300 Students Face Pre-Law Test Today

After days of Kaplan, cramming, and cursing, about 300 Harvard students will put pencil to bubble form today for the much-dreaded Law School Admissions Test (LSAT).

The LSAT, which is administered in June, October and December, is the standardized entrance exam for law schools across the United States.

In the 1992-1993 academic year, 289 seniors and 548 non-seniors affiliated with Harvard College took the LSAT, a staff member at the Office of Career Services (OCS) said yesterday.

Based on their results, this year's seniors probably shouldn't stress too much.

Of last year's students, 190 seniors and 328 graduate non-seniors were eventually accepted to one or more law schools, the OCS administrator said.

Reade E. Griffith '87, a Cabot House law tutor, said students were nervous about the exam, but most were not studying too much anymore.

"People seem composed but concerned. They are talking about sleeping tonight and getting tomorrow behind them," he said. "Unlike the MCAT (the Medical College Admissions Test), which covers a specific field of knowledge, last-minute cramming won't help."

Orit A. Sarfaty '97, who will be taking the LSAT today, said she is worried because she has not taken a standardized test in a while.

"I'm nervous," she said. "I don't remember how it was for the SATs--filling out little dotted answer sheets is a distant memory."

But despite the pressure some students place on themselves to perform well on the LSAT, Harvard Law School Admissions officer Joyce P. Curil '65 said that test scores alone do not lead to admissions.

"The LSAT is only a small fraction of what we consider when looking at an applicant," Curil said.

Last year, Harvard Law School saw 8353 students apply, including 217 men and 170 women from Harvard for a total of 387.

Of the 824 students admitted, 103 came from Harvard College, 49 women and 54 men.

Seventy-three of the 550 matriculators, 39 men and 34 women, were from Harvard, Curil said.

The exam lasts three hours and includes sections on reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, logical reasoning and writing.

A scaled score from 120 to 180 is used for the LSAT.

Last year the average score at Harvard was 164, according to the OCS staff member.

At least one student, who wished to remain anonymous, hopes to have some fun in a stressful morning of testing.

"The section I am looking forward to most is when they fingerprint us," he said. "I might have to practice that tonight."