Mean LSAT scores at top universities

<p>University of Phoenix 143
Bellevue University 145
FIT 145
Valdosta State University 145
Southern Illinois University 146
Suffolk University 146
Florida Atlantic University 147
Hawaii Pacific University 147
Wayne State University 147
Winthrop University 147
California State Fullerton 148
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey 148
Towson University 148
Baruch 149
The Citadel 149
City University of New York 149
Kennesaw State 149
Houston 149
Marist College 149
Seton Hall 149
University of Nebraska - Omaha 149
University of New Mexico 149
University of North Carolina Wilmington 149
Sonoma State 150
Texas Tech University 150
University of Hawaii 150
University of Mississippi 150
University of Saskatchewan 150
University of South Carolina 150
University of South Dakota 150
University of Wyoming 150
Wright State 150
Franklin & Marshall 151
Marquette 151
Northern Arizona 151
Ohio University 151
University of Cincinnati 151
Arizona State 152
Concordia University 152
Grand Valley State University 152
Michigan State 152
Penn State 152
Purdue University 152
Saint John’s University 152
Saint Louis University 152
Southern Utah University 152
University of California- Irvine 152
University of Connecticut 152
University of Denver 152
University of Miami 152
University of Oklahoma 152
University of Tennessee 152
Baylor 153
Fordham 153
Indiana Bloomington 153
Syracuse University 153
Texas Christian University (TCU) 153
Touro 153
University of Maryland - Baltimore County 153
Ursinus College 153
Virginia Tech 153
American 154
Arizona 154
Ithaca College 154
Ohio State 154
University of California- Santa Cruz 154
University of Florida 154
University of Iowa 154
University of Mary Washington 154
University of Nebraska - Lincoln 154
University of Oregon 154
Colorado University- Boulder 155
Gustavus Adolphus College (is this college real?) 155
Rensselaer Polytech Institute 155
Texas A&M 155
The College of New Jersey 155
University of California- Davis 155
University of California- Santa Barbara 155
University of Georgia 155
University of Illinois 155
University of Minnesota 155
University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill 155
University of Washington 155
Boston University 156
Calvin College 156
Holy Cross 156
Lafayette College 156
Lawrence University 156
Rutgers College 156
University of California- San Diego 156
Wisconsin Madison 156
Texas 156
Calvin College 157
George Washington 157
Tulane 157
University of Southern California 157
Wake Forest 157
Boston College 158
Brandeis 158
Georgia Tech 158
Queen’s University (Canada) 158
Saint John’s College 158
University of California- Los Angeles 158
University of Dallas 158
University of Michigan 158
University of Virginia 158
Washington University in Saint Louis 158
Brigham Young University 159
Byrn Mawr College 159
Colby College 159
Emory 159
John Hopkins 159
McGill 159
New York University 159
University of California- Berkeley 159
Vanderbilt 159
William and Mary 160
Cornell 161
Georgetown 161
Haverford College 161
Northwestern 161
Notre Dame 161
Reed College 161
Washington and Lee 161
Wesleyan 161
Carleton College 162
Claremont McKenna 162
Rice 162
University of Chicago 162
Brown 163
Columbia 163
Dartmouth 163
Duke 163
MIT 163
University of Pennsylvania 163
Amherst 164
Stanford 164
Williams 164
Pomona College 165
Princeton 165
Swarthmore 165
Yale 165
Harvard 166</p>

<p>Source: LSDAS (2008)</p>

<p>A few observations:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>USNWR’s rankings do a pretty good job of capturing the quality of the student body at American undergraduate universities.</p></li>
<li><p>Rice, NYU and William & Mary grads outperform on the LSAT in comparison to SAT results and thus these undergraduate schools are underrated.</p></li>
<li><p>Cornell is the bottom Ivy without doubt and unfortunately for those who claim that Cornell is the “hardest” Ivy to graduate from, these results show that Cornell admits the weakest Ivy League students and graduates a comparatively weak class of graduates.</p></li>
<li><p>WUSTL is grossly overrated and its students underperform on the LSAT in comparison to their SAT scores. It is the only major statistical outlier in that direction ironically.</p></li>
<li><p>The top LACs(Amherst, Williams, Swat, Pomona,etc.) ARE INCREDIBLE.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>What percent of students at each school even take the LSAT? How can you conclude anything about the overall student body from a test less than maybe 10% of students take on average?<br>
As LAC students have few readily marketable skills perhaps they study harder for the LSAT as it is more important to them getting a job down the road.</p>

<p>Because Swarthmore students are that much smarter and rigorously educated than MIT students.</p>

<p>My school isn’t on your list. How did you get this information/how can i find the average LSAT for my college?</p>

<p>Those scores are actually lower than I would have expected, particularly at the top schools. Your SAT score is an excellent predictor of your LSAT score - given the SAT averages at the top schools, I would have thought the LSAT would be higher.</p>

<p>I, too, was quite surprised by how low some of the averages were for the top schools.</p>

<p>

On the contrary, I wasn’t surprised at all. Remember that, unlike the SAT, the LSAT is largely designed to distinguish between applicants that fall within a certain range (150-170).</p>

<p>There is a MUCH bigger difference between a 166 (95th percentile) and a 158 (77%) than between a 180 (99.9%) and a 172 (99%).</p>

<p>Percentiles and representative colleges:</p>

<p>95% Harvard (166)
88% Chicago (162)
80% Berkeley (159)
70% UCSD (156)
58% Fordham (153)
50% F&M (151)
40% UNCW (149)
30% Suffolk (146)
20% Phoenix (143)</p>

<p>What do Florida, UC Irvine, and Penn St. have in common?</p>

<p>All top 50 schools with <155 average LSAT.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Your observation confuses me: did you mean, perhaps, that “students who major in the humanities or the social sciences have few readily marketable skills?”</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>A brilliant conclusion drawn by a perceptive poster.</p>

<p>

Clearly Stanford is third tier trash compared to Swarthmore as well. ;)</p>

<p>There are a number of formulas out on the web that give you an excellent idea of what your LSAT is likely to be based on your SAT (and the actual LSAT score data supports this). The scores posted above are much lower than what you would expect. 166 is a nice but certainly not off the charts LSAT score – I imagine Harvard undergrads who scored significantly over 1400 (or any undergrad who went anywhere else who scored well over 1400) would be pretty disappointed with that score.</p>

<p>I have always said that W&M and Rice were underrated. Thank you for proving it.</p>

<p>Most LAC’s do not have engineering, business, computer science and similar readily marketable majors where you can earn >50K right out of UG. They have to focus on grad schools. Or making lattes.</p>

<p>You’re making grad school sound trivial, barrons. It can be equal to or more difficult than finding a 50k+ job out of UG.</p>

<p>

While I agree that per capita more LAC students probably head to law school than university students, I don’t agree with your argument that they have fewer marketable skills. Law school applicants from universities are just as likely to have majored in history, English, classics, etc. as their LAC counterparts. </p>

<p>Any student taking the LSAT has an incentive in scoring as well as (s)he possibly can. Unlike the SAT, small differences in the LSAT can make a huge difference in admissions. Several T14 law schools have extremely tiny LSAT ranges, and in an admissions process in which GPA and LSAT scores mean everything, it makes sense for every test taker to study as hard as (s)he can.</p>

<p>That’s right! Duke Blue Devils reppin’ the 163 with Columbia, Dartmouth, MIT, and UPenn, baaarely behind HYPS and the top LACs. All the losers whining about how Duke should drop in the latest USNWR rankings are so mistaken and uninformed that it’s not even laughable anymore. Respect!</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Only 59 percent of Harvard’s graduating class this year had work lined up for them. </p>

<p>39 percent of the class is going into finance or consulting, and Harvard does not offer an undergraduate business program. Finance and consulting do not require one to pursue a “marketable major” such as engineering, business, or computer science. (On a side note, I’m pretty darn sure every LAC has a Computer Science department.)</p>

<p>15 percent of the class is going into education, and all respectable LACs offer certificate programs in primary and secondary school teaching.</p>

<p>And, I’m guessing that the remaining 5 percent employed of Harvard’s class of 2009 is making lattes.</p>

<p>The median salary of those fortunate enough to be immediately employed is 40,000. The mean, 44,200.</p>

<p>Harvard is the world’s premiere university, one offering an abundance of what you have deemed “marketable majors.” Feel welcome to condescend to it.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>This is perhaps the most ridiculous statement I have heard in a while. Top LAC students have the best skills which is why they have high percentage acceptance into med, law and mba grad schools. The top LAC’s have a very strong presence on Wall St.</p>

<p>“few readily marketable skills???” WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??</p>

<p>BTW, my D got an LSAT score above the Harvard mean and was still upset and felt she did “poorly.”</p>

<p>My friends at Brown were all ticked if they didn’t beat 170. I guess I had smart friends though, because the four or five people I know who are going to law school next year all did better than 172. But the averages don’t lie…</p>