Anyone taken both the MCAT and LSAT?

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malpractitioner

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I'm wondering if you think the MCAT is more difficult to learn than the LSAT?

I remember studying for the LSAT for a while and scoring only decently. I'm hoping that the MCAT will be more knowledge based and less aptitude based. It's not that I'm stupid - it's just that my logical and analytical reasoning skills (big part of the LSAT) are weak.

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What what I hear, the lsat is more of an "iq/aptitude" test
but the MCAT is definitely studiable!
 
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well lsat has 5 answer choices, while mcat has 4, that would have to be a vote for the mcat being easier - plus since some of the answer choices on mcat are real stupid you can knock them out right away, especially verbal.

i'd say people say mcat is harder since you must know alot of material going in.

as far as verbal, I am interested to know which is more difficult. There are only 4 passages in RC on the lsat, i think there are 7 on the mcat- but in terms of readability, complexity of passage, I am curius to know which is easier.
I would have to think the lsat RC is harder than the mcat verbal, and i have heard others say this on the internet blog/posting sites.
 
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Having taken both, I thought the MCAT has definitely harder and made me think more. But, I think I also got a really hard MCAT.

Verbal was about the same for me. But, I am really good at logic so that helped me on the LSAT when I took it in 2000.

MCAT is more a test you can somewhat study for. I am pretty good at verbal stuff so I really did not study much for the LSAT.

MCAT is still king in my book for the different professional program entrance exams!!
 
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My gf has taken the LSAT, GMTA, and GREs, and just last weekend took a practice MCAT. Okay, so she was an econ major who didn't have to take science courses, so didn't do that well (I think she got an 18). But, she said pretty much what all of you are saying- MCAT is more knowledge based, ie you have to have taken specific classes (except for the verbal section). LSAT is testing you more on how you think and whether or not you can solve problems (like logic games).
 
My friend took both and did really well on the LSAT and mediocre on the MCAT with a science background. My cousin who was living with me before she went to law school would show me her material... it's definitely a different test with their own bag of tricks. IMO the mcat verbal is harder, because most of the LSAT passages are questions about comparing and more like reading comprehension than verbal reasoning. You can find most of the answers in the passage while on my real mcat test I had mostly questions that were assumptions and inferences. (Plus we got seven passages)

Yet, the LSAT is definitely trickier. A lot of the mcat is straight-forward and its either you know it or you don't (but don't think you can just know the science content and do well on the test). The LSAT takes more thinking, but I think someone can study for it in a shorter time
 
I've taken both.

The reading comprehension on the MCAT is definitely more difficult.

The arguments sections are very doable. The games section is the one section that might cause people some trouble (it did for me).

What makes the MCAT a harder test overall is just all the stuff you need to know coming in. You can have awesome language and reading skills from your years of schooling/personal habits and do well on the LSAT with practice. For the MCAT, you must study the particular material.
 
I took one of my friends practice ones today, (yes i was bored), IMO the MCAT is definitely harder while the Verbal sections are similar. I made a 162 on the practice LSAT btw, not sure how good that is, but my friend said it was pretty good.
It might just be that I am better with more Logical type tests, bc I know on the MCAT there were several questions that I knew I went over briefly, but just couldnt remember the details.
 
I took the LSAT, and 3 months later took the MCAT.

I have not received the MCAT back yet.

I studied for the LSAT ~4 days before the exam. Overall, the MCAT is a general knowledge exam, and the LSAT is an aptitude test.

I believe half of it is either a Verbal section (just like the MCAT) or an Analysis section. This is pretty self explanatory, but i found i had much less time for the LSATs verbal section than i had for the MCAT. Either the Verbal in the LSAT was tougher/longer, or i had more practice by the time i took the MCAT.

The "Analysis" section is pretty easy, it just gives you a paragraph and asks you a common sense question. This is not a cakewalk, for some of the answer choices are incredibly hard to decypher. They go out of their way to make it wordy. Overall though, this was the easiest section.

Then come the logic puzzles! This is the killer for most people. The "IQ" puzzles some people call them. The biggest LSAT myth is that you cant prepare for the LSAT. Just ask yourself, "Can i prepare for the VS in the MCAT?" if that answer is yes, then the LSAT can be prepared for. Most proponents of this myth like to say that the puzzles cannot be practiced for, and thats crap. In fact, the thing i should have studied the MOST was the puzzles. Practice the logic puzzles as much as you can, while you may only have 1 puzzle in the LSAT that mirrors a practice problem, the experience of finding your way through from scratch is priceless.

I completely choked and got a 162 on the LSAT. By completely choke i mean i struggled with a puzzle and forgot the time, and didnt realize there was a whole other 2 pages with 2 min left (this, i bet, is the single most common critical mistake on the LSAT)... So i randomly chose answers for 2 pages on the puzzles section. This slaughtered my grade, as i got none of those guesses correct. Getting 175+ is hard on the LSAT, (its out of 180), but it doesnt need 1.5-2 months of intense studying like the MCAT because it isn't knowledge based. Average matriculated scores are 160-165 for good schools, in the 150's for mid level schools. With some of the 'prestigious' schools averaging about 168-169. IMO its easy to hit the competitive range in the LSAT, but then again, its also just as easy to hit the competitive range in MCATs!
The difference is in the preperation workload that is involved. The MCAT takes a ****load more work to prepare for, but ultimately if you spent the time on it, then its just as easy to get in the 'competitive' range.

Difficulty and Preperation are two independant factors. I do not mean to downplay the MCAT, so i should tell you that I studied 4 days for the LSAT, and 1.5 months for the MCAT, and i was RUSHING the last days of the MCAT - i only finished 3 full lengths before the exam itself!

When you take both factors into account, its not even a comparison as to which admission test is harder overall.

The LSAT has a lot of test dates, and if you are one of those guys that spends over 2 months studying for the MCATs, i recommend taking 3-4 days and prepping for hte LSAT, and paying out the 100$ to take it. The experience and practice is absolutely golden.
 
I'm wondering if you think the MCAT is more difficult to learn than the LSAT?

I remember studying for the LSAT for a while and scoring only decently. I'm hoping that the MCAT will be more knowledge based and less aptitude based. It's not that I'm stupid - it's just that my logical and analytical reasoning skills (big part of the LSAT) are weak.

I took a practice LSAT a few months ago because my bf was studying for it. I really enjoy answering those type of logic questions. It is like a puzzle. I think it is hard to compare these two tests, but if I had to say which one requires more study time that would be the MCAT. So if your definition of harder = more studying required, then yeah...the MCAT is "harder"
 
I took the LSAT, and 3 months later took the MCAT.

I have not received the MCAT back yet.

I studied for the LSAT ~4 days before the exam. Overall, the MCAT is a general knowledge exam, and the LSAT is an aptitude test.

I believe half of it is either a Verbal section (just like the MCAT) or an Analysis section. This is pretty self explanatory, but i found i had much less time for the LSATs verbal section than i had for the MCAT. Either the Verbal in the LSAT was tougher/longer, or i had more practice by the time i took the MCAT.

The "Analysis" section is pretty easy, it just gives you a paragraph and asks you a common sense question. This is not a cakewalk, for some of the answer choices are incredibly hard to decypher. They go out of their way to make it wordy. Overall though, this was the easiest section.

Then come the logic puzzles! This is the killer for most people. The "IQ" puzzles some people call them. The biggest LSAT myth is that you cant prepare for the LSAT. Just ask yourself, "Can i prepare for the VS in the MCAT?" if that answer is yes, then the LSAT can be prepared for. Most proponents of this myth like to say that the puzzles cannot be practiced for, and thats crap. In fact, the thing i should have studied the MOST was the puzzles. Practice the logic puzzles as much as you can, while you may only have 1 puzzle in the LSAT that mirrors a practice problem, the experience of finding your way through from scratch is priceless.

I completely choked and got a 162 on the LSAT. By completely choke i mean i struggled with a puzzle and forgot the time, and didnt realize there was a whole other 2 pages with 2 min left (this, i bet, is the single most common critical mistake on the LSAT)... So i randomly chose answers for 2 pages on the puzzles section. This slaughtered my grade, as i got none of those guesses correct. Getting 175+ is hard on the LSAT, (its out of 180), but it doesnt need 1.5-2 months of intense studying like the MCAT because it isn't knowledge based. Average matriculated scores are 160-165 for good schools, in the 150's for mid level schools. With some of the 'prestigious' schools averaging about 168-169. IMO its easy to hit the competitive range in the LSAT, but then again, its also just as easy to hit the competitive range in MCATs!
The difference is in the preperation workload that is involved. The MCAT takes a ****load more work to prepare for, but ultimately if you spent the time on it, then its just as easy to get in the 'competitive' range.

Difficulty and Preperation are two independant factors. I do not mean to downplay the MCAT, so i should tell you that I studied 4 days for the LSAT, and 1.5 months for the MCAT, and i was RUSHING the last days of the MCAT - i only finished 3 full lengths before the exam itself!

When you take both factors into account, its not even a comparison as to which admission test is harder overall.

The LSAT has a lot of test dates, and if you are one of those guys that spends over 2 months studying for the MCATs, i recommend taking 3-4 days and prepping for hte LSAT, and paying out the 100$ to take it. The experience and practice is absolutely golden.

There is absolutely no way one could do well on the games section with only 3-4 days on the LSAT. That's horrible advice. In fact, it's almost unbelievable that someone would spend only 3-4 days studying for a standardized test. You need to take lots of practice exams, just like for the MCAT if you want to get the timing of the arguments sections down. The games are more time constraining than the MCAT verbal as well.

Like I said in my first post, I think the MCAT is harder based on all the things you have to know coming in, but it's preposterous to think that 3-4 days of studying (LOL) are enough for the LSAT. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I question the truthfulness of your post.
 
There is absolutely no way one could do well on the games section with only 3-4 days on the LSAT. That's horrible advice. In fact, it's almost unbelievable that someone would spend only 3-4 days studying for a standardized test. You need to take lots of practice exams, just like for the MCAT if you want to get the timing of the arguments sections down. The games are more time constraining than the MCAT verbal as well.

Like I said in my first post, I think the MCAT is harder based on all the things you have to know coming in, but it's preposterous to think that 3-4 days of studying (LOL) are enough for the LSAT. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I question the truthfulness of your post.

Well, is it "preposterous" to say that one of my roommates got a 175 the first time he took a practice test and ended up taking his LSAT a month later without studying and got in the 170's? the logic games section is almost like the MCAT verbal section, either you are good at it or you are not. I have taken a practice LSAT so I can see why you would think that 3 or 4 days is not enough for that section. However, it is not at all rare to find many people who are naturally good at the logic games. I would say the LSAT is just like the SAT in that it requires no studying at all.
 
Well, is it "preposterous" to say that one of my roommates got a 175 the first time he took a practice test and ended up taking his LSAT a month later without studying and got in the 170's? the logic games section is almost like the MCAT verbal section, either you are good at it or you are not. I have taken a practice LSAT so I can see why you would think that 3 or 4 days is not enough for that section. However, it is not at all rare to find many people who are naturally good at the logic games. I would say the LSAT is just like the SAT in that it requires no studying at all.

I think (and I'm sure you also think) your roommates case is extremely, extremely rare. Of course someone can be naturally good at logic games. It's just ridiculous to insinuate that you can't get better on them. It's not at all an "either you are good or not" situation as you say. When I first took the LSAT, I was horrible at the timing with the games. After taking the TPR class and doing as many games as I could, I ended up doing a lot better. I think that's the case for almost anyone. The same goes for verbal reasoning. It takes practice to get the timing down and to hone out your strategy.

You don't need to "study" for the LSAT because the material is all verbal. But you need to practice.
 
I took one of my friends practice ones today, (yes i was bored), IMO the MCAT is definitely harder while the Verbal sections are similar. I made a 162 on the practice LSAT btw, not sure how good that is, but my friend said it was pretty good.
It might just be that I am better with more Logical type tests, bc I know on the MCAT there were several questions that I knew I went over briefly, but just couldnt remember the details.

Um not to sound mean or anything, but a 162 is ****...your friend must be aiming for Podunk Law school.
 
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Average matriculated scores are 160-165 for good schools, in the 150's for mid level schools.

Again, not to sound mean, but if you don't know anything about law school admissions, then please shut your mouth. A 160-165 gets you into GARBAGE schools. A 160 gets you into Tier 2 schools. With mid 150s you might only get into the worst ranked law schools possible, like Cooley. So yeah, please get your facts straight.
 
The LSAT has a lot of test dates, and if you are one of those guys that spends over 2 months studying for the MCATs, i recommend taking 3-4 days and prepping for hte LSAT, and paying out the 100$ to take it. The experience and practice is absolutely golden.
Uh, the LSAT has less test dates than the MCAT. There are only FOUR test dates in a year. February, June, October, December.

Uh, not to sound mean (again) but you can barely spell nor use proper grammar. I highly doubt you even scored a 162. Honestly, I doubt you could even score 600 on the Verbal SAT, let alone a garbage 162 LSAT score. Your post screams of bullsh*t. I do not believe for one second that you took either the MCAT or the LSAT, because you are a complete idiot.
 
The games section is a joke. I've never studied any of that stuff, and took a look at some of a friend's LSAT materials, and got every single question in the logic games section right. Its baby logic and the only way I could see it being hard is if you didn't get any scratch paper on the test.

The reading comp and arguments sections seem to be more difficult, but with a week or so of 3+ hours a day practice at MOST, a reasonable person can get the hang of those. Hell, I may take a full practice LSAT on kaplans website or something sometime, just for fun.
 
Oh, and BerkeleyStudent, the 25th percentile for MANY tier 1 law schools, including some of the best tier 1 schools, is 162-163. That means that a quarter of the people who get into a school like your very own Berkeley (ranked 6th in the nation), have UNDER a 163. (Berkeley 25th and 75th quartiles are 163 and 170 respectively.)
 
Oh, and BerkeleyStudent, the 25th percentile for MANY tier 1 law schools, including some of the best tier 1 schools, is 162-163. That means that a quarter of the people who get into a school like your very own Berkeley (ranked 6th in the nation), have UNDER a 163. (Berkeley 25th and 75th quartiles are 163 and 170 respectively.)

Berkeley is the ONLY top 14 school that focuses more on GPA than LSAT. Also, as a non-URM applicant your LSAT should be at least average. My friend applied to Berkeley law with a 3.99 and 163 and was rejected outright because he is not URM.

edit: wanted to add some good info that Parto said in the other thread along with my own elaboration. If you are not a URM, legacy, or accomplished something extraordinary in your ECs (like establish an orphanage), you have nearly no shot at getting into Berkeley law with a 163 LSAT even with a 4.0. As a reaction to Prop 209 Berkeley law changed their admissions guidelines put less emphasis on the LSAT, particularly in favor of GPA and ECs/PS/LORs, leading some to question if they really eliminated their use of AA in admissions anyway. A 25th percentile LSAT score does not in any case give you a good measurement of your chances of getting into a law school anyway. Would you calculate your shot at getting into med school by their 25th percentiles? I sure hope not.
 
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Again, not to sound mean, but if you don't know anything about law school admissions, then please shut your mouth. A 160-165 gets you into GARBAGE schools. A 160 gets you into Tier 2 schools. With mid 150s you might only get into the worst ranked law schools possible, like Cooley. So yeah, please get your facts straight.

Why are you so offended?
 
Oh, and BerkeleyStudent, the 25th percentile for MANY tier 1 law schools, including some of the best tier 1 schools, is 162-163. That means that a quarter of the people who get into a school like your very own Berkeley (ranked 6th in the nation), have UNDER a 163. (Berkeley 25th and 75th quartiles are 163 and 170 respectively.)

very true, here's an example of a T1:

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/admissions/class_profile.php

Um not to sound mean or anything

Again, not to sound mean

Uh, not to sound mean (again)

I hate to break this to you, but you're an *******. Please go look up "narcissism" and "psychopathy".

I don't typically respond to stupid crap like this, but after reading all your posts, I couldn't help but notice that you have attacked almost everyone on this thread.

First, get your facts straight, because of half of what you said is bull****. I have MANY friends who just finished the LSDAS application process and got into more than a few T1 schools with sub 160 scores. And no, they are not minorities, and no, their parents didn't donate anything to the school.

Second, even if you were right and everyone else was wrong, NO ONE deserves to be told to "shut up". This is a public forum. Who the hell do you think you are?

Third, get some psychotherapy, because you definitely have some underlying personality issues that need to be addressed.

Fourth, I know this might be difficult with your antisocial (and borderline psychopathic) behavior, but go get laid.
 
very true, here's an example of a T1:

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/admissions/class_profile.php







I hate to break this to you, but you're an *******. Please go look up "narcissism" and "psychopathy".

I don't typically respond to stupid crap like this, but after reading all your posts, I couldn't help but notice that you have attacked almost everyone on this thread.

First, get your facts straight, because of half of what you said is bull****. I have MANY friends who just finished the LSDAS application process and got into more than a few T1 schools with sub 160 scores. And no, they are not minorities, and no, their parents didn't donate anything to the school.

Second, even if you were right and everyone else was wrong, NO ONE deserves to be told to "shut up". This is a public forum. Who the hell do you think you are?

Third, get some psychotherapy, because you definitely have some underlying personality issues that need to be addressed.

Fourth, I know this might be difficult with your antisocial (and borderline psychopathic) behavior, but go get laid.

:laugh::laugh:
 
Again, not to sound mean, but if you don't know anything about law school admissions, then please shut your mouth. A 160-165 gets you into GARBAGE schools. A 160 gets you into Tier 2 schools. With mid 150s you might only get into the worst ranked law schools possible, like Cooley. So yeah, please get your facts straight.

you don't know what you're talking about. you're the idiot.

my brother just applied to law schools and will be attending UT Austin in the fall with a 160 LSAT. UT Austin is WITHOUT DOUBT a top tier, tier 1, whatever you wanna call it, law school. he is also OUT-OF-STATE, which for anyone from the midwest knows Texas hates OOS. Texas and Cali are considered the hardest OOS schools to get into for basically any college, for sure with med and law schools. He did have a 3.9, super involved with ECs, a killer PS (in which some deans of schools commented in pen how great his PS was when they sent him acceptance letters), and killer recs (one from a professor with crazy Ivy and Oxford connections). he got a 160 on his RETAKE. he got a 155 the first time he took it, so retook it 2 months later. he ALSO applied 2 days before their deadline! law schools are like med in that they have rolling admissions. that would be like us premeds submitting our AMCAS at the end of October!

by the way, Tier 1 schools are classified as the top 100 schools. take Kansas for example, they are #73 and their AVERAGE LSAT is a 155. that is a 155 average for a tier 1 school. UT Austin is #16, by the way. their 25-75 percentiles are 163-168. that shows you LSAT is not everything.

so YOU are the idiot, my friend. you are flaming everyone. sit down and be quiet.
 
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Tier 1 does not mean good. The top- 14 (t-14=nationally marketable) are good. Others are not that good. Tier 1 means nothing in my book and there are plenty of bad law schools in the Tier 1, in my opinion.





First, get your facts straight, because of half of what you said is bull****. I have MANY friends who just finished the LSDAS application process and got into more than a few T1 schools with sub 160 scores. And no, they are not minorities, and no, their parents didn't donate anything to the school.

Second, even if you were right and everyone else was wrong, NO ONE deserves to be told to "shut up". This is a public forum. Who the hell do you think you are?

Third, get some psychotherapy, because you definitely have some underlying personality issues that need to be addressed.

Fourth, I know this might be difficult with your antisocial (and borderline psychopathic) behavior, but go get laid.
First, your friends probably got into crappy schools. Again my opinion is good schools are in the top 14. 15-17 are okay. Anything below isn't that great.

Second, I'm a girl, and I have a fiance, so I don't need to get laid. You're probably the virgin here.
 
you don't know what you're talking about. you're the idiot.

my brother just applied to law schools and will be attending UT Austin in the fall with a 160 LSAT. UT Austin is WITHOUT DOUBT a top tier, tier 1, whatever you wanna call it, law school. he is also OUT-OF-STATE, which for anyone from the midwest knows Texas hates OOS.


Is Texas good? It is NOT in the top 14.

Texas and Cali are considered the hardest OOS schools to get into for

by the way, Tier 1 schools are classified as the top 100 schools. take Kansas for example, they are #73 and their AVERAGE LSAT is a 155. that is a 155 average for a tier 1 school. UT Austin is #16, by the way. their 25-75 percentiles are 163-168. that shows you LSAT is not everything.

so YOU are the idiot, my friend. you are flaming everyone. sit down and be quiet.

Also Tier 1 is 1-50. Tier 2 is 50-100. I recommend you google this and check it out online. UT Austin is a regional school. The good schools (nationally marketable) are ranked 1-14. Kansas is a podunk university. Again that's Tier 2, not Tier 1. Since there are less than 200 ABA accredited law schools in America, being in the top 100 means nothing.
 
Is Texas good? It is NOT in the top 14.



Also Tier 1 is 1-50. Tier 2 is 50-100. I recommend you google this and check it out online. UT Austin is a regional school. The good schools (nationally marketable) are ranked 1-14. Kansas is a podunk university. Again that's Tier 2, not Tier 1. Since there are less than 200 ABA accredited law schools in America, being in the top 100 means nothing.

Texas is #16. what's the difference between #14 and #16? who decides? you are a complete idiot.

i didn't say Kansas was a good law school. you specifically said low 160s will only get you into a TIER TWO law school. AUSTIN IS #16 AND HE GOT IN WITH A 160. he also got into 5 other Tier 1 schools by your definition with a 160! you are so _____.

Austin is a regional school? what do you call Berkeley? why do you think they primarily take CA residents? pretty sure Berkeley is also a "regional school!" you are seriously the least informed, elitist person i've come across. where did you get this idea that top 14 is the cutoff? you make no sense. you have no credibility. you also should know that the rankings are always skewed in favor of the coasts. that is no secret. you will make a terrible lawyer.

so, you have a fiancee? are you and him getting married under cali's new gay marriage law? :laugh:
 
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