Analytical Reasoning Section Dropped from LSAT

If you want to go to law school, you’re likely studying to take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). The LSAT is the standardized test administered by the Law School Admissions Council which assesses a prospective student’s analytical reasoning, logical reasoning, and reading comprehension. 

Recently, the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) sent an email to U.S. law schools stating that, beginning in August 2024, analytical reasoning will no longer appear on the LSAT. Instead, the section will be replaced by an additional logical reasoning section. 

The decision to replace the analytical reasoning section stems from a 2019 settlement in which two blind test takers claimed that the section violates the Americans With Disabilities Act as blind test takers are unable to draw the diagrams necessary to complete the section. 

According to council president Kellye Testy, the new changes to the test will not change the scoring because both sections of reasoning test critical thinking skills and are scored the same way. 

Though the analytical reasoning section of the test is reported to be the hardest section of the test by most test takers, it should be noted that eliminating the section will not necessarily make the test any easier. The added section of logical reasoning will still be challenging to test takers and will still evaluate the critical thinking acumen necessary to excel in the legal profession. 

While this change might be good news for some test takers, Ivy Link advisors emphasize that the analytical reasoning section of the test is a highly coachable section with most Ivy Link students showing great improvement through tutoring. If you plan to apply to law school in the next 5 years (which is how long the LSAT scores are good for) you should consider taking the LSAT before August 2024. 

If you’re one of these prospective law school students, reach out to Ivy Link to learn more about our LSAT tutoring and Law School Advising programs.