Applying to Simpson Thacher's 2028 summer associate program? Every applicant must complete Suited's Cognitive Skills Assessment. Try Suited's tests below in the real format, then read what each section asks, how long it takes, who sees your results and how to prepare.
Key facts
- Required: All candidates applying to the 2028 summer associate program must complete Suited's Cognitive Skills Assessment, linked from the firm's How to Apply page.1
- When: It is listed with your resume and undergraduate transcript as an application material. Suited also lets you build your profile in advance.1,3
- What it tests: Attention to detail, critical thinking and logical reasoning, each on its own clock after an untimed instructions page, 15 minutes in all. There are more questions than anyone finishes.5,7
- Behavioral part: A Suited profile has a Behavioral Assessment as well as the Cognitive Skills Assessment, and counts as complete when both are done. The behavioral part takes about 20 minutes with no clock.4,9,6
- Time: The full Suited assessment takes about 30 minutes once you have registered and verified your account. It is free for candidates.3
- Retakes: You can retake it every 9 months, which means once per recruiting cycle, so the sitting you take now is the one firms see this season.3
- Who sees it: Only the firms you authorize see your results, and none can see where else you shared them. Suited does not show candidates their results; that is up to the firm.3,4
- How it is used: Firms read Suited results alongside your resume, transcript and interviews, and Suited does not accept or reject anyone. Simpson Thacher makes offers on a rolling basis once it has your first-semester transcript.3,1
Each firm reads your results against its own model of the attorneys who thrive there, so there is no universal pass mark.3
Try the tests
Suited's three cognitive tests and its behavioral part, a few questions each at the real test's pace, on the same screens as the app. Each one opens in its own window, with a report at the end.
Attention to detail
Two timed parts: are two strings exactly the same, then which of four sets match a first one character for character.
19 questions · 1:35
Logical reasoning
One or two facts and four conclusions. Mark each True, False or Uncertain from the facts alone.
12 conclusions · 2:00
Critical thinking
Number sequences with one term missing. Find the rule and type the number.
5 series · 1:30
Behavioral assessment
Statements, pairs and points on how you work. No right answers and no clock.
8 questions · no clock
What the Simpson Thacher online assessment looks like
The link
Simpson Thacher lists Suited with your resume and undergraduate transcript under its 2028 application materials, and links the assessment from the How to Apply page. Use that link, so your profile goes to the firm. If you already have a Suited profile from another firm, you log in and authorize Simpson Thacher to see it.1,4
Your profile
Suited's profile has your academic and background details, your resume, the Behavioral Assessment and the Cognitive Skills Assessment. It shows as complete once every section is filled in. Allow about 30 minutes for the assessments after you register.9,3
The Cognitive Skills Assessment
Three sections, attention to detail, critical thinking and logical reasoning, 15 minutes in all. Each opens on an untimed page with a sample, and the clock starts only when you move on. You cannot go back to a finished section or return to the test later, so take it rested, on a laptop, with a notepad beside you.5,7
The behavioral part
Rating items on a five-point scale and pairs where you pick the statement more like you. It takes about 20 minutes, has no clock and need not be done in one sitting. Answer as you are at work, not with friends, and don't overthink single items.6
After you submit
Your results reach the firms you authorize, which read them alongside your resume, transcript and interviews. Simpson Thacher interviews from November through February and makes offers on a rolling basis after first-semester transcripts arrive.3,1
The parts of a Suited profile
- Cognitive Skills Assessment 15 min
- Required by Simpson Thacher: attention to detail, critical thinking and logical reasoning, each timed.
- Behavioral Assessment About 20 min
- Rating items and pairs on how you work and handle stress; no clock and no right profile.
- Profile details Untimed
- Education, background, location preferences and your resume.
- Retake Every 9 months
- Once per recruiting cycle, so one sitting counts for the whole season.
Simpson Thacher names the Cognitive Skills Assessment. Suited's law resource center gives the parts of a profile and their clocks; its current students page gives the length and the retake rule.1,9,5,6,3
Before you start Suited
- Use the Suited link on Simpson Thacher's How to Apply page, so the firm receives your profile.
- Set aside 45 quiet minutes: about 30 for the assessment, plus registration.
- A laptop or desktop, not a phone, for the timed cognitive part.
- A notepad for the number series.
- Ask Suited about accommodations before you start the cognitive part, not after.
- Check that every section of your profile shows as complete before you close it.
The sections, one by one
Suited names three cognitive skills for law associates and shows a sample of each; these have right answers. The behavioral items measure how you work and how you prefer to handle stress, and have no right profile.7,8,3
- Attention to detail: Two strings side by side: exactly the same, or different in any way?
- Critical thinking: A number series with one term blank: find the rule and type the number.
- Logical reasoning: One or two facts, then conclusions to mark True, False or Uncertain.
- Work traits: Rating items and pairs on how you work, such as whether you prefer to work independently or collaborate.
- Stress response: Your preferred way of handling tight deadlines and changing priorities: active coping, positive reframing or social support.
Here is each part as it appears in Intervyo, on Suited's screens: a plain blue-gray page, an untimed instructions page with a sample before each timed section, and the clock starting only when you select Next. Suited's law guide shows a sample of each cognitive section, the three Simpson Thacher requires, and the behavioral part follows. Each block says what the part checks and how to answer it well.1,5,7,10
1.Attention to detailTwo timed parts
Suited's sample is rows of paired strings split by a colon, such as goP1js3 : goP1js3, and you mark each pair Same or Different. In the 2024 sitting with published screens a second part followed: a first set of characters with copies under it, where you tick every exact copy, or No Match. Each part opens on an untimed page with a sample.7,5,10
What it measures: Being careful and thorough with detail: spotting a one-character change at speed, the slip that turns up in a citation, a defined term or a docket number.
How to answer it well
- 1Compare in chunks of two or three characters rather than the whole string at once.
- 2Watch for lookalikes, such as G and 6, O and 0, l and 1, and a capital that has turned lowercase.
- 3Settle each row once and move on. Going back over a row costs time you need for the next.
- 4Leave a row you cannot settle rather than guess. Suited says wrong answers may count against you.
Best guessSuited gives only the 15-minute total. In the 2024 sitting with published screens, a banking one, the two parts ran 1 and 3 minutes.
2.Logical reasoningTimed section
One or two facts at the top, then conclusions under them, which you mark True if the facts guarantee it, False if they rule it out and Uncertain if they settle neither. Suited's sample pairs "There are no swimmers that aren't tall" with "There are no divers that aren't swimmers" and asks about "All divers are tall".7,5,10
What it measures: Applying logic and reason to the information given and reaching only the conclusions it supports.
How to answer it well
- 1Rewrite double negatives as plain rules before you judge anything.
- 2Judge each conclusion against the facts only. Suited says everything you need is in the question.
- 3A conclusion is Uncertain unless the facts force it one way. Could be true is not True.
- 4Read the direction of each rule: all A are B does not make every B an A.
Best guessIn the 2024 sitting with published screens this section ran 5 minutes, with four conclusions to a set.
3.Critical thinkingTimed section
A number series built by a fixed rule, with one term shown as ____, and a box where you type the missing number. Suited's law guide uses the doubling series 2, 4, 8, ____, 32, 64, 128, 256 as its sample. The arithmetic is light, and Suited suggests a notepad.7,5,10
What it measures: Analyzing information and finding the pattern in it, then applying it without slips.
How to answer it well
- 1Check the gaps between terms first, then the ratios, then whether two series alternate.
- 2Test your rule on the terms after the blank as well as before it.
- 3Type only the number. Skip a series you cannot crack rather than guess at it.
Best guessIn the 2024 sitting with published screens this section ran 5 minutes.
4.BehavioralUntimed, about 20 minutes
Statements you rate on a five-point scale, from very much like you to not like you at all, and pairs where you say which of two statements is more like you, and by how much. There is no clock, and you need not finish in one sitting. Suited reads all your answers together against a model of the attorneys who do well at each firm.6,8,9
What it measures: Traits across three dimensions of how people work, and your preferred style under stress: active coping, positive reframing or social support. It measures how you like to handle pressure, not whether you can.
How to answer it well
- 1Answer as an employee at work, not as you are with friends.
- 2On a pair you are only saying which statement is more like you, not that it describes you well.
- 3Don't overthink single items or race. Keep a steady pace; no one answer decides anything.
Best guessSimpson Thacher names the Cognitive Skills Assessment; expect this part in the same Suited profile, since a profile counts as complete only with both. The 2024 sitting with published screens had 96 behavioral questions.
Practice items and how to approach them
Attention to detail (practice)"Intervyo practice item, attention to detail: mark each pair Same or Different. (a) Sec. 1031(a)(1) : Sec. 1031(a)(1) (b) Halloran Trust 2019-B : Halloran Trust 2019-8 (c) Rule 12(b)(6) : Rule 12(b)(6) (d) No. 24-cv-03817 : No. 24-cv-03871"7
- 1This is our own practice item in Suited's Same or Different format; it is not a Suited question.
- 2Read each side in chunks: the label, then the numbers, then the letters in brackets.
- 3Watch for a letter swapped for a lookalike digit, and for two digits trading places.
- 4Settle each pair once and move to the next.
Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)
(a) Same. (b) Different: B has become 8. (c) Same. (d) Different: the last two digits swap from 17 to 71.
Logical reasoning (practice)"Intervyo practice item, logical reasoning: all lateral partners in the group were cleared by the conflicts team. No one cleared by the conflicts team joined before 2020. The group has two lateral partners. Mark each True, False or Uncertain. (a) No lateral partner in the group joined before 2020. (b) Everyone who joined after 2020 is a lateral partner. (c) Some people cleared by the conflicts team are lateral partners in the group."7
- 1This is our own practice item in Suited's True, False or Uncertain format; it is not a Suited question.
- 2Chain the rules: lateral partner, so cleared; cleared, so joined in 2020 or later.
- 3Don't assume a group has members. A "some" conclusion needs a fact that says someone exists, as the third fact does here.
- 4Watch the direction: the rules say nothing about everyone who joined later.
Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)
(a) True: every lateral partner was cleared, and no one cleared joined before 2020. (b) Uncertain: the rules run one way only. (c) True: the group has two lateral partners, and each was cleared. Without the third fact, (c) would be Uncertain.
Critical thinking (practice)"Intervyo practice item, critical thinking: what number fills the gap? 4, 30, 7, 27, 10, 24, ____, 21"7
- 1This is our own practice item in Suited's number-series format; it is not a Suited question.
- 2The gaps jump up and down, which points to two series taking turns.
- 3Split them: 4, 7, 10 and 30, 27, 24, 21.
- 4Find which series the blank belongs to, then extend it.
Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)
13. The odd terms rise by 3 (4, 7, 10, 13) and the even terms fall by 3 (30, 27, 24, 21), and the blank is the next odd term.
Behavioral (practice)"Intervyo practice item, behavioral rating: "I am comfortable telling a senior colleague that I see a problem with their approach." How much is this like you, from A, very much like me, to E, not like me at all?"6,8
- 1This is our own practice item in Suited's rating style; it is not a Suited question.
- 2Think of your usual habit at work or school, not one extreme case.
- 3Use the whole scale: the middle answers are there for statements that are partly true.
- 4Answer and move on at a steady pace; Suited reads all your answers together.
Tip: High performers differ from firm to firm, so there is no answer a law firm wants here. Answering as the ideal associate tends to blur your results rather than lift them.
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How long to hear back after the online assessment
Suited sits inside the application, and the firm counts it as an application material, so finish it soon after you apply. Interviews run from November through February, and offers wait for first-semester transcripts.1,11
Fall 2026 (summer 2028)
Simpson Thacher, all US offices
Applications opened for the 2028 2L program, and for 2027 1Ls in Dallas and Houston, with Suited's Cognitive Skills Assessment required of every applicant.1
Nov 1, 2025 (summer 2027)
Simpson Thacher, all US offices
Applications opened, with interviews expected from November through March.2
Jan 22, 2027 (summer 2028)
Simpson Thacher Leadership Fellowship
The last day to email a fellowship personal statement, if you did not send it with your application.1
Jul 2021 (summer 2022)
Berkeley Law, early interview week
Berkeley's career office described law firm assessments as 20 to 30 minutes, and likely needed for an application to count as complete.11
If you apply to several offices, send your 1L transcript to the one you most want; each office has its own recruiting email.1
Best guessTake Suited the same week you apply, so your file waits only on interviews and fall grades. Expect first interviews from late November 2026 and offers from January 2027.
What happens after the online assessment
Online application
Resume and undergraduate transcript through each office's link, then your 1L transcript by email.1
Suited Cognitive Skills AssessmentYou are here
This page. Required of every 2028 applicant, from the link on the How to Apply page: three timed sections, 15 minutes in all.1,5
Screening interview, then full round
Interviews from November 2026 through February 2027.1
Offer
On a rolling basis, after the firm has your first-semester transcript.1
Cognitive part vs behavioral part
The two halves of a Suited profile reward different approaches. Focus helps the first; honesty helps the second.
FAQ
Does Simpson Thacher use Suited?
Yes. All candidates applying to Simpson Thacher's 2028 summer associate program must complete Suited's Cognitive Skills Assessment, linked from the firm's How to Apply page.1
What is the Suited Cognitive Skills Assessment?
Three timed sections, 15 minutes in all: attention to detail (are two strings the same or different), critical thinking (a number series with a term missing) and logical reasoning (True, False or Uncertain from a set of facts). Each opens with an untimed sample.5,7
Do I also take Suited's behavioral assessment?
Simpson Thacher names the Cognitive Skills Assessment. A Suited profile also has an untimed behavioral part of about 20 minutes and counts as complete when both are done, so plan for both.1,9,6
How long does it take?
The cognitive part is timed at 15 minutes, and the whole Suited assessment takes about 30 minutes once you have registered.5,3
Can you prepare for the Suited assessment?
Suited says you cannot study for it, but it offers a practice assessment in your student account, and you can set up well: rested, on a laptop, with a notepad, and reading each sample before the clock starts. Practicing the three formats makes the timed sections feel familiar.4,5
Should I guess on the timed questions?
No. Suited says there is no advantage to guessing, as wrong answers may affect your score, and that there are more questions than anyone can answer in the time.5
Can I retake the Suited assessment?
Every 9 months, which means once per recruiting cycle. If another Suited firm invites you, you log in and authorize it to see the profile you already have.3,4
Will I see my Suited results?
Suited does not share results with candidates, as they rest on confidential models of what drives success at each firm. It is up to the firm what it tells you.4
Online assessment at other firms
Sources
Firm pages first, then dated candidate reports. Last checked Nov 9, 2026.
- 1Simpson Thacher: How to Apply
- 2Simpson Thacher: How to Apply (Nov 1, 2025, summer 2027; archived)
- 3Suited: For law students
- 4Suited: Resource Guide for Law Students
- 5Suited: How to prepare for and respond to the Cognitive Skills Assessment (law)
- 6Suited: How to prepare for and respond to the Behavioral Assessment (law)
- 7Suited: What's measured (Cognitive Skills Assessment, law)
- 8Suited: What's measured (behavioral assessment, law)
- 9Suited: Who can see my score? (law)
- 10assessmentpass: Huolihan Lokey Online Assessment Walkthrough (May 2024) · prep site
- 11Berkeley Law Career Development Office: CDO: EIW Law Firm Assessments (2021) · prep site
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