The SAT Is Becoming More Like the LSAT

The SAT is undergoing a rare change.  Although the basic makeup of the test remains the same, it is making some fundamental changes.  The changes that are being made are making the SAT more like the LSAT.  In particular,  the SAT will focus more on reasoning, and less on memorizing vocabulary words, etc.

It seems the SAT has learned a good lesson from the LSAT.   The LSAT is not a memorization test.  It is a test that is designed to test reasoning skills.  One of the most profoundly misguided things that LSAT Prep students make (and many LSAT Prep books and courses improperly emphasize) is memorizing lots of things.  For example, LSAT Prep books and courses often waste students time by having them spend inordinate amounts of time memorizing what group or category a particular question falls under.

Why do these LSAT Prep materials and courses often do this?  One reason is that it has superficial appeal to students – by memorizing things, it feels like one is doing something.  However, the goal is to improve one’s LSAT score, not to spend excessive amounts of time learning things that are of virtually no value.

Another reason for this misguided emphasis may well be that many of the authors of LSAT prep books, and the founders of most LSAT Prep companies, have never been to law school.  As a result, they may fail to appreciate an officially stated purpose of the LSAT.  According to the LSAC (which administers the LSAT), the LSAT is designed to test legal reasoning skills.  In other words, the LSAT tests the type of skills regularly used by lawyers and law students.  Those legal skills do not involve excessive memorization and placing things into groups and categories.  One shouldn’t be prepping for the LSAT by doing that either.

So, what are the legal reasoning skills tested on the LSAT?  They involve the ability to understand and analyze arguments.  If you have picked up a LSAT book or taken an LSAT Prep course that focuses your attention heavily on memorizing, it’s time to rethink your LSAT Prep strategy.  Similarly, if you are spending inordinate amounts of time placing LSAT questions into “groups” or “categories,” you likely are not getting optimal training for the exam.   I believe ScoreItUp’s emphasis on comprehension and argument analysis, and not memorization, is a key reason ScoreItUp students frequently have had so much success on the exam.

One definitely can improve legal reasoning skills significantly.  However, before reaching one’s potential on the LSAT, one should understand what the LSAT actually tests and how to prepare most effectively for it.