LSAT Scoring

You receive 3 scores when take the LSAT:

1. 1A Scaled Score
2. 2A Percentile Rank
3. 3A Score Band

Your LSAT scores are first based on your "raw score", which is the number of questions you answered correctly out of the 100-02 total scored questions on the LSAT. The average number of correct answers for all test-takers is about 58. Because the LSAC computes your raw score based solely on the number of correct answers, there is no penalty for guessing and you should never leave any questions unanswered. Ever.

Your Scaled Score ranges from 120-180, with 150 being the rough average. The LSAC takes your raw score of correct answers and converts it to your Scaled Score through a statistical process called "equating", which adjusts for minor differences between tests over time (some LSATs are harder than others). The LSAT is NOT scored on a curve, which means that your performance is NOT compared only to students who took the test on the same day as you. Rather, your score is measured across all LSATs administered over time. The average LSAT Scaled Score is about 150, and more than 50% of all scores are between 145 and 159.

Your Percentile Rank reflects the percentage of test-takers scoring below your 120-180 score, so if your 165 Scaled Score gives you a 90th Percentile Rank, then this means you scored better than 90% of all LSAT test-takers and that 10% scored better than you. The LSAC calculates your Percentile Rank based on a distribution of all scores over the prior 3-year period. To give you some perspective, the difference between a 50th Percentile Rank and a 75th Percentile Rank is roughly 3 correct answers per section, and the difference between the 90th Percentile Rank and the 95th Percentile Rank is fewer than 2 correct answers per section.

Your Score Band is a range of Scaled Scores above and below Your Scaled Score that reflects the level of confidence at which Your Scaled Score represents your "true score". With the LSAT, your Score Band is roughly 3 points above and 3 points below Your Scaled Score with a 68% level of confidence. Thus, the LSAC can report that it is 68% confident that the true score of a person with a 165 Scaled Score is between 162 and 168. The LSAC recognizes no two LSATs are exactly the same (some are a bit easier than others) and that any particular LSAT score is, at best, an estimate of your actual proficiency. The Score Band, then, is a metric for law school admissions personnel to use in evaluating the accuracy of an applicant’s Scaled Score. Of course, if you take multiple LSATs, the level of confidence increases because the LSAC is able to take an average of your Scaled Scores.

Your Average Scores, or Your Highest?

The American Bar Association (ABA) accredits US law schools, collects data on their admissions, and in June 2006 voted to change the way law schools report LSAT data on their entering 1L students. Previously, if a law school applicant took the LSAT multiple times, then law schools had to report the average of those LSAT scores to the ABA. After the 2006 vote, however, law schools must report the highest LSAT score to the ABA. How does this affect you? Well, the LSAC continues to report all LSAT scores for a student to law schools, and it is up to each law school to decide whether it will average your scores or only use the highest score in evaluating your application. Applicants should check with each law school they apply to in order to determine what evaluation method they will use.