How does the LSAT correlate with the SAT ?

<p>Is it true that if someone scores averagely on the SAT (1400-1900) , he/she is not likely to score 170+ on the LSAT, and vice versa, if someone scores extremely high on the SAT (2200+), it is highly unlikely that he/she will do poorly on the LSAT ?</p>

<p>One can prepare for both exams.</p>

<p>People taking the SAT and the LSAT face the same obstacles: limited intelligence/laziness or indifference/lack of resources.</p>

<p>Usually true, but there are exceptions.</p>

<p>while there may be some correlation, i dont think it is enough to safely bet either way. the tests ARE substantially different. to name a few differences:</p>

<p>-LSAT is not as vocabulary-intensive. It is more focused on logical analysis rather than an extensive vocabulary</p>

<p>-LSAT does not test math. some ppl are just bad at geometry etc and the LSAT doesn’t measure that at all.</p>

<p>-LSAT rewards EXTREME attention to detail. the right answer can hinge on even a single word, so those that can pick out subtleties successfully will do well.</p>

<p>-LSAT’s game sections use a lot of the same principles as the SAT math.</p>

<p>-The SAT itself isn’t that vocabulary intensive and hasn’t been since they eliminated the analogies section a few years ago.</p>

<p>-The SAT also rewards attention to detail, it just isn’t as difficult an exam.</p>

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<p>Ultimately, it’s an empirical question. I haven’t seen any good studies, but my anecdotal experience is that they’re pretty closely tied.</p>

<p>OK, my SAT score is 2000 - 710 M, 590 CR, 700 WR. My first language is not English.
Do you think that if I study at an English speaking university for 4 years, and prepare very well for the test, read many novels, it is realistically for me to score 170+ on the LSAT ?</p>

<p>Your M+V is about 1300. That projects out to roughly a 162, but there’s a LOT of margin of error here, especially if your underlying skills are improving. It’s possible. (For example, if your M score is more representative, then you’d be projecting out to a 168ish.)</p>

<p>I think I just had a bad luck.I could have scored much higher - 2150 or so.In fact, this is what I usually got on the real practice tests from the BB and old QAS.2000 does not show my potential at all.
HOwever, I hope 3 years from now I will improve.BTW, do you think that International relations and Political Science is a good pre-law major ?</p>

<p>As a general rule, real tests should be used to predict real future tests. Polisci is fine.</p>

<p>“Do you think that if I study at an English speaking university for 4 years, and prepare very well for the test, read many novels, it is realistically for me to score 170+ on the LSAT?”</p>

<p>Yes. I know a number of students in your situation, all of whom managed to score 170+.</p>

<p>I got a 1980 where does that put me?</p>

<p>“I got a 1980 where does that put me?”</p>

<p>(1980 X 2/3)/21 + 101 = 163.8</p>

<p>This doesnt mean that you will get 163-4.You can get a higher score; yet, you can get much lower if you don`t prepare.</p>

<p>These formulas make me laugh.</p>

<p>I thought that there was some evidence that your SAT verbal score is correlated with your LSAT score. In other words, it’s not your entire SAT score, but rather only a part of it, that is positively correlated to LSAT scores.</p>

<p>I know of dozens. A famous one is take your verbal score, put a 1 in front and take a zero off the end. That would mean that my limit is… a 180! Didn’t get anywhere near that, and I don’t think I would have no matter how much effort I put in.</p>

<p>I wasn’t suggesting that any of the widely available formulas for calculating an exact LSAT score work, but aren’t there studies that show a positive correlation between SAT verbal and LSAT scores? </p>

<p>Of course, it makes sense that if one is generally a good standardized test taker who did well on the SAT, that that person would tend to do well on on another standardized test, such as the LSAT. Does anyone have links to any reliable studies?</p>

<p>

That doesn’t make <em>any</em> sense. Verbal scores correlate with math scores. Now the strength of the correlation between the verbal SAT and the LSAT might be stronger than the math (or even the M+V). The math score still correlates positively with the LSAT.</p>

<p>

Come on, we know you aren’t dumb. If I was trying to predict scoring SAT score would certainly be one of the variables I’d look at, along with university, major, and GPA.</p>

<p>Among possibly predictors, I think it’d be easier to predict SAT => LSAT than GPA => LSAT. For obvious reasons.</p>

<p>Try this formula out:</p>

<p>LSAT = (SAT)/20.7 + 100.7</p>