4. If either the ABA or the law schools continue to require a “valid and reliable admission test” what test or tests should be required? Should the LSAT be the only game in town?
The general requirement of a “valid and reliable admission test” is not a specific requirement to use the LSAT. (It is true that the ABA rules require a law school to demonstrate that another test is valid and reliable.) I predict that there will be competitors to the LSAT– and it is high time. Continue reading
The LSAT, Law School Admission, and Role The LSAT Plays in Law School Admission
– John Richardson, Toronto Canada
The LSAT is required by almost every law school in the United States and Canada. (It is interesting that the law schools in Michigan, Illinois and Alabama have not required the LSAT in certain circumstances. It is unclear how this is consistent with the ABA
rules.)
Let’s begin with some sentiment from the mainstream media:
“Yet it’s well-known among law school applicants that many Canadian schools sort their applications into piles by LSAT score and simply axe off those below a certain percentile. How many brilliant future lawyers are lost below that line, who, for one reason or another, simply can’t handle the LSAT?
It seems to me that there’s some room here for a Canadian law school to set itself apart by announcing a new, more holistic approach to admissions by waiving the LSAT requirement and perhaps doing something like having admissions interviews, which no Canadian law school does, instead, on top of using references and personal statements and extra-curriculars and undergraduate performance. If not for a whole
entering class, then perhaps schools could set aside a certain portion of first-year seats for applicants that do not require the LSAT, like the University of Michigan law school did in 2008. Continue reading
When you prepare for the LSAT it is essential to use actual LSAT questions. The individual test books are available for purchase from LSAT. The most economical way to purchase the tests is in books of 10. At the present time LSAT has released:
– 10 Actual LSATs (Tests 9 – 18)
– 10 More Actual LSATs (Tests 19 – 28)
– The Next 10 Actual LSATs (Tests 29 – 38)
In September 2009, I blogged that LSAT would be releasing a new book of 10 LSATs.
The wait is over – just in time for you to prepare for the June 6, 2011 LSAT. I just receive an email from Amazon announcing that on March 1, 2011, LSAT will be releasing:
This book will be essential for your LSAT Preparation. We are including it with all of our Toronto LSAT Preparation Courses. It includes LSAT PrepTests 52 – 61 which are the LSAT tests from September 2007 to October 2010. The June 2007 LSAT is available as a free free LSAT download from Law Services.
The Secret Language of The LSAT (Not) – LSAT Quantifiers
It’s important that LSAT courses, LSAT tutors and third party LSAT books justify their existence. Therefore, LSAT courses and books focus on every conceivable aspect of the LSAT.
The bottom line is that the LSAT is a test of reading and reasoning in context. High LSAT test scores require effective reading and a heightened awareness of language. Given that the LSAT is a reading test, difficulty is to be presumed. There are certain instances where language distracts test takers, creates huge anxiety, and provokes endless discussion. One such area is the use of “quantifiers” on the LSAT. Here is an email that I received from a student:
“Hi John:
I have a question regarding the words few and some. In LSAT world are they of equivalent meaning.
I know some indicates, in numerical terms, 1-100.
But what would few be in numerical terms.
Cheers,”
(Those interested in my response are invited to see:
http://lsattoronto.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/lsat-poll-meaning-of-the-word-few/)
Who could have imagined that a Law School Bound student, would be interested in this question?
What is a quantifier?
Even if you have not heard the word (it sounds boring), you can probably figure it out. It seems to be based on the word “quantity” which means “how many”. A “quantifier” is a word that that describes “how many” or “what proportion”. Quantifiers are common in everyday language. Here are some examples: “all”, “none”, “most”, ”many”, ”few”, “several”, “some”. These words are so common on the LSAT that at least one (that means a minimum of one, but does not preclude all) scholar has written an essay about the use of quantifiers on the LSAT. For your reading pleasure I refer you to:
http://nlp.stanford.edu/projects/nlkr/scoper.pdf Continue reading