When is a low LSAT score too low?

Certification: Test Prep LSAT - Law School Admission Test

The score you get in the LSAT exam is an important aspect. It is a part of the admission procedure which is going to be valued when you apply for your preferred choice. The well known LSAT score is surrounded with many questions and queries. But, we can try to understand the concept in order to clear up the confusions.

The LSAT score may vary in the range of a 120 to 185. The score of 150 may be considered as an average score. SO, it means that the candidates have to perform much better than the average score to get their seats in the top 20 law schools. The score below 150 is going to be considered as a really low score. 

Few important facts about the LSAT scores:

• There are many law schools that consider the average of the scores if the candidate attempted the test several times.
• Four of the objective type question sections count up.
• No points are deducted for the wrong answers or blank answers.
• Even though, the LSAT score is not the only factor considered at the time of applying to law schools.

A few years back, the changes made in the procedure for those candidates who took the test for more than once. So, now if the candidate attempts the test more than once is not a hazard as this used to be. The law schools also do not require to report the aggregate of all the scores but it appears on the scorecard.

On the other hand, the rule never bounds the law schools to use the highest score in the procedure of admission. It allows the law schools to use the average scores at the time of admissions. But if the candidates want the specific information about any law school, then they should call those schools. If the individuals want to take the LSAT test for more than one time, then they should think of it inquire about all the rules and policies related to it.

The scoring procedure:

The LSAT scoring received by the candidates is based on the questions answered as per the requirement and rules of the examination. The candidates do not receive any deduction for the wrong answers or if they leave the answers blank. The answers in the reasoning section carry the same points as the questions in the reading comprehension section. Similarly, the easy questions in the test carry the same points as the tough questions, that is why it is advised to skip the question you find hard and move on to the next question.

This raw score earned by an individual is considered as the final score for the test. This score is 120 at the low point on the scale and 180 at the high point. The examination administration converts the raw score into the final score. The procedure of converting the raw score into final score is termed as “equating”. We can take an example, if the first test is harder than the second test, the average score for the first test is considered as 155, then the candidates who will take the second test will get the benefit because they do not have to score greater than the previous average score. But the candidates should not worry about such things such as raw score or the equating of the scores because the law schools will never see the raw score.

The information about the LSAT scorecard:

When the candidate gets the report card for the exam after the process of registering, practicing and preparing for the exam the candidate takes the exam. After taking the exam, he gets the scorecard to see the result of the different challenges he faced during the examination process. So, it becomes  the most awaited credential during the whole process.

The different parts of the report are as follows

1. Candidate Report: The section  shows the personal as well as the operational information about the candidate. The information such as the candidate’s name, SSN number, the LSAT account information and the date on which the report issued.

2. Candidate Response Report: In this report, the response which is going to contribute to the final score and the other responses are also contained in this section. The questions which were not scored at the time of the test are not shown on the report. The report contains some special notations to show if any discrepancy is there.

3. Response Data: he question response is displayed which contains the date of the recent attempt of the candidate, the details of the questions attempted and the number of questions which are not scored on the test.

4. LSAT Score: The section contains the information related to the LSAT scores, percentile and the dates of the attempts of LSAT exam. The section displays the score bands in which the candidate has scored points. This score band is shown for all the attempts of the candidate. If the candidate has taken the test more than once, then he will see an average of the scores of every attempt.

However, it seems difficult to judge against GPAs from several other law schools. The LSAT is considered as the standard test and it is one of the most trusted and fair criteria under which they admit the candidates. There are few factors showing the exam essentially unequal. The LSAC recommends to the students that they should prepare for the LSAT in a proper manner. The individuals who can afford the expensive training institutions and have the capacity to pay the big amount of fees. The online courses are also very expensive, but they are affordable as compared to the classroom programs.