Along with the significant changes coming to the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), including the removal of the logic games section in August 2024, a new shift has been announced by LSAC, the organization responsible for the LSAT. As quoted in Above the Law, LSAC has decided to redesign the writing section of the test, intending to allow law schools to “better understand the writing capabilities of applicants for the purposes of their admission decisions.”
This alteration means the writing section will now last for 50 minutes, splitting this time into 15 minutes for prewriting analysis and 35 minutes for writing the essay. Glen Stohr, who has worked as an LSAT instructor for almost three decades and leads instructional design for Kaplan’s pre-law programs, drew attention to the implications of this alteration. He suggested that the extra 15 minutes of ‘pre-writing analysis’ would require students to strategize more on their argument as the section has substantially more reading.
Interestingly, Glen Stohr thinks this could be the beginning of even bigger changes, with the possibility of a scored essay to be shared with law schools. Traditionally, LSAT Writing has been an unscored essay from each applicant without a formal evaluation, providing law school admission officers a glimpse into their ability to draft a concise argumentative essay under timed conditions. However, LSAC plans to analyze the essays under the new format with the possibility for the writing sample to become a scored part of the application process.
Given this shift, law schools might focus even more on student essays due to the novelty of the format and the potential for scoring. This would mean LSAT takers have to be better prepared and improve their performance in the writing section. In response, Kaplan’s LSAT team is set to quickly update their course for the students to meet the requirements of the revised writing section.
These two major changes could significantly impact aspiring lawyers and the admissions process, therefore, early preparation is advised.