Why is the LSAT removing Logic Games in 2024?
On October 18, 2023, LSAC announced a change to the LSAT’s future administrations. Starting in August 2024, the LSAT will no longer include a Logic Games section. In its place, there will be an additional scored Logical Reasoning section.
This change comes in the wake of accessibility concerns regarding the Logic Games section. In 2019, LSAC settled a lawsuit with two blind test-takers who argued that the diagramming necessary to solve Logic Games is not possible for many people who are visually impaired. Under the settlement, LSAC had four years to implement the change—so this is right on schedule.
Will the new LSAT be more difficult?
Before answering that question, I want to get something straight right off the bat: the LSAT was always going to be really hard. It was a hard test before this change, and it will be a hard test after this change.
According to LSAC’s research, removing a Logic Games section and adding another Logical Reasoning section won’t impact overall scoring. LSAC expects the same proportion of people to get any given score. But that doesn’t mean that it won’t impact your score. If you excel at Logic Games and struggle with Logical Reasoning, you might score worse on the new test. Likewise, if you’re not great at Logic Games but score well on the other sections, this change will benefit you. In other words, the change won’t impact score trends, but it might affect who gets what score.
Something else that hasn’t changed? Your competitors haven’t. In other words, you’re still up against the same group of people who are taking the LSAT and applying to law school—and you’re all going to be handed a test with two Logical Reasoning sections and no Logic Games. However this impacts your odds, it’s impacting everyone else’s, too.
What will the changes to the 2024 LSAT mean for me?
If you’re definitely taking the LSAT before August 2024, the changes to the format will mean nothing for you. Keep studying with Logic Games (which will stay available on our Core Curriculum through the change), and stick to your plans.
If you’re planning to take the LSAT sometime around the cutoff date next summer—either in June 2024 or August 2024—you may be wondering what to do. Should you push your test date back and take the two-LR version or test earlier when you can still do the Logic Games section?
It depends. The first thing you should do is take a diagnostic. Look at how you’re scoring on PrepTests. Is Logic Games your best section? Do you struggle with Logical Reasoning? If so, you might consider registering for an exam earlier in 2024, so you’re not putting so much pressure on June—after the June LSAT, you will not be able to retake the test with Logic Games again.
On the other hand, if you hate Logic Games and constantly struggle with them, and you’d been planning to sit the test in June, you might want to push your exam back into August. That way, you can study for the LSAT without taking the time to learn Logic Games—and if you do end up having to retake the test, you won’t need to shift gears.
How do I prepare for the new, two-Logical-Reasoning-section version of the LSAT?
The most important thing you can do is focus on building skills in Logical Reasoning. Here at 7Sage we suspected that this change was coming and recently revamped our Logical Reasoning curriculum. The new version is full of data-driven pedagogical improvements that will help students maximize their scores on the new, two-LR test. It’s part of version 2 of our Core Curriculum, which is now available to all 7Sage subscribers—here are instructions on how to access it.
In February 2024, LSAT released a set of remixed tests for the two-LR format, PTs 101–158. These are available on 7Sage. We've also updated our digital tester so that you can take any PrepTest with two LR sections and no Logic Games section. To take a PrepTest in the new format, simply navigate to Practice->PrepTests in the main menu and click on a PrepTest. Once you're on the page for the PrepTest, click the drop-down menu to the right of the name of the PrepTest number and select “August 2024 3-section LSAT (LR, LR, RC).”
Regardless of what tools you use to study, you should devote the time you would have spent on Logic Games to prepping for Logical Reasoning.
Can I use old study material to study for the new LSAT?
The Logical Reasoning section isn’t changing. You can study using the same materials, and it’s fine to use LR sections from old tests. And of course, you can use your old Reading Comprehension materials, too.
Will there still be an experimental section?
Yes, there will be one unscored experimental section—it will be either Logical Reasoning or Reading Comprehension.
Am I doomed?
No, you are not doomed. It’s totally fair to feel frustrated, and it’s totally real to be stressed out. This is the most major change to the LSAT since it went online in 2020. But it’s important to keep in mind that this is one fewer section to learn. And what you are learning—Logical Reasoning—will be arguably more relevant to what you do in law school. No professor will ever cold-call you to ask if Rodrigo’s clothes can be dry-cleaned before Lydia’s given that Otto’s must be dry-cleaned after Vicky’s and before Hu’s. No judge will ever care if you can diagram a game.
At the end of the day, the LSAT was going to be hard no matter what. But you have plenty of time to prepare. You’ve got this—even without Logic Games.