LSAT India Vs LSAT Abroad - What is the Difference between them?

LSAT, popularly known as the Law School Admission Test is one such famous law entrance exam in which candidates aspiring to become lawyers can appear for admission in India and abroad as well. The LSAT Abroad examination is conducted internationally by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) to provide admission to different law schools in Canada, the USA and other countries. However, LSAT India is an Indian-specific examination conducted by LSAC. Law has evolved as one of the most prominent career options worldwide and there are a number of colleges in both India and Abroad which offer both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the field of law. Admissions to these law colleges are generally done on the basis of the marks scored by the aspirants in the entrance exams.

LSAT (Law School Admission Test) is one such popular entrance examination in which law aspirants can appear for admission in India and abroad as well. The LSAT examination is conducted internationally by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) for admission to different law schools in Canada, the USA and other countries. However, for India, LSAC conducts an Indian-specific examination, known as LSAT India.

The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is made to test a candidate's ability to think critically if they are interested in the profession of law. The LSAT Abroad and LSAT India both place a strong emphasis on logical thinking, analytical thinking, and reading comprehension. However, there are key differences between the two that candidates should know about like for example: LSAT India lacks a writing sample section which is an unscored section included in the LSAT Abroad question paper. Likewise, these two of the most popular law entrance exams are different on various parameters like exam duration, exam frequency, level of difficulty, etc. However, they share quite a few similarities as well like both the entrance exams are conducted by the same organizing body, i.e. the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) and both the exams are conducted in an online mode among few other similarities that we will discuss in this article.

This article is curated in a way so that aspirants get to understand the similarities and differences between LSAT India Vs LSAT Abroad. Candidates aspiring to appear in any of the LSAT entrance exams are advised to go through this article in order to get some clarity about the information related to the law entrance exams.

LSAT India VS LSAT Abroad

The following table highlights the comparison between LSAT India and LSAT Abroad based on various parameters

Comparison Parameter	LSAT India	LSAT Abroad
Mode of Examination	Online (Remote-Proctored Mode)	Online mode (Remote-Proctored Mode) starting from June 2023 admissions
Difficulty Level	Moderate	Tough
Duration of examination	2 hours 20 minutes	There are four 35-minute test segments on the LSAT. A ten-minute break separates the second and third sections of the test. For typical test takers, the exam lasts around 3 hours.
Score band	Score is in percentile and scoring band range is between 420 - 480	Score Band is in the range between 120 - 180
Scope	LSAT India scorecard is used to get admission in the law school of India only.	LSAT abroad scorecard is used to get admission to law schools in the US, Canada, Australia among other developed countries.
Examination Section	It does not include any writing sample	It includes writing sample
Registration fees	INR 3999	USD 222 (For the 2023-24 testing session)
Frequency of test	Twice a year	3 times in a single testing year and 5 times throughout the current and 5 years prior to the testing (the duration in which LSAC reports scores to law schools).
Validity	The LSAT India scores will be valid for 5 years, according to LSAC. However, the exam administrators have recommended the applicants to confirm whether the law schools they are considering will accept the scores.	The scores are valid for 5 years
Accepting Institutes	Over 50 law colleges accept LSAT India scores.	Multiple law institutes across USA, Canada, Australia among other growing number of developed countries.

LSAT India

The LSAT India exam is a popular law entrance test in India that is conducted to evaluate the abilities of law aspirants based on their proficiency in advanced reading, critical thinking, and analytical reasoning skills. For entry into affiliated law colleges, the Law School Admission Council, often known as LSAC Global, conducts the test. The 4 sections in the LSAT India exam are Reading Comprehension, Logical Reasoning I, Logical Reasoning II and Analytical Reasoning. The LSAT India question paper comprises 92 questions from these sections that must be completed in 2 hours and 20 minutes. The LSAT India scorecard includes a percentile rank on a score range of 420 - 480. Around 33 law colleges in India are participating in LSAT India 2023 and accept the exam for admission to their five-year Integrated LLB programme, three-year LLB programme , and LLM programme.

The LSAT India 2024 exam for the January cycle will be conducted on January 20 and January 21, 2024, and the exam for the May session will take place from May 16 to May 19, 2024. Candidates must note that the LSAT India 2024 registration process started on August 14, 2023 and those who want to appear for the January or the May session should check the deadline for submitting the application form.

LSAT India Highlights

The highlights section will display all the important components of the LSAT India in an overview format. The LSAT India highlights section will include crucial information like exam duration, conducting body, exam frequency, exam mode among other important factors of the exam. Candidates can check the table below to get a quick glimpse of all the major components of the LSAT India exam.

LSAT India Exam Pattern

LSAT India is conducted twice a year and the mode of examination for LSAT 2024 will be online (Remote Proctored mode). The questions asked in the examination are multiple-choice questions. The duration of the examination is 2 hours 20 minutes. The test is divided into four sections. One Analytical Reasoning section, two Logical Reasoning sections and one section for Reading Comprehension. 1 mark is awarded for every correct answer and there is no negative marking for incorrect answer.  Generally, around 24 questions are asked in each section of LSAT India. It is to be noted that the difficulty level of the LSAT India entrance examination is pretty high.

The table below shows the pattern of LSAT India :

Also Read: Popular Law Entrance Exams in India

LSAT India Eligibility Criteria

Although LSAC has not specified any specific eligibility requirements for taking the law entrance exam, applicants must meet the following requirements in order to enroll in the UG and PG legal programmes offered at the participating law colleges:

Course	Eligibility Criteria
Five-year integrated LLB	Applicants who have successfully completed a Class 12 or equivalent exam from an accredited school board. Applicants and test takers for the LSAT India exam may also be taking the qualifying exam or waiting for the results.
Three-year LLB	Candidates with a bachelor's degree in any stream from an Indian institution of higher learning or a certificate equivalent You can take the LSAT India even if you're awaiting the results of the final year qualifying exam of your bachelor’s degree.
LLM	Candidates who have earned an LLB degree in law from an accredited university or college. You can take the LSAT India even if you're awaiting the results of the final year of your 3-year or 5-year LLB degree.

LSAT India Registration Process

On August 14, 2023, LSAC Global opened the LSAT India 2024 application process. The LSAT India 2024 exam will be conducted twice, in January and May. The exam for the January session will be held on January 20 and 21, 2024. The exam dates for the May session are also out and the exam will be conducted from May 16 to May 19, 2023. Aspirants who will be appearing for the January session need to submit their form by January 10, 2024 and those appearing for the May session should submit the application form by May 7, 2024. The LSAT 2024 application process includes registration, application form completion, uploading scanned images, and fee payment. The exam scheduling for the January session will be done from December 10, 2023 to January 12, 2024. For the May session, the System Readiness check and mock test will be done between March 29 to May 12, 2024.

Aspirants can follow the instructions listed below to register themselves on the LSAT India’s official website and properly fill out and submit the LSAT India 2024 application form:

• Visit the LSAT India official website at http://www.discoverlaw.in.
• The registration tab will open in a separate window.
• Include your full name, email address, phone number, state, city, and programme in the information.
• After entering the captcha code, select "Register" to continue.
• Read the instructions for filling out the application form and other information when the applicant dashboard appears on the screen.
• Candidates will receive a verification link on their registered email ID once registration is complete. Candidates must click on this verification link in order to be taken to the LSAT India 2023 application page.
• The following information must be entered by applicants in the application form:

1. Candidate’s name
2. Mobile number
3. Address
4. Programme preference
5. Birth details
6. College preference (8 choices)
7. LSAT India Test centers preference
8. Educational qualification
9. Parents’ Details

• The LSAT India 2024 application fee can only be paid online by applicants.
• Candidates must use a credit card/ debit card/ NEFT/ e-wallet, or another form of payment to pay the application cost.
• Only MasterCard or VISA cards issued in India may be used for credit card payments by candidates.
• Candidates must double-check the information they have provided on the application form after paying the application cost before submitting it. Candidates must submit their application and their application procedure will be finished if no errors are discovered.
• Candidates are encouraged to download the application form and print copies of it for their records.

Top Law Colleges accepting LSAT India Score

With the help of LSAC Global, more than 20 law schools in India now grant admissions based on LSAT India results. In addition, roughly nine other law schools admitted applicants with LSAT India scores. Top legal schools that accept LSAT India exam results include:

Vijay Bhoomi School of Law	Kirit P. Mehta School of Law, NMIMS	MIT - WPU Faculty of Law
School of Law, UPES	Adamas University	VIT School of Law
School of Law, Presidency University	GD Goenka University	VIT - AP University
Jindal Global Law School	JLU School of Law, Jagran Lakecity University	IFIM Law School
Kalinga University	Asian Law College	School of Law and Constitutional Studies, SIET
ISBR Law College	GITAM School of Law	IILM University
Indore Institute of Law	Mody University	Lloyd Law College
Faculty of Law, Manav Rachna University	Bennett University	Alliance School of Law
BML Munjal University	Daksha Fellowship	-

Apart from these, there are other institutes as well that accept a valid LSAT score when it comes to providing admissions to the offered law courses.

Also Read: Lawyers as Entrepreneurs in India

LSAT Abroad

The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is a standardized test which is administered by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), an organization based in the United States. This entrance examination began in 1948 and now is conducted in various test centres all across the globe. It is conducted six times a year. The examination is conducted to get admission to law schools in countries like the United States, Canada and Australia.

LSAT abroad has been designed in a way to test a candidate’s aptitude and evaluate if he/she is capable of becoming a future lawyer. It is an integral part of the admission process to various law courses in countries such as Canada, the USA and many more.  There are no such specific eligibility criteria that have to be fulfilled by the candidates to appear in the examination. Interested students are advised to check the criteria of their preferred law schools. Also, there is no age limit to appear for the entrance examination.

LSAT Abroad Highlights

Here are the important points to be considered about the LSAT examination:

• LSAT examination is conducted five or more times a year at various centers across the world
• The examination is conducted to get admission to law schools abroad like the United States, Canada, Australia among other developed countries.
• Candidates appearing in the examination have to carry certain important documents along with them as documents for identification purposes.
• The total duration of the examination is around 3 hours.
• The examination is conducted in online mode and comprises 5 sections, namely: Reading Comprehension, Analytical Reasoning, and Logical Reasoning I and II, and an LSAT writing sample section along with an unscored experimental section.
• LSAC will also be adding a fourth, unscored variable section, which will enable them to assess new test questions for future use and make sure they're devoid of any bias.

LSAT Abroad Exam Pattern

The LSAT exam is administered by LSAC, which also determines the exam's format. The LSAT exam pattern will assist the student in understanding the format of the test, the types of questions that will be asked, and most crucially, the skills that the examiners will be looking for. The candidates can choose to take the LSAT Abroad test remotely or by visiting a test centre. All test takers have to take up the LSAT abroad Writing and this part is administered remotely using secure proctoring software. You can complete LSAT abroad Writing as early as 8 days before the multiple-choice test.

LSAT Abroad 2024 exam dates are now out. The LSAT Abroad 2024 exam will be held on Saturday, January 13, 2024, and the LSAT Writing will be available on January 4, 2024. The scores for LSAT test will be released on January 31, 2024. The registration deadline, the accommodation request deadline (for test takers with disabilities) and the Assistive Technology request deadline for LSAT Abroad are scheduled for November 30, 2023. The scheduling will close (if testing remotely) on January 9, 2024.

The variable portion, often known as the unscored section, is used to test out brand-new questions or test out brand-new test formats. It's interesting to note that the unscored section won't have any identifying marks, making it impossible for the applicant to tell them apart. Therefore, it is advised that the candidate responds to each question on the LSAT question paper 2023. The LSAT question paper also does not have a provision of any negative marking and the duration of the LSAT 2023 is around 3 hours.

The LSAT abroad exam pattern is as mentioned in the table below:

Sections	Number of questions	Duration
Part I
Reading Comprehension	26 to 28 (approx)	35
Analytical Reasoning	22 to 24 (approx)	35
Logical Reasoning (Two sections)	24 to 28 (approx) for each section	35 + 35 (a total of 70 minutes of duration for Part I and II)
Variable section (Unscored)	-	35
Part II
Writing section (Unscored)	-	35

LSAT Abroad Registration Process

The registration process for LSAT abroad is as follows:

Create an Account

Candidates who want to appear for the LSAT abroad examination must first create an account on the LSAC web portal

Fill the Details

Candidates must fill in the details to complete the online registration process. They must review the details and finally submit the form for registration.

Pay the Application Fees

The registration fee for the LSAT abroad examination is USD 215. Candidates must pay the registration fees after filling the online application form to complete the registration process.

LSAT Fee Options

The fees listed below are in addition to the LSAT Abroad test registration fee. All receipt deadlines are by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).

LSAT Abroad Eligibility Criteria

No specific eligibility criteria are defined to appear for LSAT examinations. Candidates must confirm the eligibility criteria of the university they want to apply to before registering for the examination.

Top Law Colleges accepting LSAT Score

Given below are the names of the top law colleges accepting LSAT scores all across the world:

• Yale University -  Yale Law School

• Harvard University - Harvard Law School

• Stanford University - Standford Law School

• Columbia University - Columbia Law School

• University of Chicago - University of Chicago Law School

• McGill University - Faculty of Law

• University of Toronto - Faculty of Law

• University of Windsor - Faculty of Law

• Osgoode Hall Law School

The level of competition for this entrance exam is pretty high. Candidates are required to prepare in an effective manner if they aim to crack the entrance test. Acing such an examination will give the students a chance to join the courses offered by the best law schools across the world.

Also Read: Top 20 Law Universities in India Accepting CLAT, LSAT, SLAT Scores

LSAT India Vs LSAT Abroad - Are they Interchangeable?

No, LSAT India and LSAT Abroad cannot be interchanged because these two exams conducted by LSAC are different. Law colleges outside India won’t accept LSAT India scores as they are already accepting LSAT Abroad scores for admission into the law programmes. LSAT India is an India-specific law entrance examination and the scores are accepted only in Indian law colleges.

LSAT India Vs LSAT Abroad - Which Exam to Choose?

The answer to this question completely depends on the law aspirant. If the candidate wants to get a law degree from abroad then he/she should not apply for LSAT India as the law colleges outside of India do not accept LSAT India scores. The law aspirant then has to appear for the LSAT Abroad exam because law schools across the world would only accept scores of LSAT Abroad.

Candidates who want to get a law degree from colleges like ICFAI Law School Hyderabad, Jindal Global Law School, GITAM University-School of law, etc should appear for the LSAT India exam as these colleges are LSAT India participating colleges. However, candidates who are eyeing a seat in one of the National Law Universities should not waste their time in LSAT India as only CLAT is accepted by 22 NLUs whereas NLU Delhi conducts its own law entrance examination known as AILET .

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