International (unpublished) curve

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• 1 Like

  FixedDice Member

  October 2018 edited October 2018 1804 karma

  As far as my knowledge is concerned, the LSAT is equated, not curved. Each test's raw and scaled scores are adjusted before its administration in such way that a candidate would receive (relatively) consistent scores, provided that his or her skills don't change significantly. In other words, the scores are kind of predetermined.

  Therefore, the number of candidates has absolutely nothing to do with scores, so scores shouldn't differ significantly between international and domestic (for lack of a better word) LSATs.
• 1 Like

  LSAT_Wrecker Member ⭐

  October 2018 edited October 2018 4850 karma

  Adding to @FixedDice 's comments, I also believe the "scaling" that happens is across the sum total of the last three years of testing (both US and international), not against the number of people that show up to any one sitting of any LSAT.

  ETA: 1st result of a google search of "how is a LSAT score scaled"

  https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/help/scale.cfm
• akistotle Member ⭐ 🍌🍌

  October 2018 edited October 2018 9382 karma

  @stratocaster said:
  Is there much known about how scores differ between an unpublished/international LSAT compared to the typical one done that has a curve? If less people take it would that not mean that a raw score/scale score on an international test isn't completely comparable to one done in the US?

  @FixedDice is right; the LSAT isn't actually scored to a curve, which means that the LSAT isn't curved on how test takers perform on the day of one LSAT administration. Taking the LSAT among a lower-scoring pool does not give you an advantage.

  It goes through a statistical process called test equating.

  Raw scores are converted to an LSAT scale that ranges from 120 to 180, with 120 being the lowest possible score and 180 the highest possible score. This is done through a statistical procedure known as equating, a method that adjusts for minor differences in difficulty between test forms.

  https://www.lsac.org/jd/lsat/your-score

  Pre-equating is a statistical method used to adjust for minor fluctuations in the difficulty of different test forms so that a test taker is neither advantaged nor disadvantaged by the particular form that is given.

  https://www.lsac.org/jd/lsat/policies/challenging-lsat-questions
• stratocaster Free Trial Member

  October 2018 76 karma

  Thanks everyone for the replies and useful links! I did some quick reading pertaining to the topic but I couldn't find out much specifically about unpublished tests (I should have looked harder or extrapolated). It definitely makes sense that international scores are the same as domestic tests, otherwise you could just fly overseas for an easy boost in score. Fortunately for where I want to go I only need a 150, fingers crossed I get that