LSAT Scoring
There are two steps in calculating your LSAT score. First, the number of questions you get right are added up, giving you a “raw score.” Then, this raw score is converted to a “scaled score” between 120 and 180.
To achieve a perfect 180 on the LSAT, you can (usually) only get one question wrong on the entire test – a feat only achieved by about 0.03% of test takers. The median LSAT score is around 151 or 152.
Why does the LSAT have a scaled score?
The LSAT uses a scaled score to level the playing field between different versions of the test.
On a slightly easier test, you’ll have to get more questions right to achieve a certain scaled score. On a slightly harder test, you can attain that same scaled score by getting fewer questions right.
The adjustments between tests are fairly small. Usually, if you get the same number of questions right on two different LSAT exams, your scaled scores won’t differ by more than a point or two.
The scaled score has also allowed the LSAT scores to remain consistent on the new, shorter version of the test. Law schools don’t really care whether a candidate took the four-section version of the LSAT (which was used until May 2020) or the newer, three-section version – either way, they see a comparable scaled score.
Do hard questions affect your LSAT score more than easy questions?
No. Your LSAT score is based on the number of questions you answered correctly, not the difficulty level of those questions.
This has significant implications for your LSAT timing strategy. Let’s say that you run into a Logical Reasoning question that is really, really tough. Maybe you could answer it if you spent five minutes carefully going through the argument and answer choices. Should you spend that much time on it?
Well, in those same five minutes, you could answer two or three easier questions! Each of those easy questions count just as much toward your score as the tough question – so you should quickly guess on the hard one, and then scoop up points by answering a larger number of easy questions.
Does guessing hurt your LSAT score?
You should always fill in an answer choice on LSAT questions, even if you’re just blindly guessing.
That’s because there is no penalty for an incorrect answer, so there’s no downside to getting a question wrong. And hey, you’ve got a 20% chance of guessing correctly – you might as well try your luck.
How do the different sections on the LSAT affect your overall score?
The current (post-2020) version of the LSAT consists of three scored sections: one Reading Comprehension section, one Analytical Reasoning (logic games) section, and one Logical Reasoning section. There is also an unscored “variable section” that is used to collect data on new test questions; it can consist of any of the three LSAT question types, and does not affect your score in any way.
Every scored question on the LSAT is weighted exactly the same. For example, missing a Reading Comprehension question will have the same exact impact on your score as missing an Analytical Reasoning question.
Law schools will not see the exact questions that you missed on your LSAT exam. They only see your overall scaled score and your score percentile. So, law programs will not know whether the questions you missed all came from one section or were spread evenly across all three scored sections.
Want to learn more about the LSAT?
How to improve on LSAT Reading Comprehension and Logical Reasoning
How reading fiction (yes, fiction) and nonfiction can improve your overall reading skills for the LSAT
Everything you could possibly want to know about one-on-one LSAT tutoring