GMAT vs. LSAT: the battle of the standardized test titans!

I’m a GMAT tutor here in lovely NYC but I have also done plenty of LSAT tutoring and am very familiar with the LSAT having taken it twice. I also use the LSAT to help my GMAT tutoring students slay the verbal section.

If you are curious about how the different sections of the LSAT and the GMAT stack up then this is the article is for you (take a look here for a GMAT vs GRE smackdown). Both the GMAT and the LSAT have unique challenges. Which is the harder test? Read on as we analyze their anatomies and suggest a study method for people pursuing joint JD/MBA programs (Penn Law began accepting the GMAT in 2018).

If you’re looking for suggestions on using the LSAT to boost your GMAT verbal score you might take a look at this article: LSAT for GMAT.

The GMAT Super Computer vs. The LSAT Classic: Test Formats

The LSAT is the test that you take in order to be considered for admission to American Law Schools. It is a pen and paper test administered 4 times per year. The LSAT is now (as of July 2019) a test administered on a computer. Well, actually a tablet. And now it is given 9 times per year. Even though the LSAT has gone digital it’s not adaptive and still retains an old school format. Why is that? Well, you can skip around the section that you are working on. Question #7 not working for you? Skip to #8 and come back to #7 later on. Most people are really comfortable with this format. And why not? You can take the test in any order that you wish and if you have an epiphany about a question that you’ve already answered you can return to it.

In order to be considered for a great majority of MBA programs you need to take the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), a computer adaptive test administered 365 days a year (although you can only take it once every 16 days). The GMAT is administered on a computer. So no pen and paper. No skipping questions and coming back. No changing answers once you’ve confirmed them. So not only are your answers written in stone but a computer algorithm determines the questions that you see based on your previous responses. Most people are nonplussed by this format. Understandably so.

Unequivocally: the GMAT format is tougher than the LSAT format (here is some advice on tackling the nuances of GMAT Timing). Furthermore on the GMAT you do more mental acrobatics as each GMAT section has several different question types coming at you at random as opposed to each LSAT section which has only one question type. Be prepared!

A Reading Comprehension Showdown

Both tests have a classic Reading Comprehension section. Read a passage and then answer questions based on what you’ve read. Simple right? Well, both the LSAT and the GMAT have a way of picking some pretty boring and obscure passages and pairing these passages with sneaky questions.

LSAT Reading Comprehension: The LSAT has 4 looooooooooong (400-500 words) Reading Comprehension passages. You are allotted 35 minutes to complete the questions.

GMAT Reading Comprehension: The GMAT has 3-4 reading passages that range from approximately 150 to 350 words. Reading Comprehension shares the 45 minute verbal section with Critical Reasoning — 23 questions between the two — so expect around 12 RC questions.

The LSAT wins here. The passages are longer and denser (think War and Peace (LSAT) vs. the Great Gatsby (GMAT)). You have less time per question, and in general the questions are more subtle. On the LSAT it’s not uncommon for weaker readers to skip an entire passage in order to have time to focus on the other three. If you are not a strong reader then you may feel severely threatened by the LSAT Reading Comprehension. However, it does provide some great practice for you GMAT achievers out there.

GMAT vs. LSAT: Critical Reasoning/Logical Reasoning

LSAT Logical Reasoning: 2 sections, 25 questions, 35 minutes per section.

GMAT Critical Reasoning: Approximately 11 questions, sharing the 45 minute verbal section with Reading Comprehension.

The LSAT wins again. The LSAT tests you with longer, denser, and more difficult questions; a greater variety of question types such as parallel reasoning and parallel flaw; and gives you less time per question. If you are not so hot at Logical Reasoning/Critical Reasoning the LSAT will be a very tough test for you as Logical Reasoning is now two of the LSAT’s three scored sections. Again, for MBA hopefuls looking for GMAT verbal perfection the LSAT Logical Reasoning/Critical Reasoning is excellent practice. The GMAT student featured in this debrief, a GMAT tutor resigns, thrived on this super tough LSAT practice.

GMAT Quant and Data Insights vs. nothing at all

This used to be a comparison. The LSAT had four logic games serving up 25 questions in 35 minutes — ordering and grouping puzzles that some people found the easiest part of the test and others found impossible. LSAC retired Analytical Reasoning in August 2024. The games are gone, replaced by a second scored Logical Reasoning section. The LSAT no longer has a section that tests quantitative reasoning. The GMAT has two.

GMAT Quant is 21 Problem Solving questions in 45 minutes. Most GMAT quant content is relatively basic math from your early teenage years. Though the underlying content isn’t the challenging part. The GMAT is always inventing new ways of presenting the material. So even though you have memorized formulas you may have a tough time identifying where and how to apply them (GMAT Question of the Day is an excellent way to practice a variety of GMAT Quant Questions).

Data Insights is 20 questions in 45 minutes. It contains Data Sufficiency, Multi-Source Reasoning, Table Analysis, Graphics Interpretation and Two-Part Analysis, and counts for a third of the total score.

Essay vs. no essay

The GMAT has no essay. The LSAT has one, but it is no longer done on test day: it is a “take home” essay that you do at your leisure, and it is unscored. That makes LSAT test day shorter, and it means writing shouldn’t factor into the decision between the two exams.

GMAT Data Insights

Data Insights replaced Integrated Reasoning. Unlike IR, which admissions committees largely ignored, Data Insights counts for a third of the GMAT total score — the same as Quant and the same as Verbal. The LSAT has no equivalent section.

The Abundance of LSAT Prep Tests vs. The Scarcity of GMATPrep Exams

The LSAT is a bit easier to study for than the GMAT. Why? LSAC (the creators of the LSAT) has released almost every LSAT ever administered. Yep. Pretty epic. So basically you have an endless amount of official practice tests (over 70 and growing!) to build your LSAT skills and gauge your progress. And the LSAT Prep Tests are cheap. GMAC is very stingy and secretive with GMAT questions. So there are only 6 official practice tests available. Yep, only 6. Two of those 6 are free in the Official Starter Kit (sarcastic applause for GMAC); the other four are sold as Official Practice Exams 3–6.

GMAT vs LSAT Scoring

GMAT and LSAT scores are calculated differently but share some features. They each have a scaled score (measure of absolute ability) and a percentile score (a relative measure of your ability vs the group of test takers during a certain period of time).

GMAT scoring is more nuanced. The exam algorithm assigns a sub-score for each of the three sections — Quant, Verbal and Data Insights — each on a 60 to 90 scale. Those sub-scores are then combined through some secret formula and converted to your total score (the one that most people refer to as their “GMAT score”) from 205 to 805.

The LSAT just tallies how many questions you got right in all of the sections and converts that to your scaled score which then has a percentile score associated with it. The LSAT scaled score ranges from 120 to 180. One interesting feature of LSAT scoring: LSAT percentiles go out to the 10ths digit so you can score above the 99th percentile up to the 99.9th percentile. GMAT percentiles are whole numbers, and they now run to 100: everything from a 745 up rounds to the 100th percentile, with a 735 at the 99th. Here’s a chart for LSAT to GMAT score conversion.

Both columns are current: LSAT percentiles are LSAC’s 2023–2026 figures and GMAT percentiles are GMAC’s 2021–2026 table. Two things worth knowing. LSAT scores have inflated — a 170 was the 97th percentile a decade ago and is the 94th now. And GMAT percentiles bunch at the top: 745 through 805 are all the 100th percentile, so every LSAT score above a 177 converts to the same GMAT number. The conversion is coarser at the top than it used to be.

LSAT to GMAT Correlation

I’ve taken the GMAT and LSAT multiples times; extensively tutored each test; and solved thousands of questions from each of them. I can say with confidence that there is a correlation between how you score on one vs the other especially at the upper end of the scale. Why? Well, if you’re killing it on the GMAT or the LSAT that indicates ridiculously strong reasoning skills that will help you float to the top of any reasoning test regardless of the specific content.

The LSAT and GMAT are both testing your reasoning skills so if  those are sharp expect to do well on either exam given a certain level of studying. Never been a great standardized test person? Then it’s possible that the specific content on the GMAT or the LSAT will appeal to you more and be easier to prepare for. In that case there will likely be a bit less of a correlation between the exams.

And the winner is…

That depends on you. LSAT = tougher verbal, GMAT = tougher Quant type thinking. Let’s break this down based on what you occupy yourself with on the subway. Do you read the New Yorker? Well, you are probably an LSAT person. Are you doing Sudoku? GMAT all the way.

If you are not a verbal person, don’t read a lot, were never good at reading comprehension then the LSAT may be total hell for you as there is a massive amount of reading and some pretty serious time pressure.

If you have always struggled with math and don’t enjoy puzzles then you may despise the GMAT.

That was a lot of information – here it is super condensed:

One more thing: Joint Degree Programs (JD/MBA)

Only applying to the University of Pennsylvania Law school? Congrats: now you can use the GMAT to apply to law school. For all others my suggestion is this. Study for the LSAT first (and take the test). This way you’ll get your verbal in excellent shape and shouldn’t have much work to do for your GMAT verbal. Then take another 6-8 weeks to do GMAT Quant and Data Insights (you can find some GMAT study advice in the GMAT Study Schedule and in Essential GMAT Study Skills). At this point you can also do the toughest GMAT verbal just to acclimate to the specific flavor of GMAT verbal questions. Happy Studies!