Can you retake the LSAT after being accepted?
Asked by: Jennifer Runte | Last update: December 14, 2025Score: 4.1/5 (72 votes)
Fortunately, there is no longer a penalty for taking the LSAT more than once. Law schools typically take an applicant's highest score. Still, there are downsides to retaking the test, like lost time and the risk of a lower score that could make your highest score look like a fluke.
Can you retake LSAT after applying?
While you can retake the LSAT if you need to, there are limits on how many times you can rewrite it. You can only take the LSAT three times in a single testing year, five times within the current and past five testing years, and seven times in your lifetime!
Should I retake the LSAT if I got a 168?
If you think you can improve your score, yes you should absolutely retake. A 170+ score will go a long way toward scholarships.
Does taking the LSAT 3 times look bad?
Additionally, if you take the LSAT more than three times, or if you have a significant difference in scores (typically more than five points), an admissions committee will want to see an addendum explaining why you kept taking the exam, or explaining the reason for the higher score—essentially, to explain why the high ...
Is 172 a good LSAT score?
A 172 is in the 98th percentile of the test. You should be very proud of that achievement. Don't let the noise get to you I'm sure you'll go to a great law school.
Retaking the LSAT after submitting your application
What was Obama's LSAT score?
The easiest to predict, by far, is Barack Obama's score, mostly because we have some data. Based on admissions records, we can deduce — somewhat reliably — that Barry-O scored between the 94th and 98th percentile on his LSAT. Using today's grading system, that would place him somewhere around a 170.
How bad is a 139 LSAT score?
The below table shows the schools that accept the lowest LSAT scores. This shows that the lowest acceptable LSAT score is 139. Typically, a good rule of thumb is that you want to at least break 140 to make taking on the cost of law school economically feasible. You can get into a law school with a 140 LSAT score.
Should I keep a 145 LSAT score?
A 144-145 is generally considered to be the lowest acceptable score to attend law school. The median LSAT score is around 151-152, so 144-145 is significantly lower than this. As such, the majority of law schools will not accept scores below this.
How many questions can I get wrong on the LSAT to get a 170?
How many questions can be answered incorrectly for a score of 170? The most questions you can answer wrong on the LSAT if your objective is to achieve a score of 170 is 11. You should achieve your goal score of 170 by correctly answering 90 out of the 101 questions.
Should I retake a 165 LSAT?
Improve your Scores
Some people would say “yes”, and that is fine. But if you have an above-average score, say, between 165-170, retaking the LSAT seems like overkill at that point.
Can I get into Harvard with a 168 LSAT?
As you can see from these numbers, an LSAT score of 170 or higher and a GPA above 3.75 will give you a chance of gaining admission to Harvard Law School. If you have a GPA of 3.94 or higher and above a 175, you are pretty much a lock for admission, particularly given the class size of ~560.
How rare is a 160 on the LSAT?
A student scoring a 180 is in the 99.9 percentile because the student scored better than 99.9% of test-takers. A student scoring a 160 is in the 74.8 percentile because the student scored better than 74.8% of test-takers. You can hover over the blue outline to see a tooltip for all each LSAT/percentile combinations.
Should I cancel a 153 LSAT score?
If you don't have strong reason to believe you've done poorly, and retaking will delay your applications, you probably shouldn't cancel. Don't forget that rolling admissions rewards earlier applications.
What is a passing LSAT score?
According to U.S. News, law school admissions experts recommend striving for at least a 150; however, for a top-ranking law school, you should aim for a 160 or better. For a Top 10 law school, a 170 or more is desired. Of course, this all depends on which schools you are applying to.
Can law schools see how many times you took the LSAT?
Remember that law schools will see the score of every uncanceled test you take. While you can use score preview to see your score before deciding whether to cancel it, it won't look great to have multiple canceled scores or scores with little variance.
Is 165 a bad LSAT score?
As previously stated, the score range for any LSAT exam is 120 to 180, but the average score is about 150. However, most of the top ten law schools require a candidate to have scored at least 165 on the LSAT.
What is a raw score of 60 on the LSAT?
At the core of LSAT raw score calculation lies a straightforward principle: each question you answer correctly contributes to your raw score. For instance, if you get 60 questions out of 75 on the test, your raw score is 60.
Is 170 LSAT enough for Harvard?
What score do I need on LSAT to get into Harvard? To give yourself a realistic chance of acceptance into Harvard Law School, students should aim to score 170 or above on the LSAT. This score range is competitive and aligns with the high standards of academic excellence expected by Harvard.
How bad is a 139 on the LSAT?
Typical LSAT score ranges include: 120-147 Low. 148-156 Mid. 157-164 High.
Should I cancel a 155 LSAT?
It is not, however, a reason to cancel your LSAT score. If you seriously studied and committed to preparing for the exam in the months leading up to it, then you should be in a good position to keep the score. Even if you didn't get a 180, it's likely that this score reflects your aptitude and abilities.
What is the average LSAT score for first-time takers?
LSAT scores range from 120 to 180. First-time LSAT test-takers score an average of 151 out of 180. The median LSAT score of first-year JD students is 158.5. Among first-year JD students, 160.9 is considered a high score (75th percentile), and 154.8 is considered a low score (25th percentile)
What LSAT score did Elle Woods get?
When she applied to this school, she had a 4.0 GPA with a 179 on the LSAT, the two most important things when applying to law school. The average LSAT score for students applying to Harvard is 174, meaning she got above the average.
Will a 180 LSAT get you in anywhere?
You can apply to pretty much anywhere with confidence.
The following table shows the schools with a median LSAT score in the 173-180 range for admitted full-time student populations as of Fall 2024. These programs are at the very top of the law school world, hence their LSAT scores being so high.