The Law School Admission Council created a new portion of the Law School Admission Test and removed another — the largest changes to the exam in 15 years.

"(The changes) are not particularly earth-shattering changes," said Russell Schaffer, spokesman for Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions.

Beginning in June 2007, the reading comprehension section of the LSAT will include a new comparative reading portion, according to the admission council's Web site.

The reading comprehensive section currently consists of four sets of passages, followed by four sets of questions.

In the updated exam, one of the passages will be replaced with the new comparative reading section.

"It will be based upon two passages where you compare what you just read," Schaffer said.

"Instead of one longer (passage), there will be two shorter ones."

Also, the argument-prompt portion of the writing-sample section of the test will be removed.

Currently, test-takers are randomly given an argument or decision prompt.

The writing part of the exam is not scored, but admission officials use it when considering applicants for their law schools, Schaffer said.

"Even though it is unscored, students have to take it seriously," he said.

"The good news is students only have to prepare for one type of prompt. Students who preferred the argument prompt of the exam no longer have that option."

Cory Burke, assistant director of admissions and financial aid for the MSU College of Law, said most schools, including MSU, will also change application review procedures.

"Most schools are going to begin taking (a student's) highest LSAT score instead of an average of all the scores," Burke said.

The LSAT is a good forecaster of how students are going to do during their first year of law school, he said.

"The changes will make it a better predictor," Burke said.

Along with the James Madison College, the MSU College of Law currently offers courses for undergraduate students to help them prepare for the LSAT.

"It is geared toward people who can't afford to pay for the classes," Burke said.

"It is nothing too extensive. It is just to give them something that is better than nothing."

The classes, held every Tuesday in November, were the first of their kind, and university officials hope to continue them.

The changes to the exam should not cause any additional anxiety to students, Schaffer said.

"Although (the changes) are significant, they will only affect six or seven questions," he said.

"That can mean up to three and six points, based on a scale of 180. But three points can make a difference in a student getting in a first- and second-tier school."

For some competitive law schools, a student's LSAT score can make up to 50 percent of an admission official's decision, Schaffer said.

Students who are prepared to take the exam on one of the two test dates left before the changes occur are encouraged to do so, Schaffer said.

"With any significant change, there is an unpredictability factor," he said.

"If you are prepared to do so, avoid it if you can."