How do LSAT score bands work? And in what way to they matter to an admissions officer?

Comments

• 2 Likes

  Justin R-1-1-1-1-1 Member

  February 2022 19 karma

  https://www.lsac.org/lsat/taking-lsat/lsat-scoring/lsat-score-bands

  That's an official statement from LSAC on the matter, you should check that out!
• 1 Like

  Chantal_2021 Member

  February 2022 31 karma

  Seconding Justin's comment, that link explains what the score bands are better than I could.

  I also had an 8-point spread, though for me I believe it's because that was my first LSAT, so they didn't have much data on me to narrow down that spread. Was this also your first LSAT?

  As for how admissions officers view that, I don't know. I'm guessing with a grain of salt since I haven't heard/seen any indication that score bands matter.
• 2 Likes

  Riddled Basins of Attention Member

  February 2022 114 karma

  Your score is what schools have to report and is all that matters. Score bands are just a fancy way of accounting for statistical variation in scores.

  Score bands have traditionally been +/-3, but that was for the 100 question test. The current LSAT only has 75 scored questions. Smaller sample sizes mean larger statistical variation so score bands moved from +/-3 to +/-4. It has nothing to do with individual performance.
• 1 Like

  mesposito886 Member

  February 2022 254 karma

  @"Riddled Basins of Attention" said:
  Your score is what schools have to report and is all that matters. Score bands are just a fancy way of accounting for statistical variation in scores.

  Score bands have traditionally been +/-3, but that was for the 100 question test. The current LSAT only has 75 scored questions. Smaller sample sizes mean larger statistical variation so score bands moved from +/-3 to +/-4. It has nothing to do with individual performance.

  Your username LOL
• LSATStudent-9 Member

  February 2022 257 karma

  @"Riddled Basins of Attention" Wasn't the 75 questions being scored only for FLEX LSATS? Isn't back to 100 questions being scored?
• HoRangYi Member

  February 2022 71 karma

  @"LSATStudent-9" said:
  @"Riddled Basins of Attention" Wasn't the 75 questions being scored only for FLEX LSATS? Isn't back to 100 questions being scored?

  nope.
• spm244 Member

  February 2022 24 karma

  @Chantal_2021 said:
  Seconding Justin's comment, that link explains what the score bands are better than I could.

  I also had an 8-point spread, though for me I believe it's because that was my first LSAT, so they didn't have much data on me to narrow down that spread. Was this also your first LSAT?

  As for how admissions officers view that, I don't know. I'm guessing with a grain of salt since I haven't heard/seen any indication that score bands matter.

  Yes, this was my first time taking. So, you're saying that score bands ARE individual, then? Not based on the test itself?
• Riddled Basins of Attention Member

  February 2022 114 karma

  @spm244 said:

  @Chantal_2021 said:
  Seconding Justin's comment, that link explains what the score bands are better than I could.

  I also had an 8-point spread, though for me I believe it's because that was my first LSAT, so they didn't have much data on me to narrow down that spread. Was this also your first LSAT?

  As for how admissions officers view that, I don't know. I'm guessing with a grain of salt since I haven't heard/seen any indication that score bands matter.

  Yes, this was my first time taking. So, you're saying that score bands ARE individual, then? Not based on the test itself?

  Again, score bands have nothing to do with individual performance and are simply a statistical description of score variability. All test-takers have the same "spread" for a given exam.