The LSAT is scored on a scale of 120 to 180, with your raw number of correct answers converted to that scaled score through a statistical process that adjusts for the difficulty of each specific test. There is no penalty for wrong answers, so every question you answer correctly adds to your raw score, and blank or incorrect answers simply don’t count.
Which Sections Count Toward Your Score
Starting with the August 2024 administration, the LSAT consists of three scored sections: two Logical Reasoning sections and one Reading Comprehension section. The test also includes one unscored section of either Logical Reasoning or Reading Comprehension, which LSAC uses to test questions for future exams. You won’t know which section is unscored while you’re taking the test, so you need to treat every section as if it counts.
The scored sections together contain roughly 75 to 76 questions. Your raw score is simply the total number you get right across those three sections.
How Raw Scores Become Scaled Scores
Once your raw score is tallied, LSAC converts it to a scaled score between 120 and 180. The conversion isn’t a fixed formula. Instead, LSAC uses a process called equating, which adjusts the conversion table for each test administration so that a given scaled score (say, 160) represents the same level of ability regardless of which version of the test you took. If one test happens to be slightly harder, you can get fewer questions right and still receive the same scaled score as someone who took an easier version.
As a rough guide, here’s how the conversion typically works across the score range:
- 75-76 correct: 180 (a perfect or near-perfect raw score)
- 65 correct: approximately 170
- 55 correct: approximately 160
- 45 correct: approximately 150
- 35 correct: approximately 140
- 15 or fewer correct: 120 (the floor)
These numbers shift slightly from one test to another because of equating. A conversion table released after one administration might require 66 correct for a 171, while another might require 65. The differences are usually small, within a question or two at any given scaled score.
What Percentile Rankings Mean
Along with your scaled score, you’ll receive a percentile rank that tells you how your performance compares to other test takers. The percentile represents the percentage of scores lower than yours across recent testing years. Based on LSAC data covering the 2022 through 2025 testing years:
- 170: 95th percentile, meaning you scored higher than about 95% of test takers
- 160: 73rd percentile
- 150: 38th percentile
The median LSAT score falls around 151 to 152, so a 150 puts you just below the midpoint of all test takers. Scores are not evenly distributed. Most people cluster in the middle of the range, which means each additional point matters more as you move toward the top. Going from 160 to 165 jumps you roughly 10 percentile points, while going from 145 to 150 moves you a similar amount. At the very top, the gaps are even steeper: a 170 is 95th percentile, but a 175 lands around the 99th.
No Penalty for Guessing
The LSAT has no penalty for incorrect answers. A wrong answer and a blank answer are treated identically: both earn zero points. This means you should answer every single question, even if you’re running out of time and need to guess randomly. Leaving a question blank has no strategic benefit.
The Score Preview Option
LSAC offers a Score Preview option that lets you see your score before deciding whether to keep it or cancel it. If you purchase Score Preview before the first day of your test administration, it costs $45. If you wait until after the test (up to the Monday before score release), the price rises to $85. Test takers with an approved LSAC fee waiver can use Score Preview for free.
Once scores are released, you have six calendar days to decide. If you take no action, the score is automatically added to your record and sent to any law schools you’ve applied to. If you cancel, the score appears on your transcript as a candidate cancellation, and it still counts against your annual and lifetime testing limits. You just won’t have a number attached to it.
Without Score Preview, your score is reported automatically with no cancellation window after release.
How Law Schools See Your Scores
Law schools receive every LSAT score on your record, including cancellations (which show as canceled but without a number). If you take the test more than once, all scored attempts are visible. Most law schools focus on your highest score, though admissions committees can see the full picture. Your percentile rank is tied to the specific score, so schools can quickly contextualize where you fall relative to the broader test-taking population.
Scores are valid for five years from the test date, meaning a score from five years ago can still be part of a law school application, but anything older drops off your reportable record.