In June, it'll be a brand new LSAT

Comparative literature students may find themselves in familiar territory if they take the LSAT in June.

Effective June 2007, the LSAT - an exam students take prior to applying to law school - will add a comparative reading section as one of the four sets of reading comprehension on the test.

There will also be minor changes to the unscored writing section of the test so that all students will take the same section.

Wendy Margolis, a spokeswoman for the Law School Admissions Council - the group which administers the LSAT - said these two changes resulted from extensive research by the LSAC staff.

Among other factors, this research takes into account how people are performing on the test and how it relates to first year performance in law school.

"Comparative reading is a skill used heavily in law school," Margolis said.

Still, Margolis says that this is not a huge change, since it only involves one set of questions and the amount of reading remains the same.

Michele Taillon Taylor, associate director of Career Services and a pre-law adviser at Penn, also believes that the change is not something that students should worry about.

"It looks at your ability to infer, to compare and to contrast," Taylor said about the comparative reading addition to the test.

While Steven Marietti, the director of pre-law programs at Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, agreed that these changes are not "earth-shattering," he said they are still significant.

Though the change will only affect six or seven questions, the competitive nature of the LSAT means that proper preparation is required for all 100 questions scored on the exam.

Marietti recommends that if students have time, they may want to take the exam in December or February, before the changes are implemented.

"Whenever there's uncertainty due to a change in the exam, you should try and avoid it if you can," Marietti said.

College senior Danielle Gershowitz, who is planning on taking the LSAT later this year, does not find the changes too daunting.

"I think it's a good idea, but I think it may be more of a time constraint," she said.

College senior Rayna Lopyan, who took the LSAT earlier this month, was not surprised by the upcoming changes.

"I think that over the last two years they have been trying to make the reading-comprehension section more difficult," she said.

More information about the changes, along with test preparation materials, will be made available by the LSAC in February.

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