LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades Forum

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Gifted Hands

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LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by Gifted Hands » Wed May 25, 2016 11:39 am

I go to a school where I am 2 points above the top 25th percentile and ended up right at the top 25%.

I assume it's more closely correlated than this site would have ppl believe.

Would like some anecdotes for data

J90

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by J90 » Wed May 25, 2016 11:45 am

Look, a sample size of 1!

As far as my T6 goes, LSAT means nothing. Everyone's past some threshold point where they're all equally capable of learning how to take some test and engage with the material. There are people with full rides who had 1L grades under median, and not for lack of effort.

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emkay625

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by emkay625 » Wed May 25, 2016 11:51 am

Gifted Hands wrote:I go to a school where I am 2 points above the top 25th percentile and ended up right at the top 25%.

I assume it's more closely correlated than this site would have ppl believe.

Would like some anecdotes for data
Statistically speaking though this implies an even distribution of LSAT scores.....I highly doubt that's the case. If you are 2 points above the 75th % LSAT score you are actually most likely in the top 5% of LSAT scores at the school or somewhere if I were guessing, maybe higher. But there's no way to know. What we DO know is that since you're 2 points about the 75th, you actually would have underperformed if there is a correlation; since you were above 75th percentile for LSAT score but exactly at it for 1L grades.

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Good Guy Gaud

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by Good Guy Gaud » Wed May 25, 2016 11:53 am

my 1L grades were shit and I was likely in top 5% of LSAT scores at my school

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First Offense

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by First Offense » Wed May 25, 2016 12:04 pm

This is the type of thing where anecdotes are worse than useless. Data shows a correlation, but it's not a 1:1 correlation.

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Good Guy Gaud

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by Good Guy Gaud » Wed May 25, 2016 12:06 pm

First Offense wrote:This is the type of thing where anecdotes are worse than useless. Data shows a correlation, but it's not a 1:1 correlation.
you tellin me correlations ain't causations brah??

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First Offense

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by First Offense » Wed May 25, 2016 12:08 pm

Good Guy Gaud wrote:
First Offense wrote:This is the type of thing where anecdotes are worse than useless. Data shows a correlation, but it's not a 1:1 correlation.
you tellin me correlations ain't causations brah??
I said no such thing!

philepistemer

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by philepistemer » Wed May 25, 2016 12:18 pm

emkay625 wrote:
Gifted Hands wrote:I go to a school where I am 2 points above the top 25th percentile and ended up right at the top 25%.

I assume it's more closely correlated than this site would have ppl believe.

Would like some anecdotes for data
Statistically speaking though this implies an even distribution of LSAT scores.....I highly doubt that's the case. If you are 2 points above the 75th % LSAT score you are actually most likely in the top 5% of LSAT scores at the school or somewhere if I were guessing, maybe higher. But there's no way to know. What we DO know is that since you're 2 points about the 75th, you actually would have underperformed if there is a correlation; since you were above 75th percentile for LSAT score but exactly at it for 1L grades.
That is not how correlation works.

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emkay625

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by emkay625 » Wed May 25, 2016 12:32 pm

philepistemer wrote:
emkay625 wrote:
Gifted Hands wrote:I go to a school where I am 2 points above the top 25th percentile and ended up right at the top 25%.

I assume it's more closely correlated than this site would have ppl believe.

Would like some anecdotes for data
Statistically speaking though this implies an even distribution of LSAT scores.....I highly doubt that's the case. If you are 2 points above the 75th % LSAT score you are actually most likely in the top 5% of LSAT scores at the school or somewhere if I were guessing, maybe higher. But there's no way to know. What we DO know is that since you're 2 points about the 75th, you actually would have underperformed if there is a correlation; since you were above 75th percentile for LSAT score but exactly at it for 1L grades.
That is not how correlation works.
I'm trying to point out what's wrong with OP's assumption. OP seems to think that bc he was top 25% in LSAT scores and and at exactly top 25% in 1L grades, there is a strong correlation. I'm simply trying to point even if there was such a thing, he actually underperformed, as he is probably sitting well above top 25% in LSAT scorers in his 1L class.

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Avian

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by Avian » Wed May 25, 2016 9:14 pm

LSAC will be the first to tell you that the correlation is not perfect. Instead of anecdotes, here's some actual data. But I will say that I was below the 50th percentile for LSAT at my school and I'm graduating around top 10%. As you can clearly see, this single data point conclusively disproves your theory. :wink:
The correlation between LSAT scores and first-year law school grades varies from one law school to another (as does the correlation between GPA and first-year law school grades). During 2014, validity studies were conducted for 178 law schools. Correlations between LSAT scores and first-year law school grades ranged from .19 to .56 (median is .38)
http://www.lsac.org/jd/lsat/your-score/ ... erformance

cheaptilts

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by cheaptilts » Wed May 25, 2016 9:21 pm

AA URM who didn't break my T14's median on two takes and ended up being in the top 6-10 people in the class

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RareExports

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by RareExports » Wed May 25, 2016 9:27 pm

I think it varies a lot by school, too. LSAT scores reveal ability to think logically in a short period of time, and/or ability to really game a test. At some schools, being able to accurately recite and apply the law is sufficient to get good grades, while at others, strong analytical abilities are also important. At some schools the LSAT range is also much wider. At a school with a 168 median and 167-169 quartiles, LSAT probably does not correlate much with grades, but at a school with a 168 median and 172-164 it might correlate more.

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Clearly

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by Clearly » Wed May 25, 2016 9:37 pm

You know LSAC has actual data on this right? Like correlation percentages and shit, right?

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Hand

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by Hand » Wed May 25, 2016 9:38 pm

Clearly wrote:You know LSAC has actual data on this right? Like correlation percentages and shit, right?
I assume OP doesn't care about that and just wanted to have this opportunity for a (rather pathetic) humblebrag

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TLSModBot

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by TLSModBot » Wed May 25, 2016 9:51 pm

My LSAT was OKish and my grades were OKish - we've got a sample size of 2 now let's call it.

felinafelina

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by felinafelina » Wed May 25, 2016 11:03 pm

I was 1 point below the median for my school (T20) and I received grades in the top 10% my 1L year. There's another sample for you. No correlation. Even though I was consistently PTing in the mid 170s, I wasn't able to get that score when I finally took the LSAT. I think a lot of people who end up out-performing their LSAT scores during their 1L year were similar to me. Had the potential to score higher but just didn't for whatever reason.

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sublime

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by sublime » Wed May 25, 2016 11:08 pm

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Gifted Hands

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by Gifted Hands » Thu May 26, 2016 12:29 pm

sublime wrote:
Hand wrote:
Clearly wrote:You know LSAC has actual data on this right? Like correlation percentages and shit, right?
I assume OP doesn't care about that and just wanted to have this opportunity for a (rather pathetic) humblebrag

Well, if you were top quarter at a lower T1, wouldn't you brag about it?
can we establish if this is good or not on TLS. I honestly thought that was low for this site. hence not meant to be a brag

lavarman84

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by lavarman84 » Fri May 27, 2016 12:33 am

felinafelina wrote:I was 1 point below the median for my school (T20) and I received grades in the top 10% my 1L year. There's another sample for you. No correlation. Even though I was consistently PTing in the mid 170s, I wasn't able to get that score when I finally took the LSAT. I think a lot of people who end up out-performing their LSAT scores during their 1L year were similar to me. Had the potential to score higher but just didn't for whatever reason.
I'm sure the same thing could be said for many of the people who didn't outperform their LSAT score.

Hikikomorist

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by Hikikomorist » Fri May 27, 2016 1:29 am

It would be interesting to see correlation studies on diagnostic scores and 1L grades, simply to determine what effect, if any, significant LSAT preparation has on its predictive value.

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stego

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Re: LSAT Correlation with 1L Grades

Post by stego » Fri May 27, 2016 4:43 am

First Offense wrote:
Good Guy Gaud wrote:
First Offense wrote:This is the type of thing where anecdotes are worse than useless. Data shows a correlation, but it's not a 1:1 correlation.
you tellin me correlations ain't causations brah??
I said no such thing!
CORRELATION CAUSES CAUSATION

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