Is The LSAT Harder Now Than It Used To Be?

Is The LSAT Harder Now Than It Used To Be?: You’ve studied the past 40 released LSATs in minuscule detail. Countless hours of your time has been spent in the library. You feel like you have mastered every facet of the LSAT. Then, when test day comes, you leave the testing room befuddled. That test seemed harder than anything given in the past! How unfair is it that you sat for the particular exam! Believe it or not, this is a common reaction from LSAT takers. But is the LSAT harder now than it used to be? Read further to see our take!

Is The LSAT Harder Now Than It Used To Be?

1. How can we tell if the LSAT is harder?

LSAC is very transparent about their scoring system for the LSAT. There is no special weight or partial points for any questions. Rather, you add up the total amount you answered correctly to get your raw score, and then use that to find out your overall score. The LSAT is graded on a curve, which is revealed when you receive your score. So, we can answer the question “Is the LSAT harder now?” by looking at the curve over a period of time. If the average amount of points it takes to get, say, a 150 changes drastically, we can deduce that the LSAT either became easier or harder to pass. So, let’s see how everything breaks down, and if that makes the LSAT harder now.

2. Looking back, how has the curve changed over time?

As previously stated, LSAC publishes the raw score curve for every LSAT, beyond the undisclosed LSAT in February. So, to see how the LSAT curve changes over time, I compared what raw score it took to get a 150, 160, and 170 on the LSAT from PrepTests 72 through 81. Here is the breakdown:

PrepTest 72 (June 2014 )

150: 55-56 correct
160: 72-73 correct
170: 88 correct

PrepTest 73 (September 2014)

150: 56-57 correct
160: 74 correct
170: 89 correct

PrepTest 74 (December 2014)

150: 56-57 correct
160: 74 correct
170: 89 correct

PrepTest 75 (June 2015)

150: 56 correct
160: 74-75 correct
170: 90 correct

PrepTest 76 (October 2015)

150: 56-57 correct
160: 73-74 correct
170: 89 correct

PrepTest 77 (December 2015)

150: 57 correct
160: 74-75 correct
170: 89-90 correct

PrepTest 78 (June 2016)

150: 54-55 correct
160: 73-74 correct
170: 90-91 correct

PrepTest 79 (September 2016)

150: 56-57 correct
160: 74-75 correct
170: 89-90 correct

PrepTest 80 (December 2016)

150: 55-56 correct
160: 74-75 correct
170: 90-91 correct

PrepTest 81 (June 2017)

150: 55-56 correct
160: 75-76 correct
170: 92 correct

So, as you can see, the raw score needed to get a particular score has not varied by 2-3 points at any point over the last 3+ years. In fact, these scores have not varied much in the last 7 years. We’ll spare you another list of numbers, but analyzing the curve back to PrepTest 62 (December 2010), these scores still hold true. It is actually quite remarkable that LSAC is able to keep these scores relatively consistent while administering the test 4 times each year. So, the LSAT tends to be of comparable difficulty, according to results, from administration to administration. Therefore, the answer to the question “Is the LSAT hard now?” is no!

3. OK, so how can we account for [insert random really tough Logic Games/Reading Comprehension/Logical Reasoning section] on a specific LSAT?

Most people tend to remember a particularly tough section on a specific LSAT, and think that must massively affect the curve. We most often hear about tough Logic Games sections after the fact. However, just because a specific section on one LSAT is difficult doesn’t mean the curve will change much. For example, in our opinion, the two toughest Logic Games sections on recent LSATs were PrepTest 72 and PrepTest 79. Both had transpositional games that really threw takers for a loop. Yet, neither really strayed from the curve. Why?

The answer is pretty evident when you think about it. LSAC develops the test and knows when it is giving a particularly tough section. Whether consciously or not, this tends to make one of the other sections more taker-friendly (notice we avoid the term easy since nothing about the LSAT is made to be easy!). PrepTest 72’s Reading Comprehension section was not as difficult as other ones we’ve seen. The passages were fairly straightforward and non-esoteric, which helps many takers. LSAC doesn’t reveal how they develop the test. They do, however, advise they strive to “equate” scores from test to test. So, this means they want someone who scores a 150 to consistently score a 150 on every LSAT. And, looking at the data, they’ve been very successful at it!

4. So, why do I feel like the LSAT is harder now?

We really chalk this up to how much time students spend with old PrepTests. If you take the same test multiple times, from when you are first starting to practice to when you take full, timed exams, you will inevitably become very familiar with the material, even if you don’t have it memorized. On test day, although the concepts and approach will be the same, you’ll be presented with new material. This new material always seems much more difficult on test day than it does during your prep, regardless of how closely you emulate testing conditions. So, it’s not that you weren’t prepared or ready. It’s just that you’ve never seen the exact testing material before!

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