Understanding LSAT Score Range: What Is The LSAT Out Of?

Prospective law students often ask: What is the LSAT out of? The answer is straightforward—the Law School Admission Test (LSAT)® uses a scale score ranging from 120 to 180. However, understanding what this score range means for your law school applications requires deeper insight into how the test works, what skills it evaluates and why your score matters. The LSAT, developed by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC)®, remains the most widely recognized standardized test for law school admission. Knowing how scores are calculated, what constitutes a competitive score and how the exam structure supports this scoring system will help you approach test preparation strategically.

LSAT Score Range Explained: The 120-180 Scale

When you complete the LSAT, you receive two distinct scores: your raw score and your scale score. Your raw score represents the total number of questions you answer correctly. The good news? Incorrect answers don’t count against you, so there’s no penalty for guessing. This raw number undergoes conversion into a scale score, which ranges from 120 at the low end to 180 at the high end.

The scale score is what matters most for law school admissions decisions. According to research conducted by LSAC that examined the correlation between LSAT performance and first-year law school success, the median LSAT score hovers around 153. This means half of test-takers score above 153 and half score below. Understanding where you fall on this 120-180 continuum helps you gauge your competitiveness for your target schools.

Most top-tier law schools require scores in the 160-170 range, while competitive schools typically seek candidates scoring between 155-165. Below 150, acceptance chances diminish significantly at ABA-accredited institutions. An above-average score—generally considered 160 or higher—can meaningfully enhance your admissions prospects and may even correlate with how you’ll perform academically during your first year of law studies.

Why the LSAT Tests What It Tests: Skills for Legal Success

The Law School Admission Council designed the LSAT to measure the exact competencies required to thrive in law school and legal practice. Rather than testing subject matter knowledge, the exam evaluates core analytical and reasoning capabilities that lawyers must master.

The LSAT assesses five distinct domains: reading comprehension, analytical reasoning (commonly called “logic games”), logical reasoning, a writing sample and a variable section used to pilot new test questions. Each component targets essential lawyering skills.

Your ability to comprehend dense, complex texts—a cornerstone of legal work—is tested through reading comprehension. Analytical reasoning gauges your deductive logic and systematic problem-solving under time constraints. Logical reasoning evaluates your capacity to deconstruct arguments, identify logical flaws and construct sound counter-arguments. The writing sample measures whether you can take a clear position and defend it persuasively in structured prose.

The Five Components: A Closer Look at LSAT Test Structure

Reading Comprehension: Synthesizing Complex Materials

Legal professionals spend enormous time analyzing court decisions, contracts, statutes and evidentiary documents. The reading comprehension section mirrors this reality by presenting four reading sets, each accompanied by five to eight questions. The first three sets each feature one passage, while the fourth set presents two shorter, thematically related passages that you must compare.

The texts draw from diverse fields—social sciences, natural sciences, humanities and topics unrelated to law. This breadth ensures test-takers cannot rely on prior subject knowledge. Questions ask you to identify main ideas, recognize explicit and implicit information, and analyze how texts are organized and structured.

Analytical Reasoning: Logic Games and Deductive Thinking

The analytical reasoning section tests your ability to determine what could or must be true given a specific set of facts and governing rules. Presented as hypothetical scenarios unrelated to law, these questions replicate the systematic reasoning lawyers employ when interpreting regulations, analyzing contract terms or examining case facts.

You’ll encounter problems requiring you to identify correct solutions based on relational logic, work with conditional “if-then” statements, recognize logical equivalencies and draw inferences by combining facts with new hypothetical information.

Logical Reasoning: Argumentation and Legal Analysis

Argumentation forms the backbone of legal practice. The logical reasoning section measures your competency in analyzing, evaluating and constructing arguments. Questions draw from real-world sources—newspapers, academic journals, advertisements—requiring you to examine arguments expressed in everyday language rather than specialized legal terminology.

This section asks you to read short passages and answer one to two questions per passage. You’ll be asked to identify argument components, spot logical weaknesses, draw well-supported conclusions, reason through analogy and assess how new evidence affects an argument’s validity.

Writing Sample: Persuasive Advocacy in Writing

Separate from the scored multiple-choice sections, the writing sample measures your ability to take a stance based on provided evidence and defend it logically. Strong legal writing is fundamental to law school success and future practice. This unscored section is available for eight days before the multiple-choice exam opens, allowing flexibility in scheduling. You complete it on demand using proctored software on your own computer.

How Long Does the LSAT Take? Timing and Test Administration

Budget approximately three hours to complete the entire LSAT. The multiple-choice portion includes four sections, each lasting 35 minutes, with 10-minute breaks between the second and third sections. The writing sample takes an additional 35 minutes. Throughout the exam, time pressure is significant—each section contains roughly 25 questions with dense reading material, leaving minimal time per question.

However, the multiple-choice format includes a built-in advantage: incorrect answers carry no penalty. This structure encourages strategic guessing if you’re unsure about a response.

Understanding LSAT Costs: A Complete Breakdown

Taking the LSAT involves several financial components beyond the exam fee itself. Understanding the full cost structure helps you budget appropriately.

The Core Exam Fee: The LSAT, including both the multiple-choice and writing portions, costs $215. If you retake the exam, each subsequent attempt also costs $215. You cannot take the writing sample separately as a standalone component, though you can retake the multiple-choice sections without retaking the writing portion if your writing score satisfied you.

Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Subscription: Most ABA-accredited law schools require applicants to submit scores through CAS, which streamlines the application process. A five-year CAS subscription costs $195 and provides electronic access to application systems for all participating schools through a single account.

CAS Report Fee: When you apply to law schools, CAS compiles a comprehensive report containing all required documents and your LSAT scores for each institution. Each report costs $45.

Optional Services: Several supplementary services carry additional costs. An LSAT score preview ($45 before test day, $75 after) lets you review results before deciding whether to keep or cancel the score. An official score report listing all LSAT scores, including nonreportable ones, costs $50. Should you want your score reassessed through an audit, that service runs $150.

Who Requires the LSAT and Why It Matters

The LSAT is mandatory or strongly preferred at nearly all ABA-accredited law schools. Many schools view the LSAT as essential for assessing whether candidates possess the foundational skills necessary for law school success. Beyond admissions gatekeeping, your LSAT score influences scholarship eligibility, class ranking and sometimes job placement outcomes.

Taking the LSAT also serves a self-assessment function. If you’re questioning whether law school aligns with your goals, LSAT preparation and your resulting score can clarify whether legal education represents a sound investment.

Conclusion: Contextualizing Your LSAT Score Range

Now that you understand what the LSAT is out of—a 120-180 scale where higher scores demonstrate stronger performance on evaluated skills—you can approach test preparation with clearer objectives. Your specific target score depends on your target schools’ medians, scholarship goals and competitive positioning. Whether aiming for the 160+ range to access top schools or the 150+ range for solid programs, recognizing where your score falls on the LSAT’s scale provides direction for your preparation strategy and realistic admissions outlook.