To LSAT not to LSAT that is the question

To The LSAT not to LSAT in Australia

The LSAT is the test in America every person has to take to enter into law school. Bit of history on the LSAT, it was designed be a standardize test, and GIs coming home after WWII were wanting to enter into law school. The Dean of Harvard University at the time wanted test to measure a person's abilities in the law school environment because they were getting applications from schools that were not well known. It has a scored scale from 120 to 180. It is composed of 5 sections and a writing sample. It contains 2 logical reasoning section,1 reading comprehension,1 logic games section and an experimental section. The experimental section can be a reading comprehension,logical reasoning or logic games. It has writing sample with it.  Very few people get 180 on the LSAT.



There are arguments for the LSAT and against the LSAT. I won't get into those arguments because it would take too much time to go through them all. The LSAT is a tool to help gain scholarship money and gain entrance into law school in the US and Canada.


There are many test prep companies charging anywhere from $200 USD to $6000 USD. Some claim they can help you score a 180 and many people don't end up getting the 180. There are people who get the 180 and get into tier 1 law schools and rack up a lot of student loan debt of $100,000.

There are students who can score a 180 on the LSAT and do very poorly in law school. There is talk in the US about doing way with the LSAT completely and using the GRE or GMAT instead of the LSAT or allow school to determine individually what standards are right for admission standard.


As for myself I scored a 167 on the real LSAT. My belief is the LSAT is a good tool for measuring ability to handle the law school environment. But, it should not be used to bolster school ranking as it has been done in US News and World Reports. I believe there much better law schools in Australia with JD degrees than rankings in US News and World Reports. The quality of legal education is far better in Australia than in the US. I praise Australian law schools for not getting mixed up with craziness that US law schools are doing. US law school are misrepresenting the job placement rates and misrepresenting how they won award and rank higher than some other schools. Some of the law schools will deceive prospective student and saying they won and rank better. There is no proof to back up their claim. 

There is one law school that requires an LSAT in Australia. It is University of Melbourne. From what I can tell it is being used the right way and not way in the US has been doing for decades. This is good overall. I congratulate University of Melbourne for using the LSAT the right way.
 


University of  Melbourne

In Australia, you do not have to take the LSAT gain entrance into law school. Although, it may change in the future. But for now, student can pursue a career in law by going to law school without taking an LSAT. They do really well in law school. They come better qualified than the lawyers coming the US and US law schools.

If you are going to take the LSAT, do it with recognize and well establish test prep company that is reasonable affordable and practice with real LSAT test books. You can purchase them online at LSAC.org or at Amazon or Ebay. I put together a page for those interest in the LSAT.