The Law School Admission Test, or LSAT, is the standardized test required for admission to most law schools. It’s not a test of what you know, but rather how you think. It's designed to assess skills like reading comprehension, logical reasoning, and analytical reasoning, all of which are critical for success in law school and the legal profession.

The test consists of several timed sections of multiple-choice questions, plus an unscored writing sample. Let's look at each part.

Your LSAT score is determined by three types of multiple-choice sections. Each section is 35 minutes long. You will encounter four scored sections on test day: two Logical Reasoning sections, one Analytical Reasoning section, and one Reading Comprehension section. There is also an unscored, experimental section that could be any of the three types.

Logical Reasoning This section tests your ability to analyze, evaluate, and complete arguments. Each question presents a short passage, followed by a prompt asking you to do things like identify an argument's main point, find its flaw, or strengthen or weaken it. Because you get two of these sections, Logical Reasoning accounts for about half of your total score.

Analytical Reasoning Often called 'Logic Games,' this section measures your ability to understand a system of relationships and draw logical conclusions. You'll be given a scenario with a set of rules or conditions—for example, ordering tasks or assigning people to groups. You then answer a series of questions based on that setup. This skill is key for legal work, which often involves applying rules to a set of facts.

Reading Comprehension Here, you'll read dense, scholarly passages and answer questions about them. The goal is to test your ability to read critically, draw inferences, and understand complex texts. The passages cover a range of subjects in law, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. You'll get one section with about four passages, each with a set of questions.

In addition to the multiple-choice questions, you'll complete a writing sample. This portion of the test is called LSAT Argumentative Writing.

It's an unscored, 35-minute essay where you're presented with a decision and two criteria. Your task is to argue for one of two options over the other. There's no right or wrong choice; what matters is the quality and clarity of your argument. While it doesn't affect your score, law schools receive your writing sample and use it to assess your writing skills. You can complete the writing sample online from home, separate from your multiple-choice test day.

Your final LSAT score is based on the total number of questions you answer correctly across the four scored sections. This 'raw score' is then converted to a scaled score ranging from 120 to 180. This scaling process ensures that scores are comparable across different test administrations, regardless of slight variations in difficulty.

Time to review what you've learned about the test's structure.