LSAT India 2017 Exam Analysis by Experts

By Vivek Subramanian

LSAT India 2017 was found to be harder than the 2016 version by most of the students who took the exam. The average level of questions faced was perceived to be higher. This was especially true in the Analytical Reasoning section where the questions asked were noticeably tougher.

Read more:  LSAT India 2017 Student Reaction

The positive factor was, of course, the absence of negative marking - so students could submit all the answers before the sectional time limit expired. Practicing under exam conditions for such exams is very important, as the pattern is unique in India. As such, those students who had given plenty of Mock LSATs before the exam would have benefited more.

LSAT India 2017 Exam Analysis: Reading Comprehension Section

Since LSAT India is based off the International LSAT, the level of questions asked in the Reading Comprehension (RC) section is well above that of all other Law entrance exams in India. This was no different in 2017, and the questions and pattern were along expected lines in this section. No new question types were asked.

The RC passages were also as expected, with the questions stepping beyond simple facts to applicative and reasoning-based questions. Still, for a well-prepared student, this section would not have given too much trouble.

LSAT India 2017 Exam Analysis: Logical Reasoning Section

Since LSAT India has 2 sections of Logical Reasoning, each testing different types of puzzles, this section becomes important both from the syllabus and preparation point of view. The puzzles and logic games asked in this year's LSAT 2017 India were felt to be somewhat easier than last year by most students. This has been a trend in LSAT India, and it continues this year as well. The reasons for this are speculative at best, but from unofficial sources we hear that the performance of students in this section tends to be low, so Pearson, which is the exam-setting body, is tweaking the level of the exam to compensate accordingly. Bear in mind that LSAT International is a graduate-level exam which students who are in their final year of graduation attempt, so it is easily comparable in toughness to CAT in India.

The puzzles this year included some sequencing problems, a numbers game and table-elimination games, all of which are traditional types of questions. Again, a well-prepared student would not have had any issues in this section.

LSAT India 2017 Exam Analysis: Analytical Reasoning Section

This was the section where even a well-prepared student would have faced a challenge. From speaking to our students, we found that the Critical Reasoning questions asked were quite tough. In many questions, it was easy to eliminate one or two choices, but the remaining choices were too close to each other so in many cases finding the right answer was turning into an educated guesswork rather than an actual solution procedure. There were no new types of questions tested, the question types that appeared included Strengthening and Weakening Arguments, Assertion-Reasoning, Fact-Inference-Judgment and Logical Deductions. All of these are question types that have appeared in the past. However, the answer choices were much more ambiguous and selecting the right choice was more problematic for students.

This section was rated the hardest by almost every student we spoke to.

Overall

To summarise, LSAT India 2017 was simpler overall compared to LSAT India 2016. There is about a month to go before LSAT results come out, but since there were no major surprises in the paper, scoring should be along expected lines. RC and Logical Reasoning were at about the same level or slightly simpler than last year. Analytical Reasoning was felt to be the toughest section. However, a well-prepared student who has taken plenty of mock tests would not have had an issue with scoring decently in this exam.

About the Author:

Vivek Subramanian has a BTech from IIT Bombay and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. He has worked internationally in New York and Hong Kong in investment banking and management consulting, before deciding to return to India to pursue his love for teaching. He is the co-founder and Chief Instructor at ExamVictor.