There was ample speculation about how the LSAT would change after logic games were removed for the August 2024 administration. Many experts confidently predicted that LSAC would lean heavily into formal logic and conditional reasoning to replace the elements they presumed were being tested by logic games. If true, this would mark a significant shift in what is on the LSAT and should change your preparation.
Has LSAC Changed What is on the LSAT?
Is it true? Almost certainly not. Here are three reasons why:
LSAC Frequently Reuses Old Test Sections
On the October 2024 LSAT, keen observers identified at least seven different scored Logical Reasoning (LR) sections and five different Reading Comprehension (RC) sections. Some combinatorial math reveals that up to 105 different test forms were used domestically and internationally during the October administration. Many of these sections were reused from undisclosed tests and all of them were validated and scaled BEFORE August 2024.
There’s simply no reasonable way to conclude that LSAC had seven previously scaled Logical Reasoning sections with an above-average amount of formal reasoning on them ready to go for the October test. That defies their test construction process and it might violate the laws of physics, as well.
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LSAC Can’t Bait and Switch Law Schools
Regarding the LSAT, law schools want exactly one thing from LSAC: the ability to pay attention to only the highest score of each applicant, regardless of which test(s) that applicant submitted. For this to be possible, each scaled score (120-180) has to mean the same thing about an applicant’s skill for at least the five-year period during which those scores are valid, with some allowance for statistical variance (i.e., the score band that LSAC reports for each score).
When LSAC decided to remove Logic Games from the LSAT, their justification rested on comparing tens of thousands of scores. The results showed little to no significant difference between scores that included one section of Logic Games and one section of Logical Reasoning, and scores with two sections of Logical Reasoning.
We can be confident that LSAC’s testing did not include extra formal logic in Logical Reasoning. How? Because during the LSAT dates prior to LSAC’s announcement, not a single observer noted an increased trend toward formal logic. No one. You can go back and look. You won’t find it.
LSAC cannot bait and switch law schools by validating its decision on sections that did not have extra formal logic and then implementing it with sections that do.
There Are Only So Many LSAT Questions
The LSAT has a limited number of questions to test a limited number of skills. Many skills are tested more than once. Any skill that the testmakers choose to emphasize means they must also choose to de-emphasize another skill.
Certain skills get tested very consistently. For example, on nearly every released test from 2014 onward, there were between five and nine Strengthen questions. There were only two exceptions: PT146 had only three Strengthen questions and 149 had 11.
Flaw questions are even more consistent. Every released test between 2014 and 2023 has between six and nine Flaw questions. Flaw questions seldom involve much formal logic, and Strengthen questions have almost none.
So, if LSAC wanted to significantly increase the amount of formal logic, they would likely have to sacrifice some questions from among their most consistently used question types. This would mean they have fewer opportunities to measure some skills they have consistently shown are important to them.
Final Thoughts
So, for those reasons, we at Blueprint are not convinced that LSAC has dramatically increased formal logic in Logical Reasoning.
It’s still important that you understand formal logic well and you might see an LSAT that has a lot more formal logic than most. However, don’t stop studying common questions just because some fortune-teller told you to focus more on LG-like logical reasoning questions.
This test has been remarkably stable over time. That stability lets real experts, like us, find patterns for you to focus on, without resorting to unwarranted guesswork.
Understanding the LSAT’s patterns and how the test makers think can help you master the exam. Our LSAT experts have spent years studying the “art of the LSAT” and have helped thousands of students reach their goal scores. Whether you want the flexibility of a Self-Paced Course, prefer to navigate the LSAT with instructors in a Live Course or 170+ Course, or even private LSAT tutoring, we have the study method that fits your learning style.
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