A 50-minute argumentative writing section is administered on-demand and it consists of 15 minutes for pre-writing analysis and 35 minutes for essay writing. It can be completed up to 8 days before you take your LSAT.
LSAC does not score the writing sample, but copies of the writing sample are sent to all law schools to which you apply. Candidates are only required to have one essay on file to complete their Law School Reports. LSAC will include up to the three most recent reportable writing samples with your law school report. Writing samples are only reportable for five testing years. Writing samples that are more than five years old will not get reported to law schools. The section is administered exclusively in an online proctored, on-demand environment using secure proctoring software that is installed on the test-taker’s computer.
Test takers are presented with a debatable issue along with different perspectives that provide additional context. Each of these perspectives is conveyed in a few sentences and is representative of a system of beliefs or values. Together, the perspectives illustrate competing ideologies and arguments around a particular issue.
The test taker drafts an argumentative essay in which they take a position, while addressing some of the arguments and ideas presented by the other perspectives.
No particular essay structure is required, but there are preferred formats. No score is assigned to the writing section, but as the writing is your application cover sheet as submitted by LSAC, it is essential to write a well-planned, cohesive essay.
This section tests:
LSAT Argumentative Writing’s interface offers:
Additionally, misspellings in the LSAT Argumentative Writing essay are underlined in accordance with the web browser’s spell-check feature. However, alternate spelling suggestions are not available within the test environment.