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

spm244spm244 Member
in General 24 karma

I took the January LSAT and got a 170. It also says that my score band is 166-174. So I have some questions:

  1. What does this mean and in what way does it matter? Is this something admissions officers care about?

  2. I've seen score bands before, but they have usually been a much smaller range, +/- 2 or 3 points. What does it mean that mine is an 8 point spread?

  3. Did everyone that took the January LSAT have an 8 point spread? Or is it something specific to me that caused this 8 point spread?

Thank you all in advance for help with these questions!

Comments

  • 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!

  • Chantal_2021Chantal_2021 Member
    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.

  • 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.

  • mesposito886mesposito886 Member
    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-9LSATStudent-9 Member
    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?

  • HoRangYiHoRangYi Member
    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.

  • spm244spm244 Member
    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?

  • @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.

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