how does society view the lsat? Forum

[romothesavior]

A smart college kid could walk into the LSAT and take it cold and do well. Quite a few people on TLS and elsewhere have either cold taken or PT'd 160+. Hell, I did, and I'm no genius. You basically have to be able to think, read, and reason. That's about it. It is a very "learnable" test, but breaking 150 or 160 is not hard for a smart kid, even with no prep. On the other hand, no one is walking into the MCAT cold with no background or prep at all and scoring even remotely well on it. Even a really, really smart person.

My pre-med science buddies could do respectably on the LSAT with no prep, while myself and my pre-law lib arts turdball friends couldn't score 30+ with a month to study.

It's not even close. MCAT >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> LSAT

[cc.celina]

Why is this thread still going on?
--ImageRemoved--

[sundance95]

Why is this thread still going on?
--ImageRemoved--

because you touch yourself at night

[VasaVasori]

.

[sundance95]

that's probably because pre law is a t^3 major

[cc.celina]

because you touch yourself at night

It's not funny unless it makes sense.

[sundance95]

because you touch yourself at night

It's not funny unless it makes sense.

you're one of those people who drops "that's what she said," aren't you?

[TERS]

bullshit

Your underlying premise is that since the MCAT requires one to study longer to achieve a good score, it is therefore more difficult than the LSAT, which one can score well on without studying for. You offer as evidence the fact that your friends majoring in arts couldn't score well on the MCAT with one month of studying, while your science buddies could score well on the LSAT with no studying. Brilliant

[smaug_]

I'm sorry, but people think that the LSAT and MCAT are comparable? This is pretty funny. I know a lot of people struggle getting their 170+ or 175+ score, but I have a hard time believing that people can make these comparisons earnestly. I've never looked at the MCAT and I'm certain it is more difficult than the LSAT.

[TERS]

I also agree that one shouldn't expect any comparison between the two to yield great insights. The two tests measure incredibly different skills: the MCAT measures your ability to comprehend and synthesize information that you've been studying all throughout undergrad, whereas the LSAT measures a skill that you have (hopefully) been using throughout undergrad but that you haven't likely formally studied to any significant degree (unless you're a philosophy major). They're just very different kinds of tests. Though, I'm sure the public believes the MCAT to be a harder test than the LSAT - and this seems to be more what the OP would be concerned about than whether one is objectively more difficult than the other.

Well said

[romothesavior]

I'm sorry, but people think that the LSAT and MCAT are comparable? This is pretty funny. I know a lot of people struggle getting their 170+ or 175+ score, but I have a hard time believing that people can make these comparisons earnestly. I've never looked at the MCAT and I'm certain it is more difficult than the LSAT.

A law student saying that the LSAT is harder than the MCAT is among the worst cases of sniffing one's own farts I can come up with. It is borderline insulting to pre-med students. The LSAT is a joke and law school admissions is a joke. It is rank idiocy to say the LSAT is harder.

I also agree that one shouldn't expect any comparison between the two to yield great insights. The two tests measure incredibly different skills: the MCAT measures your ability to comprehend and synthesize information that you've been studying all throughout undergrad, whereas the LSAT measures a skill that you have (hopefully) been using throughout undergrad but that you haven't likely formally studied to any significant degree (unless you're a philosophy major). They're just very different kinds of tests. Though, I'm sure the public believes the MCAT to be a harder test than the LSAT - and this seems to be more what the OP would be concerned about than whether one is objectively more difficult than the other.

Well said

So just to be clear, VV just said the MCAT is harder than the LSAT because "the LSAT measures a skill that you have (hopefully) been using throughout undergrad" (i.e., basic logic), whereas the MCAT involves the processing of voluminous information that is acquired through years of undergraduate study and then months of MCAT preparation. Sounds a lot like the "bullshit" you accused me of earlier. Mmkay.

Again, the LSAT is easier because it is testing you on basic concepts (reading and logic) that any college graduate should be at least somewhat proficient in. If you took five random students of "average college graduate intelligence" and had them take the LSAT and the MCAT, I would bet my entire life's worth of earnings their LSAT scores would be higher on the respective curve. If you gave them three months to study both tests, the results would be the same (LSAT score higher than MCAT), and they would see more improvement in their LSAT scores than in their MCAT scores because the LSAT is a faster learn.

I'm not sure what other metric you want me to refer to in terms of assessing difficulty, unless you're just using words in a nonsensical way.

[TERS]

So just to be clear, VV just said the MCAT is harder than the LSAT

He didn't even imply it.

Let me be clear: I don't think one test is harder than the other. My position is that the tests are sufficiently different that a comparison of their difficulty is futile.

Let me ask you a few questions: Is it more difficult to score perfect on the LSAT or on the MCAT? Is the MCAT more susceptible to studying than the LSAT--is one more likely to improve from their diagnostic on the MCAT than on the LSAT?

The premises on which you base your conclusion, even if they were true, do not lead to your conclusion. This is what I'm trying to get across to you.

[Tom Joad]

What does a perfect score have to do with anything?

[TERS]

What does a perfect score have to do with anything?

I don't think that if one test were harder to score perfect on that it would therefore make that test harder generally. I asked the question to advance my point that there are multiple ways to measure difficulty and one should consider this fact before using one measurement as the determining factor.

I'm pretttty much done with this though.

[Eberry]

Everyone in this thread seems to really enjoy arguing..............which means you're all going to be greaTTT lawyers!

[facile princeps]

A smart college kid could walk into the LSAT and take it cold and do well. Quite a few people on TLS and elsewhere have either cold taken or PT'd 160+. Hell, I did, and I'm no genius. You basically have to be able to think, read, and reason. That's about it. It is a very "learnable" test, but breaking 150 or 160 is not hard for a smart kid, even with no prep. On the other hand, no one is walking into the MCAT cold with no background or prep at all and scoring even remotely well on it. Even a really, really smart person.

My pre-med science buddies could do respectably on the LSAT with no prep, while myself and my pre-law lib arts turdball friends couldn't score 30+ with a month to study.

It's not even close. MCAT >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> LSAT

Not entering the debate because i have no idea how difficult the MCAT is, but this post is rubbish.

There are a great many tests that require specific knowledge in a certain area that no one would be expected to do well on cold. That does not mean they are more difficult than the LSAT.

I program web sites as a hobby. Give me your brightest kid and i promise you he/she wouldn't survive a basic PHP/ASP or Javascript quiz cold. That doesn't make said quizzes more difficult than the LSAT; it's just that if you don't know anything about what you're being quizzed on, intellectual capacity does not help much.

This thread (read: MCAT v LSAT debate) has been beaten to death.

[PeanutsNJam]

A smart college kid could walk into the LSAT and take it cold and do well. Quite a few people on TLS and elsewhere have either cold taken or PT'd 160+. Hell, I did, and I'm no genius. You basically have to be able to think, read, and reason. That's about it. It is a very "learnable" test, but breaking 150 or 160 is not hard for a smart kid, even with no prep. On the other hand, no one is walking into the MCAT cold with no background or prep at all and scoring even remotely well on it. Even a really, really smart person.

My pre-med science buddies could do respectably on the LSAT with no prep, while myself and my pre-law lib arts turdball friends couldn't score 30+ with a month to study.

It's not even close. MCAT >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> LSAT

I can do better cold on the LSAT than on an 8th grade German grammar quiz (percentile wise). Guess LSAT is easier than 8th grade German grammar. Someone could make a great flaw question out of this stimulus.

[DSman]

A smart college kid could walk into the LSAT and take it cold and do well. Quite a few people on TLS and elsewhere have either cold taken or PT'd 160+. Hell, I did, and I'm no genius. You basically have to be able to think, read, and reason. That's about it. It is a very "learnable" test, but breaking 150 or 160 is not hard for a smart kid, even with no prep. On the other hand, no one is walking into the MCAT cold with no background or prep at all and scoring even remotely well on it. Even a really, really smart person.

My pre-med science buddies could do respectably on the LSAT with no prep, while myself and my pre-law lib arts turdball friends couldn't score 30+ with a month to study.

It's not even close. MCAT >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> LSAT

LOL thats true with any knowledge based test. Which is why the comparison is idiotic. The fact is that most pre med kids actually spend the first 2 years of their university preparing for the MCAT even if they do not intend to write it. The basic chem, physics, o chem and bio courses that most science majors take are a significant portion of what the MCAT covers.

What you said can apply to many regular mid terms or finals for an undergrad class. Some dude could be exceptionally bright but if he walked into a 14th Century European History final exam, he would probably fail miserably but he would do decent on the LSAT. Therefore countless random undergrad classes have harder midterms than the lsat.

Also, not all of us "pre laws" majored in some pointless arts major.

[smaug_]

Guess LSAT is easier than 8th grade German grammar.

Sad thing is that you say this in jest, but this is probably true.

[PeanutsNJam]

Guess LSAT is easier than 8th grade German grammar.

Sad thing is that you say this in jest, but this is probably true.

8th grade German grammar. Not German grammar period. As in... a German class in an American middle school. Or even a German middle school.

[manofjustice]

Huh?

[LexLeon]

LOLOL

She was 'taken aback' because what you said sounds super cocky and maybe even a little douchey.

Basically, you think way too much about shit like this. Society doesn't give a shit, they were just trying to be nice and make you feel like you were doing something challenging.

Critica la multitud a personas que piensan. Pase por alto tanta paja.

[PeanutsNJam]

LOLOL

She was 'taken aback' because what you said sounds super cocky and maybe even a little douchey.

Basically, you think way too much about shit like this. Society doesn't give a shit, they were just trying to be nice and make you feel like you were doing something challenging.

Critica la multitud a personas que piensan. Pase por alto tanta paja.

[crumpetsandtea]

LOLOL

She was 'taken aback' because what you said sounds super cocky and maybe even a little douchey.

Basically, you think way too much about shit like this. Society doesn't give a shit, they were just trying to be nice and make you feel like you were doing something challenging.

Critica la multitud a personas que piensan. Pase por alto tanta paja.

我不知道你在说什么。我不会说西班牙语。

[beautyistruth]

Somebody should ask the LSAC to turn this debate into a RC passage. Would love that a whole lot more than reading about the Canadian Auto WOrkers' Legal Services Plan :/