skill you’ll need in law school.

Logical Reasoning questions on the LSAT test perhaps the most important skill of anyone in law school (or practicing law, for that matter): the ability to see flaws in arguments. In this section of LSAT testing, test-takers are presented with a fallacious claim and have to find and analyze the error in logic. The only thing that’s missing is the jury.

Analytical Reasoning questions, also referred to as LSAT Logic Games, are the brainteasers of LSAT test day. In this division of LSAT testing, you are presented with a scenario and are required to make sense of it. A good score on this section during LSAT testing should prepare you for the daily problem-solving rigors of law school.

Reading Comprehension questions on the LSAT test your ability to digest and recall information. You’re going to be reading a lot of documents in law school and beyond — most of which is even more dense than the paragraphs you might read during LSAT testing. LSAT Reading Comprehension epitomizes the No. 1 rule when it comes to the Law School Admissions Test: concentration is key.