How Long Is the LSAT? Here's a Detailed Breakdown

What Does the LSAT Cover?

The Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) covers your analytical, comprehension, and reasoning skills, as well as your ability to make deductions and identify valid and invalid arguments. It tests all the things that a professional and competent attorney should have to be an effective practitioner of the law.

In this sense, what is on the LSAT is worlds apart from the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), which tests your knowledge in areas specific to medicine such as biology, chemistry, physics and psychology. Reasoning and critical thinking are also part of the MCAT, but what makes the LSAT unique is that it is strictly an analytical exam, so you don’t need any specific background or knowledge to take it.

The three main sections of the LSAT are:

• Logical Reasoning
• Reading Comprehension
• LSAT Writing sample (unscored)
• Unscored section (either Logical Reasoning or Reading Comprehension)

These are also the only scored sections of the test. There is a fourth, unscored section, which is one of the previous sections repeated. The addition of this unscored section was meant to test-drive new questions for any future revisions to the LSAT. The unofficial “fifth” section of the LSAT is the LSAT Writing exercise.

The LSAT Writing section is where you are given 35 minutes to write an essay based on a prompt meant to elicit an opinion either for or against. This section is done online, either eight days before, or up to a year after your LSAT test date. The number of multiple-choice questions in each section ranges and depends on the section.

Length of LSAT Sections (Questions and Time)

How Can I get Familiar with the LSAT?

The best way to get familiar with the LSAT is to first read over the questions from each section, and then to take a diagnostic test. You can download a free one from the LSAC website, and complete it whenever you’re ready. You don’t have to time yourself, initially, but doing a timed test first will help you develop a baseline time that you can try to decrease as one of your goals during your LSAT prep time.

How Can I get a Good LSAT Score?

We’ll talk more about how to get a good LSAT score later, but for now, the easiest way to get a good LSAT score is to answer a majority of questions correctly. Obviously, that’s how to get a good score on any exam! But for the LSAT, this is easier said than done. To answer a majority of questions correctly on the LSAT, you have to be able to understand what the questions are asking, and which answer choice connects with the intention of the question.

To do this, you have to prepare. The only way to truly understand the questions is by studying their setup, structure, wording and phrasing, and trying to understand the internal logic of each question category. Knowing this will help you save time during the test, and the more time you have to answer questions properly, the more likely you’ll answer correctly, and, by extension, get a high score.

How Can I Prepare for the Length of the Test?

The length of the LSAT takes anywhere between 3 hours to 3 ½ hours depending on how well you’ve prepared and whether you stuck to your LSAT test-taking plan. You should go into the test having a plan to write each section in a specific amount of time so you don’t lose or waste time. Three hours is not a lot of time, especially when you’re doing the test, and you’ll be focused on many different things, along with the clock. So, managing the length of the test won’t be as difficult as it is with other, longer tests, such as the MCAT. But what you can, and should, do is to create a routine that you can use right up to your test day that will help you relax, de-stress, and prepare both mentally and physically for taking the test.

Learn How to Relax

The clock will be ticking during the LSAT and that alone is enough to unnerve many people. You have to use the time you have wisely, and not feel like you are constantly behind and trying to catch-up. To calm your mind and body, create a schedule beforehand to devote to each section and stick to it. When you see your time is up for one section, move to the next. But if you do start to feel stressed, take a few deep breaths to calm your mind and to quiet your anxiety. Look around you and focus on the things you see, where you are, anything but the actual test. If you can take yourself out of the test-taking mindset for a second, you’ll be able to quiet that negativity that was bubbling up to the surface.

Be Flexible and Think on your Feet

Sticking to a plan is important, but we all know things don’t always go according to plan. Depending on the LSAT you’re given, it may be harder than you anticipated, with more difficult questions, but don’t use that as an excuse to panic. If you see something new or confusing, don’t let it get to you, and either skip it to do something easier for you, and return to it. You can choose how you deal with unexpected challenges, but the important thing to remember is that you have to accept and deal with things responsibly. Don’t meltdown because you see a question you don’t recognize; accept it and either move on and come back to it later, or deal with it in the moment.

What to do a Few Days Before the LSAT Test Day

You have your LSAT test date and your time, and you’ve spent up to four months preparing for the big day, but what do you do now? Do you study more? Do you take a few days off from your prep? Well, the answer is up to you. A week before your LSAT test day you don’t want to deviate too much from your normal schedule, but you can allow yourself some time to do something unrelated to your test, or even your law school application, such as spending time with friends or family, doing something outdoors (hike, go for a run, swimming) or maybe catch up on some sleep, so you feel more rested on the day of your test. Keep your celebrations for after the test, so don’t overdo it.

LSAT Test Day

Before the Test

Depending on whether you are taking the LSAT at a testing center or at home, your LSAT test day can look like two different things. But regardless of whether you are taking the test at a testing center or at home, you can do the same things to prepare the night before or a few hours before your test, you can do:

• A final, low-pressure review of the LSAT questions (maybe even completing some to motivate yourself positively)
• Get enough sleep (if you can) before the test so you feel energized and relaxed on test day
• If you can’t sleep, you should tire yourself out the day before; it may be hard to fall asleep if you’re feeling anxious, nervous, excited, or a little of all three, but don’t stress too much if you can’t fall asleep
• Eat healthy, nutritious meals that don’t make you feel tired, but give you energy, and will help you keep your mind focused on the test; avoid fatty, carb-heavy meals, and opt for lean protein, whole grains, and fresh fruits and vegetables

If you’re taking the test at home, you should follow a similar schedule, but also make sure that:

• All the equipment you need to take the test (laptop or desktop PC, monitor and internet connection) are all working and that you have back-ups ready for the test
• You have a quiet, undistracted space to take the test, and that whoever you live with will give you the privacy and quiet you need to take the test for the three hours
• Make sure you have everything you need (pen, pencil, paper, water, some snacks for the break) in or near the room you’re doing the test so you have them close at hand

If you’re going to an LSAT test center to take the test, be sure to:

• Arrive at least an hour before the actual test time, which will either be in the morning or afternoon, depending on when you booked the test
• There will be a short introduction to the rules of the test, so you want to arrive early since you don’t want to miss that
• Try not to socialize with the other test-takers beyond greeting them or wishing them “good luck” before, and during the breaks; there are strict rules about talking about the test with others, and it might also break your focus and concentration if you or they start venting about the test and how hard it its

What is a Good LSAT Score?

The answer: 150-170.

An LSAT score anywhere in that range, it can be a “good” score, but, as with an MCAT score or any standardized test score, the higher, the better. A perfect LSAT score (180) is rare and hard to achieve, but it is possible. But don’t concern yourself with getting a perfect score; anything at or a little above 170 is considered exceptional.

Even though many law schools talk about how they review all applications “holistically” – meaning they give equal measure to all parts of your application (GPA, LSAT, personal statement, resume, letters of recommendation) – a good LSAT score, like an excellent law school personal statement or well-written law school recommendation letters, will certainly help. So, you should strive to get as high a mark as possible, but also put as much effort into other parts of your application.

The LSAT Sections

The LSAT sections all test something different about you and, to that end, they all use distinct content, although the question formats are usually the same. In this context, question formats means that each “question” is made up of three sections, which are:

• A statement of fact/opinion/prompt
• A question or statement that refers to the initial prompt
• A series of multiple-choice questions (between 4 and 7 questions)

This format is, more or less, uniform across the test, with the only changes being what is being tested and how it is tested.

The Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension sections both use prompts, or “stimuli” that are relevant to them. Reading and analyzing these prompts are important parts of studying for the LSAT, as the more you deconstruct and decipher these prompts to understand what they are asking, the less time you will spend on test day doing the same.

Logical Reasoning 

Number of Questions: Around 25

Skills Tested: Reasoning and analytical skills; identify elements of an argument; spot fallacies or inconsistencies; use logic to order a set of variables.

The Logical Reasoning section is all about “arguments”; not making arguments, necessarily, but knowing how to assess an argument and whether it has holes or not. You’ll also be tested on whether you can make the right connections between the individual parts of a multi-faceted prompt or stimuli. The section follows the above question format (stimuli; question(s); multiple answers), but it also makes things difficult for you by scrambling the arguments in a non-linear order, so they are hard to piece together. But that is the nature of all the LSAT questions - discerning truth from a set of facts, interpretations, rules and arguments. You should use your scratch paper to keep all the elements in order; understanding the relationships between facts will be important to answer correctly.

Reading Comprehension

Number of Questions: 25-26 questions

Skills Tested: ability to understand difficult texts; identifying and considering various viewpoints; identifying a thesis and how authors defend them; finding evidence within a text

Reading Comprehension may seem easy, but the difficulty comes in trying to understand the opaque wording, and esoteric subject matter. You have to read four different passages; three of them written by the same authors, and the fourth divided into two representing opposing viewpoints. You will have to identify the main points of each paragraph, and similar to the other section, establish in your mind how all these different parts relate to each other to be able to answer the questions. You will also be expected to draw conclusions from the content to refute or support the claims raised by the questions.

How is the LSAT Scored?

Your final LSAT score is based on your performance in the three scored sections of the LSAT; the LSAT Writing and unscored Supplemental section are not scored. Your “raw score” consists of all the questions you answered correctly out of all the 100 or so questions on the test. But your raw score is then used to calculate two other LSAT scores, which fall into two categories:

• Percentile Score (your score compared to other test-takers that year)
• Scaled Score (your raw score converted to a scaled score between 120-180)

Your highest Scaled Score is usually what is reported to law schools when you submit your LSAT scores. However, if you are not happy with your Scaled Score, or your score report, in general, you can opt to cancel them and take the test again, if you have time.

You won’t be punished for wrong answers, which is why it is important to answer every question on the LSAT on the off chance that it might be correct. Even though it is not scored, your LSAT Writing essay will be released to all the law schools you applied to, and they will review it along the rest of your application.

How Long is the LSAT: How to Prepare

1. Take a Diagnostic Test

The first step you should take in your LSAT prep is to take a diagnostic test. You can download one from the official LSAT site run by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) and time yourself to discover your initial test time. With your first test time, you can:

• Create an LSAT study schedule
• Try to speed up your test time

Most people take between three and four months to study for the LSAT, and they use a combination of different study strategies that usually involve taking as many tests as possible. You should not limit your preparation only to taking practice tests, though. You also need to understand the meaning and mechanics of each section, particularly their questions, which can help you cut back on how much time you spend deciphering each of them.

2. Discover the Question Categories

One of the best ways to prepare for the LSAT is to go in-depth with understanding the various question categories deployed in each section. However, it is only the Logical Reasoning section that uses different question categories and you should find out what they are, what elements they contain and what they are trying to test so you don’t waste time trying to uncover these things during your test. There are 10 different types of questions asked in the Logical Reasoning section, but not all of them are used every year. You should expect to find the following three types of question asked every year:

• Assumption questions (where you make inferences based on the information given)
• Finding flaws questions
• Supporting or disproving argument questions

Once you know the components of each of these questions, and identify them, it will be easier to understand and interpret the questions on the real test.

3. Get Professional LSAT Help

Taking diagnostic tests and reading LSAT practice questions can only get you so far. But if you want to both shorten your time and increase your chances of getting a high score, you should think about investing in an LSAT prep course or hiring an LSAT tutor. Using professional resources such as a prep course or tutor can help guide your efforts when studying and give you professional strategies and resources to study effectively. They can also help you build up the foundational skills you’ll need to ace the test such as reading comprehension, analytical skills and reasoning.

How Long is the LSAT: How to Get a Good Score

1. Effective Time Management

Getting a good LSAT score and having a good LSAT test time do not correlate, exactly. Finishing the test quickly may or may not have any impact on your final score, but finishing the LSAT quickly should not be among your priorities. However, at the same time, you should not dismiss the time constraints either. Using your time effectively is important to making sure you answer all the questions, correctly, which, in a roundabout way, can lead to improving your overall LSAT score.

Writing timed and untimed practice tests will help you find a way to create a timetable to dedicate to each question. Once you’ve discovered which parts of the test take up most of your time, you can either dedicate more time to studying them, or, if you don’t have enough study time, you can spend more time on them than the parts of the LSAT that are easier for you.

The LSAT does not test your knowledge of the law or any other subject; but it does test abilities that you may have developed during your undergrad but do not use all the time, like analyzing, making educated guesses, and understanding a point-of-view from a jumbled set of facts, rules, conditionals and “if-then” statements. The more you refine these abilities, and the more you understand the format and structure of particular LSAT questions, the easier you will be able to piece together the various elements of the stimuli, so you don’t waste time during the test trying to figure it out.

2. Answer Every Question

Essentially, getting a good LSAT score comes down to you answering more questions correctly than incorrectly. Because of the timed nature of the test and the difficulty of the content, there will be questions that you cannot fully unpack or decipher, meaning you will have to guess some answers. This is perfectly fine. You aren’t penalized for incorrect answers and given the multiple-choice format you will be better off making the best guess you can and possibly getting it right, then leaving a question completely blank.

Conclusion

How long is the LSAT is something you should consider when doing your LSAT prep, but, don’t let it monopolize your study time. You have to be aware of the time when you take the test, but if you prepare by studying the types of questions asked and how to identify their main points, you will be able to give the right amount of time and attention to each of the other questions, which, hopefully, means you get more answers correct.

FAQs

To your success,

Your friends at BeMo

BeMo Academic Consulting

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