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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowHalf of the 24,000 registered to take the Law School Admission Test on Monday will not be required to use a pencil.
The exam, which is a major hurdle to getting accepted into law school, is going digital. Instead of coloring in bubbles on a paper answer sheet, roughly 12,000 test-takers will be given tablets so they can tap, highlight and swipe their way through the five sections.
This marks the transition of the LSAT going from a paper to an electronic format. The Law School Admissions Council, which oversees the development, administration and scoring of the test, maintains the digital version is no different than its paper predecessor.
However, the LSAC is not plunging headfirst into the digital pool. The council is randomly giving half of the July test-takers the paper version in order to compare the paper and electronic scores to ensure the new format does not inadvertently give a boost or create a hinderance to any individual or group. As added insurance against any unforeseen problems or biases, the council will allow any of the July takers to cancel his or her score and retake the LSAT at no charge through April 2020.
At Indiana University Maurer School of Law, assistant dean of admissions Greg Canada sees the new format as a “positive step for the LSAT.”
In particular, going digital will enable the test-takers to avoid the nightmare scenario of misaligning the answers to the questions. This can happen when the examinee skips a question on the test but does not make the corresponding skip on the answer sheet. Then he or she does not realize the mistake until reaching question 50 on the exam, while only on number 49 on the answer sheet.
The digital LSAT aligns automatically by putting the questions and answers on the same screen. Also, a progress bar at the bottom flags any skipped questions to help the test-taker know what remains to be completed.
“My sense of it is this is going to be a benefit to the students,” Canada said.
The LSAC has posted on its website video tutorials and practice tests of the digital LSAT. Examinees will still have to prepare for the exam with the same intensity because the content and score will be the same. Also, regardless of whether the test is taken on paper or tablet, the final score is expected to remain unchanged, not improving or declining because of the format.
By the scheduled September 2019 exam date, all the LSAT takers will be given the test in the digital format. The electronic version will enable the test to be scored faster and, in turn, allow for the LSAT to be offered more times during the year.
Canada said the digital version represents the LSAT catching up to the present rather than breaking new ground.
He noted the switch to an electronic format comes as some law schools are accepting a score from Graduate Record Exam (GRE) — which has already transitioned to digital — in place of an LSAT score. The American Bar Association Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has been allowing law schools to use an alternative test for admissions as long as the schools keep track of how well the other exams predict student success in completing the J.D. program.
The days of arriving at a test center with a handful of pencils are seemingly coming to an end, but the nervousness and anxiety induced by the LSAT will likely not abate.
“We’re anticipating this really won’t change anything,” Canada said. “(We’ll) still see the same range of score and the same distribution of scores.”
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