LSAT Revised; Cultural Bias Not Major Factor in Decision

The Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), to be administered in its new form for the first time in June, has been revised to predict more closely how a student will perform in law school, but an official at the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) said Thursday the alterations were not made specifically to counter charges of cultural bias in the test.

However, "Some of the changes may have the effect" of helping minority students score better on the test. Charles M. Barber, director of communications at LSAC, added.

The revised test will eliminate a section of multiple choice grammar and syntax problems, replacing it with a 30-minute essay that will not be scored by the testing service but instead sent directly to colleges. In addition, a math section will be replaced by an abstract reasoning section that will better represent the type of skill a law student would have to possess, Barher said.

Lorenzo A. Littles, a spokesman for the Harvard Black Law Students Association, said yesterday that studies have shown the test is not biased. Littles said he could not comment on the benefits of the changes until they have been implemented.

Moth Geraghty, assistant dean of admissions at Harvard Law School, said Thursday she approved of the changes in the test, adding that the new scoring scale, from 10 to 50 as opposed to the previous 200-800 scale, is "more realistic," and easier to evaluate for admissions officers.