Decoding the LSAT Scoring Curve: A Comprehensive Guide

The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is a crucial step for aspiring law school students. Understanding how the LSAT is scored is essential for effective preparation and setting realistic goals. This article breaks down the complexities of the LSAT scoring system, including raw scores, scaled scores, percentiles, and the concept of the "curve."

What the LSAT Measures

The LSAT is designed to assess critical reading, logical reasoning, and analytical skills deemed essential for success in law school. It's a skills-based test, not a knowledge test, emphasizing the ability to understand and analyze complex information.

Raw Score: The Foundation

Your journey to understanding your LSAT score begins with your raw score. The raw score is simply the number of questions you answer correctly on the LSAT. Every question is worth one point, regardless of difficulty, and there's no penalty for guessing. A wrong answer counts the same as a skipped question-zero points.

Scaled Score: Standardizing Performance

To ensure fairness across different test administrations, LSAC converts raw scores to a scaled score ranging from 120 to 180. This conversion process, known as equating, adjusts for minor differences in difficulty between different test forms. The LSAT decides which raw score is going to correspond to which scaled score based on a variety of factors, like the total number of questions on the test and the overall difficulty of the questions. This is similar to converting a number grade into a letter grade, except in the case of the LSAT it’s translating from one number (your raw score) into a more meaningful number (your LSAT scaled score).

The scaled score allows law schools to compare applicants' performance regardless of which LSAT form they took. A 160 on one LSAT should represent the same level of ability as a 160 on any other LSAT. Administering the same questions over and over wouldn’t work, because test-takers would share information with each other. People who took the February LSAT would give/sell info about questions that appeared to test-takers who took it in June, etc. Under such a system, the later one took the exam, the more inflated his/her score would be, on average. Thus, LSAC can’t just keep giving the exact same questions exam after exam.

Read also: Understanding the LSAT for AU WCL

Percentile Rank: Gauging Your Standing

Your LSAT score report also includes a percentile rank, which indicates the percentage of test-takers who scored lower than you on that particular exam. For example, if you scored in the 90th percentile, you performed better than 90% of other test-takers.

It's important to note that percentiles are based on all test-takers, not just law school applicants. The applicant pool is more competitive because lower-scoring test-takers often don’t apply.

The "Curve": Understanding Equating

The LSAT is not actually scored to a curve. Rather, for every form of the LSAT, a statistical process called test equating is carried out to adjust for minor differences in difficulty between different forms of the test. Specifically, the item response theory (IRT) true score equating method is applied to convert raw scores (the number correct) for each administration to a common 120 to 180 scale. A detailed description of this methodology can be found in Applications of Item Response Theory to Practical Testing Problems. The equating process assures that a particular LSAT scaled score reflects the same level of ability regardless of the ability level of others who tested on the same day or any slight differences in difficulty between different forms of the test. That is, the equating process assures that LSAT scores are comparable, regardless of the administration at which they are earned.

When test takers talk about the "curve" of an LSAT, they’re usually talking about the number of questions you can get wrong and still get a 170. So, if you're reading about LSAT chatter and someone says, "Oh, that was a really hard test - the curve was -12," you’ll know that they’re referring to the number of questions you could get wrong and still get a 170. For instance, let’s take a look at the curves on the last few (released) test administrations. September and December 2017 were relatively “forgiving” tests, on which you could get 11 and 12 questions wrong, respectively, and still get that 170. It’s also interesting to compare these curves to the number of questions you needed to answer correctly to get a 160. We just established that September and December 2017 had relatively lenient curves for a 170. For those same tests, if you wanted a 160, you could get 26 or 29 questions wrong, respectively. And in June 2017, the test with the tougher curve for a 170?

LSAC uses test-equating/pre-equating: “a statistical method used to adjust for minor fluctuations in the difficulty of different test forms so that a test taker is neither advantaged nor disadvantaged by the particular form that is given” - LSAC (PDF).

Read also: Understanding the LSAT

Score Band: Recognizing the Range of Proficiency

LSAT scores are estimates of a test taker’s actual proficiency in the skills tested. LSAT scores are reported to law schools along with a score band because the estimate of proficiency provided by a given LSAT score is not perfect. The score band indicates a range of scores, including scores slightly higher and scores slightly lower than the score received, because a test taker’s actual proficiency in the skills tested on the LSAT may be slightly higher or slightly lower than that reflected by the score received on an officially administered LSAT. The value used to determine the score range is based on a psychometric statistic called the standard error of measurement (SEM).

What's Considered a Good LSAT Score?

There are no minimum LSAT scores for law school applicants. A quick search will yield law schools’ median LSAT scores of their incoming classes, but they are by no means an ironclad requirement for acceptance. And it's important to remember that these median scores reflect these applicants' highest LSAT score, since law schools almost never average LSAT scores when applicants have multiple scores on their score report. Good LSAT scores are more relative than absolute, especially given that nearly all law schools will take your highest LSAT score, rather than average your scores (if you’ve taken the LSAT more than once and have multiple scores). When determining what LSAT score you should shoot for, base your decision on the average LSAT scores of the law schools you’re applying to. However, don’t forget the law school application review process is holistic and your GPA, resume, and references will all play significant roles.

Everyone who takes the LSAT has their own idea of what a good score is, and it is important to establish realistic and achievable goals that allow you to achieve your law school aspirations. However, there is a universal sense of what constitutes success on the LSAT exam. The approximate average score on the LSAT is 150 for the scaled score, which translates to a raw score of around 60. In other words, the average test taker gets approximately 60 of the 100 questions correct. An above-average score is typically considered 160 or over, which indicates a raw score of around 78. Of course, a low score is anything below 150, and the percentile rank drops significantly with each point below 150. In fact, a score of 145 will likely fall around 25 percent. As mentioned, an above-average score on the LSAT is considered by most to be 160 or above. In general, however, the majority of top-tier schools consider applicants with above-average scores more strongly than those with average to slightly above average scores. You can also research your desired school to see what score might be ideal. You should not be discouraged if you do not score above 160, especially if it is on your first attempt. Remember, a 160 holds a percentile rank of approximately 80 percent, which means only 2 out of 10 test-takers get these results. Approximately half of all students fall below 150. With that said, you should have the goal and intention of scoring above 155, and we know that you can do it!

Key Takeaways

Raw Score: The number of questions you answer correctly.
Scaled Score: A standardized score from 120 to 180, allowing comparison across different LSAT administrations.
Percentile Rank: Your performance relative to other test-takers.
Equating: A statistical process used to adjust for slight variations in test difficulty.

Additional Considerations

Score Cancellation: If you feel your performance wasn't representative, you can cancel your score within six calendar days of the test date. However, you are not allowed to see your test score before you cancel. If you do go that route, however, your would-be score won’t be released to schools but your score report will show that you canceled your score. The downside is that you might end up scrapping a potentially amazing score.
Retaking the LSAT: Law schools don’t view multiple negative LSAT scores as a negative.
Score Validity: LSAT scores are valid for approximately six years. Specifically, the current testing year plus the five prior testing years.
LSAT Score Preview: For an additional fee ($45 if purchased before the test, $85 after), you can see your score before deciding whether to keep or cancel it. With Score Preview, you have six calendar days after your score is released to cancel.
Score Audit: LSAC is providing an optional Score Audit service. This service costs $150 (or $75 if you’ve been preapproved for a fee waiver which is noted on your LSAC JD Account). You may request a score audit after you have received your LSAT score.

Preparing for the LSAT

There’s only one way to increase your LSAT score: LSAT prep. You’ll need to put in the work to see the results. It’s the reason why homework and drills are a huge part of the Blueprint curriculum, and it pays off-Blueprint students see an average 15-point score increase from their first practice test.

You don’t want to make the same mistakes again, so it’s necessary to know what areas need improvement. Blueprint students have the advantage of using our powerful analytics to pinpoint their weak and strong areas. Additionally, you might need to need to switch up your test prep. If you took a class, working with a private LSAT tutor can help you identify new strategies to overcome any obstacles on test day. There is a correlation between time spent studying and how well the individual performs on the LSAT.

Read also: Cardozo Law School LSAT

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