June LSAT Had a ‘Surprise’ Section

Test takers were surprised to find an experimental fourth section on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) last month.

The new section, which didn’t count towards test takers’ scores, consisted of reformatted analytical reasoning questions and survey questions, Reuters reports. A spokesman for the Law School Admission Council tells Reuters that the modification was the first step towards a potential update, but much of the work is still in progress.

POSSIBLE REVAMP OF LOGIC GAMES SECTION

Some experts say the experimental section could mean a revamp of the logic games portion of the LSAT.

“My best guess is that they will try to simplify the [analytical reasoning] scenarios and have more of them,” Dave Killoran, chief executive officer of LSAT prep company PowerScore, tells Reuters.

Analytical reasoning questions typically appear in sets, with each set based on a single passage. The section is designed to test the understanding of how to apply logic to complex situations.

EXPERIMENTAL SECTION WON’T COUNT TOWARDS SCORE

LSAC says the experimental section on June’s exam doesn’t count towards test takers’ scores.

“We didn’t want to create stress or disrupt test takers,” spokesman Mark Murray tells Reuters.

But June test takers complained that the new section was unfair as it was disclosed after the three scored sections, when test takers had more focus and energy.

“While I applaud [the council] for trying to make a better test for the future, why have two different tests on the same day?” law school admissions consultant Mike Spivey tells Reuters.

Sources: Reuters, LSAC

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