What is the average LSAT score with studying?

Asked by: Laurel Wolf Sr.  |  Last update: November 19, 2025
Score: 4.5/5 (2 votes)

Average LSAT Score and Scores of Accepted Law Students. The typical LSAT score for 2022 law school enrollees was about 159, but top programs require scores in the 170-175 range.

What is the average LSAT score before studying?

Average LSAT Score Without Studying

You can expect to score between 145 and 153 when taking the LSAT without studying. This would generally fall within the 26th to 53rd percentile. Your individual score will vary depending on your familiarity with aptitude, logical, and reading comprehension tests.

How much does studying improve LSAT scores?

Students have successfully improved their LSAT score by over 20 points, but it required several months, even years, of dedicated study, trial and error, and unwavering focus.

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)

Is a 172 a good LSAT score?

On the other end of the spectrum we can consider an LSAT score of 172. An LSAT score of 172 means the student scored better than about 99% of applicants.

What is a good average LSAT score

26 related questions found

Is 170 LSAT enough for Harvard?

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.

What did Elle Woods get on her LSAT?

Elle Woods, a fictional character portrayed by Reese Witherspoon in the movie Legally Blonde, is known for her remarkable LSAT score—179 out of 180. Portrayed as a stereotypical "valley girl," she embarks on a journey to Harvard Law School in the movie that has since become a cult favorite.

Will a 180 LSAT get you in anywhere?

Here is a breakdown of what counts as a good enough score for law schools based on the school's rank: Top-five law schools: 170 to 180. Schools like Harvard and Yale, which are the top two, rarely accept applicants with less than 172 on the LSAT. Law schools ranked between 5 and 10: 165 to 170.

What is the LSAT score for Harvard?

Your odds of getting into any of the T14 Law Schools, Harvard included, will be much higher if you score over 170 (out of 180) on the LSATs. Harvard's median LSAT score of entering students is 174, with the lower 25th percentile being 170 and upper 75th percentile being 176.

How hard is it to go up 10 points on the LSAT?

But we usually tell students to start with a goal of 10 points, which is realistic but significant, and it's a useful benchmark. No student's progress with their LSAT prep looks exactly the same, but speaking generally, every 10-point increase typically involves 100 hours of prep.

Do schools care how many times you take the LSAT?

Most law schools focus on your highest LSAT score rather than the number of attempts. Do schools care how many times you take the LSAT? Most law schools consider your highest LSAT score, but some may look at all your scores.

How hard is it to get a 175 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.

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 hours do most people study for the LSAT?

Average Recommended Study Time

Most LSAT experts recommend around 3 months of full times study, or around 150 to 300 hours; this breaks down to approximately 12 to 25 hours a week of studying every week. This is the study plan that suits most people and is the most customizable depending on your individual obligations.

How many questions can you miss on LSAT to get 160?

You don't have to be perfect to do well on the LSAT. On a typical LSAT, you can still get around 18–19 questions wrong and still end up in the 160s—or around 10–12 wrong and get a 167, which is a 90th percentile score. Even a perfect score of 180 often allows you to miss a question or two.

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.

Is cheating on the LSAT illegal?

The Law School Admission Council has established procedures for dealing with instances of possible candidate misconduct or irregularities on the LSAT or in the law school admission process. Misconduct or irregularity in the admission process is a serious offense with serious consequences.

Can I get into Harvard law with a 165 LSAT?

Getting into Harvard Law School is very competitive. Applicants need a median LSAT score of 174 out of 180 to be competitive. The acceptance rate is low, at 9.5%, meaning out of the 8,393 applications received in 2022, only 798 were accepted.

Is Legally Blonde realistic?

OVERALL (fairly accurate!)

After going through it myself - overall impression of Legally Blonde? Not too shabby! I'd say the class/school scenes are pretty accurate, as well as Elle's transition from totally uncomfortable to realizing that she deserves to be at Harvard Law.

What was Elle Woods' GPA?

In the film, Legally Blonde, Woods is a sorority sister living at the Delta Nu House at the fictional California University Los Angeles (CULA) (USC in the novel, UCLA in the musical) where she studies in Fashion Merchandising and maintains a 4.0 GPA.

Is a 2.9 GPA bad for law school?

Your low GPA doesn't guarantee rejections from law schools. Law schools look at who you are as a person, not just how well you perform academically. If your GPA was all that mattered, there would be no need for such extensive application processes.

How bad is a 155 on the LSAT?

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.

What is an impressive LSAT score?

If your score, for example, was 159, your percentile is around 71 percent. An exceptional LSAT score will be somewhere around 175, which is the 99th percentile, according to the Law School Admissions Council (2021—2024)—if you received a 175, you scored better than 99 percent of all test takers.