LSAT percentile question Forum

[cardinals03]

Is there a chart somewhere that shows where score distribution falls in relation to percentile? I made a 165 last Dec and that was 92%. Was June basically the same? I would assume that it would not change too much, but was just curious.

[mtbssd]

I'm pretty sure that weighted score are locked into percentages because of the LSAT curve meaning it won't change

[Manhattan LSAT Noah]

poke around on lsatblog - he's got a ton of useful charts - I'm sure he's got the closest thing to what you want

[PreLawMentor.com]

Mtbssd is correct: your scaled score (i.e. 150, 165, 170, 175) relates to a certain percentile and will correspond to the same percentile score year after year with almost no variation (45%, 93%, 98%, 99%, respectively). So, if someone scores a 170 on any test, they are probably a 98th percentile scorer. If someone scores a 165 on any test, they are probably in the 45th percentile.

There is a tiny amount of variation here, but you can consider scaled score (the # out of 180) as exactly the same as your percentile score. They are different numbers for the same thing: your performance compared to everyone else who took the same test.

On the other hand, the "raw score" you need to get a certain scaled score/percentile rank changes from test to test. Raw score is the number of questions you get right out of the 101 or so counted questions. So, if you get 75 questions right, your raw score is 75. But on one test this might mean you get a 163 while on another test you would get a 166. This is where the curve comes into play, to translate your raw score to the scaled score/percentage rank. The purpose is to make comparisons between students fair, even though they took different tests. Some tests are harder than others and this curve helps level the playing field from test to test.

I hope this helps.

MOD EDIT

[ggibelli]

Mtbssd is correct: your scaled score (i.e. 150, 165, 170, 175) relates to a certain percentile and will correspond to the same percentile score year after year with almost no variation (45%, 93%, 98%, 99%, respectively). So, if someone scores a 170 on any test, they are probably a 98th percentile scorer. If someone scores a 165 on any test, they are probably in the 45th percentile.

There is a tiny amount of variation here, but you can consider scaled score (the # out of 180) as exactly the same as your percentile score. They are different numbers for the same thing: your performance compared to everyone else who took the same test.

On the other hand, the "raw score" you need to get a certain scaled score/percentile rank changes from test to test. Raw score is the number of questions you get right out of the 101 or so counted questions. So, if you get 75 questions right, your raw score is 75. But on one test this might mean you get a 163 while on another test you would get a 166. This is where the curve comes into play, to translate your raw score to the scaled score/percentage rank. The purpose is to make comparisons between students fair, even though they took different tests. Some tests are harder than others and this curve helps level the playing field from test to test.

I hope this helps.

MOD EDIT

definitely wrong

[phillipjg]

My understanding:
How the raw score will be converted to 170 or 160 or whatever is determined before the test. The percentile is determined after the test. If the LSAC does a good job of equating the test, they're the same.

[JamMasterJ]

Mtbssd is correct: your scaled score (i.e. 150, 165, 170, 175) relates to a certain percentile and will correspond to the same percentile score year after year with almost no variation (45%, 93%, 98%, 99%, respectively). So, if someone scores a 170 on any test, they are probably a 98th percentile scorer. If someone scores a 165 on any test, they are probably in the 45th percentile.

There is a tiny amount of variation here, but you can consider scaled score (the # out of 180) as exactly the same as your percentile score. They are different numbers for the same thing: your performance compared to everyone else who took the same test.

On the other hand, the "raw score" you need to get a certain scaled score/percentile rank changes from test to test. Raw score is the number of questions you get right out of the 101 or so counted questions. So, if you get 75 questions right, your raw score is 75. But on one test this might mean you get a 163 while on another test you would get a 166. This is where the curve comes into play, to translate your raw score to the scaled score/percentage rank. The purpose is to make comparisons between students fair, even though they took different tests. Some tests are harder than others and this curve helps level the playing field from test to test.

I hope this helps.

MOD EDIT

definitely wrong

lol. Also, spaaaaammmm

[PreLawMentor.com]

Mtbssd is correct: your scaled score (i.e. 150, 165, 170, 175) relates to a certain percentile and will correspond to the same percentile score year after year with almost no variation (45%, 93%, 98%, 99%, respectively). So, if someone scores a 170 on any test, they are probably a 98th percentile scorer. If someone scores a 165 on any test, they are probably in the 45th percentile.

There is a tiny amount of variation here, but you can consider scaled score (the # out of 180) as exactly the same as your percentile score. They are different numbers for the same thing: your performance compared to everyone else who took the same test.

On the other hand, the "raw score" you need to get a certain scaled score/percentile rank changes from test to test. Raw score is the number of questions you get right out of the 101 or so counted questions. So, if you get 75 questions right, your raw score is 75. But on one test this might mean you get a 163 while on another test you would get a 166. This is where the curve comes into play, to translate your raw score to the scaled score/percentage rank. The purpose is to make comparisons between students fair, even though they took different tests. Some tests are harder than others and this curve helps level the playing field from test to test.

I hope this helps.

MOD EDIT

definitely wrong

OOPS. Typo there. A 165 is NOT 45th percentile! 150 is approximately 45th percentile while a 165 is about the 93rd percentile. If you look earlier in the same post, it makes this clear. My apologies and thanks for pointing that out. The explanation was all correct but the last example was off.

[Jeffort]

Mtbssd is correct: your scaled score (i.e. 150, 165, 170, 175) relates to a certain percentile and will correspond to the same percentile score year after year with almost no variation (45%, 93%, 98%, 99%, respectively). So, if someone scores a 170 on any test, they are probably a 98th percentile scorer. If someone scores a 165 on any test, they are probably in the 45th percentile.

There is a tiny amount of variation here, but you can consider scaled score (the # out of 180) as exactly the same as your percentile score. They are different numbers for the same thing: your performance compared to everyone else who took the same test.

On the other hand, the "raw score" you need to get a certain scaled score/percentile rank changes from test to test. Raw score is the number of questions you get right out of the 101 or so counted questions. So, if you get 75 questions right, your raw score is 75. But on one test this might mean you get a 163 while on another test you would get a 166. This is where the curve comes into play, to translate your raw score to the scaled score/percentage rank. The purpose is to make comparisons between students fair, even though they took different tests. Some tests are harder than others and this curve helps level the playing field from test to test.

I hope this helps.

MOD EDIT

definitely wrong

OOPS. Typo there. A 165 is NOT 45th percentile! 150 is approximately 45th percentile while a 165 is about the 93rd percentile. If you look earlier in the same post, it makes this clear. My apologies and thanks for pointing that out. The explanation was all correct but the last example was off.

Your epic fail goes well beyond a typo.



.

[3v3ryth1ng]

Raw score is the number of questions you get right out of the 101 or so counted questions. So, if you get 75 questions right, your raw score is 75. But on one test this might mean you get a 163 while on another test you would get a 166.

I remember that 75 raw = 166 scaled LSAT. That was the fabled "-20" curve. Somebody actually got a 186 that year. I'm crossing my fingers for an encore this year.

BTW, visit the experts at PreLawMentor.com! They know their stuff