LSAT Q&A

We are getting a lot of questions already about the LSAT for our 2026 Admission cycle. Thus, this week’s blog post is dedicated to the many questions we get about our favourite law school entrance exam.

Which LSAT scores do you use for evaluating my application?

We use only your highest LSAT score within the last five years to calculate your index score. It is weighted 50% with your cumulative GPA from your first undergraduate degree.

How many times can I write the LSAT?

You CAN write the LSAT as many times as you like. However, there are financial and time considerations. Simply put, not everyone is in a position to consistently study and pay to take the test. You may see rewriting the LSAT as an investment, which is valid. You may need to strategize and prepare a bit more to put all of your efforts into one or two solid tries. Your mileage may vary.

When should I write the LSAT?

The last LSAT score we take for an incoming class is January of the same year you are applying to start law school. That is, if you are applying to start law school in September of 2026, the last score we would take would be January 2026.

Should I wait to write the LSAT until the last possible date?

We don’t recommend it for two reasons. Firstly, you don’t know what your score is. If it’s the first time you are writing the LSAT, your score may surprise you. Every year, we see people who apply who were surprised by a low LSAT score. Had they known their score sooner, they would have made different choices about how or if they applied that year. They would have had a chance to rewrite if they had known their score earlier. Secondly, we cannot calculate your index score until we receive your LSAT score. We begin calculating index scores as soon as applications are complete, which is long before January. If we receive your January LSAT score in February, much of our class may already be full.

There may be valid reasons to take the January LSAT; it can boost your index score. However, I would not rely on it as my first and only score. In fact, I would take the LSAT prior to applying at law school at all.

If I took the LSAT 3 years ago but got a score I am happy with, do I need to take it again?

No, especially if you are applying for General Admission. However, if you are applying in one of the other admission streams, please just take a moment to think about what you are signaling to the Admissions Committee. If your highest LSAT score was not competitive but you haven’t retaken it since 2021, that definitely sends a certain signal to those who review your application. Perhaps the reason you haven’t rewritten is something that you’ve addressed somewhere in your application. If not, just try to take a bird’s-eye view of what signal not retesting might send.

How do I know if my score was good enough?

For General Admission, we usually tell people that a minimum competitive last score is currently 160. Recall, though, that this score is weighted 50/50 with your GPA. The index score is taken out of 1000 points. The LSAT and the GPA are each worth 500 points. Each the LSAT and GPA are converted to a scale of x out of 500 points then added together. If your LSAT score is lower, your GPA would then need to be higher to earn a competitive index score. If your LSAT score is higher, a competitive index score would have a little more forgiveness for lower grades. Thus, if your highest LSAT is only 160, a competitive GPA would be mostly an A+ average. That need for a super-4.0 GPA subsides the higher the applicant’s LSAT score is.

How do I best prepare for the LSAT?

The truth is that you don’t know how well you will perform on the LSAT until you have taken it. Practice tests, though, can serve as a strong predictor. Rather, practice tests plus environmental concerns are a strong predictor. There are very good, very thorough review courses available. There are lots of pieces of advice available on the internet that can make anyone feel like they aren’t doing enough to prepare. You can put a lot of time and money into preparing to take the LSAT. Before you hyperventilate into a paper bag, take a deep breath. Find and take a practice test. They are available online. There are inexpensive books that have them. Next, consider things like whether you have test anxiety, whether any accommodations you might have (or not have) will affect your score, whether you are incredibly sensitive to your environment, whether sitting for long periods of time is distracting, or whether anything else might affect your score. Keep in mind that, like so many other things in life, what you need will vary so much from person to person.

For me, I prepared by buying one prep book and taking practice tests from it. I was a very good test taker who wasn’t phased by much of anything in a testing environment. The test was in person, and I was used to sitting for long periods of time in a classroom taking tests. The score I got on every practice test was an absolute predictor of what I would get on the actual LSAT. This won’t be the case for everyone, but you can get a good sense of what this might look like by practicing and having some honest conversations with yourself.

Prep courses are great at telling people that they need to study for 200+ hours or 40 hours a week for 2-3 months. This amount of studying will be necessary for some people. However, it simply isn’t for everyone. Some people will be really good at LSAT questions without much practice. Others will need some work. It’s a good idea to figure out where you fit on that spectrum before you quit your job and invest in expensive prep courses.

Also, look for free or reduced cost resources. Not all effective study methods need to cost $4,000. Some online resources are free. Prep books cost a fraction of what a course costs. For some people the best method WILL be a more expensive prep course and 200+ hours of study time. However, it’s worth it to research what works for you before you dive in.

The key to effectively preparing for the LSAT lies in two things:

1. Start early enough and take the time to really understand what is going to work for you and what kind of investment you need to make.
2. Be honest with yourself about how the testing environment will affect your ability to take the test and whether there are ways you can mitigate any issues.

But also (and very importantly):

3. Take the test early enough to allow for something to go wrong on test day. Maybe you were unexpectedly sick that day or distracted by a negative life event. Perhaps the test format wasn’t what you expected. We have heard all the reasons that people have an unexpectedly low LSAT score over the years. Life happens. But part of smart preparation is testing early enough that you have another chance to get the score you want.