Since 1982, LSAT Writing® has been a part of the LSAT®, providing prospective law students the opportunity to demonstrate their argumentative writing skills. These skills include the ability to organize evidence into a position and to argue logically in writing that is structurally sound. Although each law school uses LSAT Writing samples in its own way, most law schools view LSAT Writing as an important part of their holistic admission process and for that reason do not receive an applicant’s score on the multiple-choice portion of the LSAT until an LSAT Writing sample has been completed.
As the legal profession continues to evolve, there is increasing need for prospective law students to develop strong analytical and argumentative writing skills. The LSAT Writing prompt has been redesigned to give a clearer, more authentic writing purpose than the former “decision based” LSAT Writing prompt. The new prompt will become part of the LSAT starting with the August 2024 test administration and will be available for August 2024 test takers beginning on July 31.
What’s changing?
This new approach aims to assess your ability to construct a clear argument based on a variety of evidentiary sources. You will be presented with a debatable issue along with different perspectives that provide additional context. These perspectives, each of which is conveyed in a few sentences, are representative of a system of beliefs or values. Together, the perspectives illustrate competing ideologies and arguments around a particular issue. You will then draft an argumentative essay in which you take a position while addressing some of the arguments and ideas presented by the other perspectives.
Given the additional reading required, we will be adding 15 minutes to the LSAT Writing test. You can use this time to prepare to write your essay using guided prewriting analysis questions and take notes using the digital note-taking tool provided in the testing environment. These questions are designed to help you analyze the various perspectives and generate productive ideas for your essay.
You will have a total of 50 minutes — 15 minutes for prewriting analysis and 35 minutes for essay writing — to complete the updated LSAT Writing prompt.
Will I be able to practice?
You can practice now with the sample LSAT Argumentative Writing Prep, which is available in LawHub’s LSAT Test Prep Library under August 2024 Admin Test Format. Use it to get familiar with the new approach and take practice sessions in the real LSAT Writing test interface, including the timing and digital note-taking functions you will experience during the actual test.