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RajJMahtani · 2026-08-12T03:21:37Z

How much weight do Law Schools put towards the Argumentative writing sample. I submitted one this past October when I took the LSAT. I took the August LSAT and I am debating id I should submit another Argumentative writing sample.

Honestly ... it really depends. When I worked in law admissions, I rarely stopped to read the LSAT writing section. This is before the change to argumentative writing. Back in the day, I knew that every LSAT writing prompt was about a) a person or organization who b) had a decision to make and had to consider c) Options 1 and 2 and d) here are some pros and cons for Options 1 and 2. That was it. As such, I never really found that I learned much from that. Could I learn that you were a good writer? Sure ... but couldn't I already learn that from your personal statement and your transcripts? But I found some colleagues really enjoyed reading this because it told them something else about you that wasn't elsewhere in the file.

Admittedly, the argumentative writing sample is a different beast. You're given some pieces of evidence and are asked to construct an argument. This is an actual (semi-)intellectual exercise. But the introduction of his section also coincided with the significant national increase in apps to law school. So admissions officers have far more apps to read in the same amount of time as before. Something has to give. And what I've found from chatting with folks still in admissions offices is that this is one thing that can easily go. But there are still those folks who appreciate reading this (and these are also the folks who are willing to spend an extra hour each day to read apps to make up for the extra time spent reading the LSAT writing section).

With all that said, my general advice is that if you wrote a reasonably coherent piece then you're fine. It's not worth the extra expense to retake this part of the LSAT. No one is admitted because of the quality of their LSAT writing section and no one is getting denied unless you COMPLETELY tank it.

1 comments

JacobBaska Admissions Strategy Expert
Edited Thursday, Aug 13

Honestly ... it really depends. When I worked in law admissions, I rarely stopped to read the LSAT writing section. This is before the change to argumentative writing. Back in the day, I knew that every LSAT writing prompt was about a) a person or organization who b) had a decision to make and had to consider c) Options 1 and 2 and d) here are some pros and cons for Options 1 and 2. That was it. As such, I never really found that I learned much from that. Could I learn that you were a good writer? Sure ... but couldn't I already learn that from your personal statement and your transcripts? But I found some colleagues really enjoyed reading this because it told them something else about you that wasn't elsewhere in the file.
Admittedly, the argumentative writing sample is a different beast. You're given some pieces of evidence and are asked to construct an argument. This is an actual (semi-)intellectual exercise. But the introduction of his section also coincided with the significant national increase in apps to law school. So admissions officers have far more apps to read in the same amount of time as before. Something has to give. And what I've found from chatting with folks still in admissions offices is that this is one thing that can easily go. But there are still those folks who appreciate reading this (and these are also the folks who are willing to spend an extra hour each day to read apps to make up for the extra time spent reading the LSAT writing section).
With all that said, my general advice is that if you wrote a reasonably coherent piece then you're fine. It's not worth the extra expense to retake this part of the LSAT. No one is admitted because of the quality of their LSAT writing section and no one is getting denied unless you COMPLETELY tank it.

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