Passages to India
Athornia Steele
The LSAT─India was first administered in 14 cities across India in May 2009, and at that time it was used only for admission to the brand-new Jindal Global Law School. Jindal wanted to enhance the status of the school, which was being marketed as “India’s First Global Law School.” This month, the LSAT—India was administered in 20 cities and the score is accepted by approximately 80 law schools in India. This growth is the result of a concerted effort by LSAC and our LSAT—India partner Pearson Vue, which administers the test on our behalf. I traveled to India with Lily Knezevich, LSAC’s senior director of test development, to observe the administration of the test and to meet with representatives of law schools who are currently using the test in their admission process and other law schools that may be interested in accepting the LSAT.
The trip allowed us to gain valuable insights into India’s legal education system. We were able to provide information about how the skills tested on the LSAT relate to success in law school, and about the test development process. We also presented information on the psychometric research that takes place before and after a test administration. They were impressed with our processes and thought other Indian law schools would welcome the opportunity to learn about the benefits of using the test in the admission process. Currently, many law schools in India use the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) for admission. That test does not test the most important skills necessary for success in law school or the practice of law.
As a result of the feedback from legal educators in India, we are planning a series of three regional, one-day conferences sponsored jointly by LSAC and Pearson Vue on the subject of the LSAT—India.
By all measures, our trip to India was a success—we informed, listened, and learned, which resulted in a strategy for further developing our relationship with Indian law schools, increasing the use of the LSAT─India, and sending more of our passages to India.