LSAT

[Alpha]

Will the ABA toss the LSAT?
Mixed reactions as ABA considers tossing LSAT mandate | Higher Ed Dive

[LevelUP]

Will the ABA toss the LSAT?
Mixed reactions as ABA considers tossing LSAT mandate | Higher Ed Dive

LSAT is used to weed out the field.

I would think they need to keep it.

[evanmonast]

The LSAT is the single most important tool law schools use to determine an applicant's ability to learn material and apply it. While it is not perfect, it is certainly the most effective part of an application as it relates to predicting future law school success.

[LevelUP]

Today's high schools/colleges feature a lot of grade inflation.

If we didn't have ACT/SAT/LSAT and other exams as an additional way to measure students, everyone would apply with a 4.0 GPA. Then what?

[Alpha]

Today's high schools/colleges feature a lot of grade inflation.

If we didn't have ACT/SAT/LSAT and other exams as an additional way to measure students, everyone would apply with a 4.0 GPA. Then what?

And yet increasingly, colleges are deciding to forego requiring these standardized tests, at least on the undergrad level
Why U.S. Colleges Are Rethinking Standardized Tests - The Washington Post

[ss20ts]

Today's high schools/colleges feature a lot of grade inflation.

If we didn't have ACT/SAT/LSAT and other exams as an additional way to measure students, everyone would apply with a 4.0 GPA. Then what?

And what about those who are terrible test takers? Those who have test anxiety? Those who are neurodivergent? Those who come from poorer socioeconomic classes? Plenty of people don't take these exams for a variety of reasons. Doesn't mean they can't succeed and earn decent grades. With my SAT scores, I should never have graduated with a 4.0 for my first bachelor's degree and a 3.949 for my second, and I'm currently holding a 4.0 in grad school. My SAT's got me into community college. That's it. Seriously.

[SweetSecret]

^^^^^ Right about now I need a "Thank you" button. I had an issue go wrong during ACT testing that was extremely distracting/painful and had to wait for a break to resolve it. I ended up scoring average, but I think funding for college might have been more accessible to me had I been able to resolve the issue sooner, concentrate, and score higher.

I am all for getting rid of these tests. Dod anyone hear about the students from FL who were evacuated during the bar exam? That could happen during the any major test, and there's no standard way to figure out the difference in test scores based on that stress. People also should not be put in a position where they have to take a test twice for something that is not their fault.

[evanmonast]

In reality though if you can't handle the stress from the LSAT are you cut out to be a lawyer? I wouldn't want a "bad test taker" and someone who suffers from anxiety to defend me in court. No offense, but the LSAT is a very learnable exam.

[ss20ts]

In reality though if you can't handle the stress from the LSAT are you cut out to be a lawyer? I wouldn't want a "bad test taker" and someone who suffers from anxiety to defend me in court. No offense, but the LSAT is a very learnable exam.

You think there aren't practicing attorneys who suffer from anxiety? Get real! 

You are also ignoring the socioeconomics and racial issues with these exams.

[LevelUP]

So kind of like the crazy cat lady that takes in 100 cats into her home, then quickly gets overwhelmed. The cats inside her home are malnourished, full of disease, and dead corpses are lying around throughout the house. In the end, the cats would have been better off on the outside.

The goal was to try and help, but actually, you end up doing more harm than good. 

This is the same conclusion MIT came to. They dropped the ACT/SAT and ended up adding it back on.

Not requiring tests actually raises socioeconomic barriers to vulnerable groups.

The result of no testing

• Schools get to mask how bad their teaching is by doing grade inflation
  
• Kids that get accepted into college aren't ready and end up failing
  
• A valuable tool for measuring the results of policy is lost
  
• Politicians can ignore areas where vulnerable groups live, which is regressive, not progressive, leading to more injustices and harming kids
  

"Throwing the measurement away doesn’t remedy underlying injustices in children’s academic opportunities, any more than throwing a thermometer away changes the weather."

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...ts/629455/

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/02/politics/...index.html