The LSAT (Law School Admission Test) is the standardized test most ABA-accredited US law schools use to evaluate JD applicants, administered by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). Its format changed permanently in August 2024, so if you're prepping from an older guide or a friend's notes, the section structure you've heard about may already be outdated. Here's what the test actually looks like now.
Current Section Structure
Since August 2024, the LSAT no longer includes the Logic Games (Analytical Reasoning) section — LSAC permanently removed it after settling a lawsuit over accessibility for blind and low-vision test takers. A second scored Logical Reasoning section replaced it.
| Section | Scored? | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Logical Reasoning (x2) | Yes | 35 min each |
| Reading Comprehension | Yes | 35 min |
| Unscored variable section (LR or RC) | No — used to test future questions | 35 min |
| LSAT Writing | No — required but unscored | 50 min total, completed separately online |
The three scored sections together produce roughly 76 scored questions. There's no penalty for wrong answers, so guessing is never a bad strategy.
LSAT Writing is a required argumentative essay, but it doesn't count toward your score — schools receive it alongside your score report and use it as a writing sample. It's completed remotely under secure proctoring on your own computer, available up to 8 days before your multiple-choice test date, with 15 minutes to plan and 35 minutes to write.
Scoring
LSAT scores run on a 120–180 scale, with 120 the lowest possible score and 180 a perfect score. There's no separate "average" published mid-test — you get one composite score based on the scored sections only.
Rough percentile context (confirm the exact current percentile table on LSAC.org, since it shifts slightly with each test administration):
| Score | Approximate percentile |
|---|---|
| ~150 | ~50th |
| ~160 | ~80th |
| ~165 | ~90th |
| ~170 | ~97th |
| ~175+ | ~99th |
Digital and In-Center Administration
The LSAT is administered digitally on a computer. Historically, LSAC offered both in-person testing at Prometric-affiliated centers and remote-from-home testing (LSAT Flex, introduced during the pandemic). Starting with the August 2026 LSAT, LSAC is moving to primarily in-center testing for almost all US and international candidates — remote testing is now limited to exceptions such as certain medical accommodations or extreme distance from a test center. If you're planning a 2026–27 test date, check LSAC's current policy directly, as this is a recent change.
Retake Policy
LSAC limits how often you can sit the LSAT:
- Up to 5 times within the current reportable score period (roughly the past five testing years, tracked since July 2021)
- Up to 7 times total in a lifetime
Canceled scores — including scores canceled through the Score Preview option — count against these limits. Absences and withdrawals do not. If you score a perfect 180, you cannot retake the test again within the current reporting period.
How scores reach law schools: every reportable score in your file is sent to every school you apply to through LSAC's Credential Assembly Service (CAS). LSAC recommends schools consider the average of all reportable scores, but in practice most admissions committees weight your single highest score most heavily.
Cost
| Item | Approximate fee |
|---|---|
| LSAT registration | $253 (2026–2027 testing year, per LSAC) |
| CAS subscription (required for applications, valid 5 years) | $207 |
These fees are reviewed annually — confirm the current amount on LSAC.org before budgeting, as older guides may cite outdated figures.
Who Actually Needs the LSAT
The LSAT is built for one purpose: predicting first-year law school performance through reading comprehension and logical argument analysis. You need it if you're applying to a JD program at most ABA-accredited US law schools or many Canadian common-law programs. A growing number of law schools — including every school in the T14 — now also accept the GRE as an alternative; see our LSAT vs. GRE comparison if you're weighing which test fits your profile better.
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