What is the average LSAT score for top law schools?
Asked by: Max Torp | Last update: August 3, 2025Score: 4.8/5 (48 votes)
Applicants to these schools commonly have LSAT scores in the mid-160s or even higher. For example, the best law schools in the United States, Yale and Stanford, both have scores in the 170s—174 and 173, respectively. Mid-tier law schools have average scores ranging from 155 to 165.
What LSAT score do you need for top law school?
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.
What LSAT score will get you a full ride?
What LSAT Score Do I Need for a Full Scholarship? It depends on what type of scholarship you're hoping to be granted. Needs-based scholarships don't require a high LSAT score. However, to be considered for a merit-based scholarship, it's wise to have a score close to 170.
What LSAT score do I need for Harvard?
So let's take a look at what it actually takes to have a chance of being admitted to the most prestigious and preeminent law school in the world. 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.
Is 163 a good LSAT score?
From your raw scores, the test is graded on an LSAT score scale from 120-180. The average LSAT score is about 150. To get into a top 14 law school, you need to score above 166, and to get into a top 50 law school, you need 153 or above.
LSAT Score Requirements for Top 14 Law Schools
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.
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.
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.
What is the hardest law school to get into?
- Yale University: 6.9%
- Stanford University: 9.72%
- University of Pennsylvania: 14.6%
- University of Virginia: 15.3%
- Harvard University: 15.6%
- Columbia University: 16.8%
- University of Chicago: 17.5%
- Duke University: 20.2%
Has anyone gotten a 180 on the LSAT?
The LSAT is scored on a bell curve, ranging from 120 to 180. On recent tests, the hump of the curve has centered around 153. Percentiles vary slightly between tests, but generally around 25% of test-takers score 160 or higher, 5% score 170 or higher, and 1% score 175 or higher. Only one in 1,000 test-takers scores 180.
How rare is a 175 LSAT?
For a top five law school, an LSAT score of 175 and above increases your chances of being admitted and being awarded a full scholarship by the school. Such a score also puts you in the 99th percentile of LSAT takers, making you a rare and highly coveted law school candidate.
What is a stipend for law school?
The purpose of the stipends is to provide financial support that will enable students to engage in such activities (e.g., conference registration fees and travel; costs of community service project) in situations where other funding is not available.
What is the hardest portion of the LSAT?
Analytical Reasoning
You'll need various skills to do well here. You'll have to figure out relationships between complex concepts and apply logic even when things seem unclear. The situations presented can be ambiguous and complex, making this section notorious among LSAT takers.
Is LSAT or GPA more important?
In general terms, it can be said that law schools value LSAT scores more than they do undergraduate GPA, but whether or not this statement applies to a given institution and how by much depends on the school.
Will a 180 LSAT get you in anywhere?
LSAT takers can score anywhere from 120 to 180. With that big of a range, what kind of score should you aim for? Realistically, you should try to get a score of at least 150. That's the score that will get you into any accredited law school.
What is the average LSAT score for first time takers?
Data Summary. The average LSAT score for first-time takers was 151, according to scores tracked from 2006-2013. During this period, second-time test takers had the highest LSAT average score of about 152. The average national LSAT score for full-time, first-year JD enrollees for fall 2022 was about 159.
What is a perfect LSAT score?
The LSAT scale ranges from 120 to 180, with 120 being the lowest possible score and 180 being the highest possible score.
Which year of a law degree is the hardest?
Law school is an academic challenge; most students agree the first year (“1L” year) is the most difficult. In part, this is because law school is taught using methods entirely different than the lecture method used in most college classrooms.
What is the easiest law degree to get?
The easiest law degree to earn is a Master of Legal Studies degree. For more information about earning a Master of Legal Studies or for help finding a program, reach out to Learn.org today.
Has Kim Kardashian taken the LSAT?
Despite Kim Kardashian not taking the LSAT, it remains a pivotal factor that every law school considers when selecting applicants. How to Study for the LSAT? Preparing for law school admission starts with getting ready for the LSAT, partnered with excellent LSAT prep avenues such as Odyssey Test Prep.
What was Barack Obama's GPA?
Later in 1981, he transferred to Columbia University in New York City as a junior, where he majored in political science with a specialty in international relations and in English literature and lived off-campus on West 109th Street. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983 and a 3.7 GPA.
What is a respectable LSAT score?
Average LSAT Score
The LSAT score range is 120–180, and the median score is approximately 152. You need to get about 60 questions right (out of 99–102 questions) to get that median score of 152, which means you need to bat about 60 percent.
What is a mediocre LSAT score?
The LSAT percentile score range demonstrates your score relative to other test-takers over the past three years. According to the Law School Admission Council, which administers the test, the median score for the 2021-24 testing years was 153, meaning 50% of test-takers scored below and 50% scored above that number.
How many times can you take the LSAT?
How many times may I take the LSAT? Five times within the current reportable score period (i.e., since June 2019). A total of seven times over a lifetime.