In an ideal world, you should try to take the LSAT for the first time at least 15 months before you plan to enter law school (by June of the year before you wish to start law school). That schedule leaves sufficient time to retake the LSAT if necessary and to apply early in the application cycle. However, that timeline doesn’t always fit an applicant’s individual circumstances and interests. The important thing is to understand the ideal schedule and then to adjust the timing based on what is best for you individually.

Students Planning to Go Straight to Law School 

If you are planning to go straight to law school after graduating, your options for when to take the LSAT are relatively limited. You should try to take the LSAT for the first time no later than June in between your junior and senior year. Then, if you aren’t satisfied with your June score, you can retake the LSAT in August and still apply to law schools relatively early in the admissions cycle.

Unfortunately, the June test between junior and senior year isn’t ideal for everyone. Students studying abroad second-semester junior year should not plan to take the June LSAT. Students with heavy course loads or significant extracurricular involvement second-semester junior year should not plan to take the June LSAT. Instead, those students should plan to either take the LSAT before spring semester, or test in August, 13 months before they hope to start law school. It is important to note that by taking the LSAT for the first time in August, the most viable retake options are October or November. Testing in November would delay the review of your law school applications until Mid/late December, which is past the most advantageous time to apply. Many law schools will also accept January LSAT scores, but applications involving January test scores are generally reviewed at the very end of the application cycle, which is not ideal for most candidates who want the best chances of both admission and scholarship offers..

Alumni/Students Planning to Take Time Between College and Law School

If you are an alum or a student planning to take time between college and law school, you have more options for taking the LSAT than a student intending to go straight to law school. An LSAT score is good for 5 years, and the LSAT is offered eight times each year. So you will want to think carefully about which test will allow you the most time to prepare in the months leading up to the test. Ideally, you would still take the LSAT for the first time at least 15 months before you intend to start law school. Many applicants prefer to take the test early (often while still in college), while others have circumstances requiring a later LSAT date. It is very important to choose a test date that will allow you sufficient time to prepare, but try not to take the LSAT for the first time any later than August, 13 months before you hope to enter law school, unless absolutely necessary.

Ideally you should spend 10-15 hours a week for at least 3-6 months preparing for the LSAT although more time might be necessary in some cases to hit a target score. You should never, EVER, take an official LSAT cold.

The best preparation involves three steps:

1. Learning strategies (from books, online videos, or classes)
2. Practicing using those strategies on actual, released LSATs
3. Reviewing explanations for every answer on every practice test you take to look for not only patterns in your mistakes, but also ways you could have answered faster to both correct and incorrect questions

Do not underestimate the value of taking full length practice LSATs and reviewing the explanations to determine not only what you did wrong, but also how you could have gotten to the correct answer faster.

The skills tested on the LSAT are like any other skill — they require practice in order to master. Further, taking a 2.5 hour standardized test requires intellectual stamina, and practice can help you develop that stamina. Aim to spend at least 180-200 hours over 3-6+ months following these steps.

There are many ways that test takers decide to prep for this exam, including prepping with books, online asynchronous courses, courses taught by a live instructor, or tutoring.  You should choose an option that meets your individual needs in terms of timing, budget, and how you learn the best. 

There is free test prep available to everyone on the LSAC’s official LawHub website (this replaced the free prep course on Khan Academy).  LawHub now includes articles, lessons, drill sets, and 4 full length practice tests that are free to everyone, with the option to pay more to access more practice tests and resources. The LawHub content is of good quality and we recommend it to everyone, but it is usually not enough to help test takers reach their goals. Therefore, we recommend supplementing it with a book, a course, or other resources for best results.

The LSAT Writing section (now called Argumentative Writing)  is now taken separately from the rest of the exam, from home, on your computer. We recommend that students do not attempt to take the writing section in the hours immediately following the LSAT. Give yourself a chance to decompress for a day or two, and then plan to take the writing section in a quiet place where others will not be walking in on you. However, do not delay taking the writing section for too long.  You will not receive your LSAT score until the writing section is complete and law schools will not consider your application complete until they have received a copy of at least one LSAT writing sample.

Law schools will receive a copy of your writing sample along with your LSAT score report. This section is still “ungraded” in that it does not receive any numerical score from the LSAC.  Most if not all schools will read every writing sample, and they will be looking to check your command of the English language,  if your writing quality is similar to that of your personal statement, and how clearly you can make an argument.

Since this is still considered a proctored exam, test takers will need to install a secure proctoring software that will ensure they are not using their computer to look up answers. You will also need to show the program that you are alone in the room via webcam and show that both sides of your scratch paper are blank.

The new Argumentative Writing prompt is designed to elicit the kind of argumentative writing that candidates will be expected to produce in law school. You will still be given 15 minutes to prepare your thoughts and organize your essay, and then 35 minutes to write an essay in response to the randomly selected prompt that is presented. During that 35 minutes, you must craft your response and finish proofreading. Students will have the ability to cut/copy/paste within the document. The interface also underlines words that it does not recognize, but it is not your typical spell-check feature and does not provide a list of suggested words to select from. There is no word limit for this exercise.

A successful writing sample will take a stance on the issue and give reasons to support that choice. There are a lot of directions you can go with the prompt including pointing out why other points of view might be wrong, and/or critiquing the sources provided.  A successful writing sample will also be coherent, cohesive, organized, and relatively free from errors.

Once you have completed the LSAT Writing once, you do not need to retake it every time you retake the LSAT. You are only required to have one writing sample on file in order to apply to law schools. The LSAC will include up to the three most recent reportable writing samples with your CAS report. 

For more information on LSAT writing: https://www.lsac.org/lsat/taking-lsat/about-lsat-writing

It is important first to understand the scoring system on the LSAT. There are approximately 74-80 scored questions on each LSAT, and the total number that you answer correctly is your raw score. Note that there is no penalty for wrong answers. Raw scores are then scaled based on the difficulty of each particular test. The scaled score range is 120-180.

A “good score” on the LSAT is a score that will help you gain admission to your preferred law schools. Law schools publish their 25th/75th percentile and median LSAT scores. To determine a “good” score for a particular school, look at the school’s median LSAT score. The median score is calculated by putting in order the scores of all the students who were admitted, and selecting the middle value. While the median LSAT score is a “good” score for purposes of admission to that school, admission isn’t a sure thing just because you attain that score. Law schools will closely evaluate all other elements of your application before deciding whether to admit you.

To determine a “great” score for a particular school, look at a school’s 75th percentile score. The 75th percentile score is considered a “great” score for that particular school because the score is equal to or better than 75% of that school’s admitted applicants. Note, however, that a score at or above the 75th percentile still doesn’t ensure that you will be admitted; it just increases the likelihood of admission.

If your LSAT score is not quite at or above the median or 75th percentile scores for a law school you wish to attend, don’t panic!  Many students are admitted with scores below the published median. To determine how far below, look at the school’s 25th percentile LSAT score. This number gives you a sense of the lower end of the range of scores that might be sufficient to help you get into that school. A full 25% of applicants were admitted with a score lower than the 25th percentile score, so if you don’t have a score equal to a law school’s median, don’t assume that you won’t get in. It may still be worth applying if you have an LSAT score relatively close to the 25th percentile score and/or if you have other strong factors in your application that might compensate for the lower LSAT score. 

You can find more information on LSAT scores and how they are calculated at the test maker’s website: https://www.lsac.org/jd/lsat/your-score

Free /Low Cost Courses

If you can’t afford a commercial course or feel that self-study will be a better option for you, we’re here to help! Besides 1:1 advising consultations on general study strategies, we also want you to know about other free and low-cost ways to help you prepare for the LSAT:

LawHub Has Free LSAT Prep Resources.

LSAC, who makes the LSAT, has put together a host of LSAT prep materials, which include the free content that used to be available on Khan Academy.  You’ll find some articles on the different question types, videos demonstrating strategies, free question sets, as well as 4 free practice tests here. There is an optional upgrade you can purchase called  LawHub Advantage to give you access to more practice tests. 

While the resources available for free on LawHub are not enough to fully prepare 10-15 hours a week for 3-6 months, the content is of good quality and a great place to start.  You can pair this with a book or a course of your choosing as best fits your needs.

UW-Madison Offers a 5-Session Live Online LSAT Workshop!

The Center for Pre-Law Advising offers LSAT Preparation for UW-Madison students and alumni.  Three times each year we offer a live online workshop: Spring, Summer, and Fall. The cost of the workshop is $100, with full scholarships available to those with financial need. Click here to learn more about LSAT Prep offered at UW-Madison.

Free Commercial Test Prep is also available to those who financially qualify.

The LSAC Fee Waiver is a program that allows those who have financial need to access free LSAT practice tests, to take the LSAT for free, and to cover some of the fees associated with applying to law schools. In addition, some commercial test prep companies offer free or highly discounted courses to students who have received the LSAC Fee Waiver — all you need to do is show proof of fee waiver to these companies. 

Companies offering free or $1 LSAT prep to those with LSAC Fee Waiver include:

7 Sage: Take their course for $1 with proof of fee waiver

LSAT Lab: Free classroom subscription for the length of the fee waiver

LSAT Max: If you make a free account and upload proof of fee waiver, you will get the online course for free

Magoosh: Access to their online course is free for 12 months with proof of fee waiver

Courses on the medium/cheaper side (usually asynchronous)

If you’re self-motivated, and you learn best on your own (or mostly on your own, with maybe some check ins with peers who are also studying), an online, self paced course with taped lectures and other content would be a great prep option.  

Examples of Test Prep Companies who offer medium cost self paced options include:

7 Sage (Starting at $69/month) *

Magoosh (Starting at $199)*

*Keep in mind that all medium priced and expensive LSAT course options will require you to pay for LawHub Advantage in order to access practice tests in addition to the price of the LSAT course. That is because the LSAC requires everyone to go through them directly because they own the content.

Comprehensive/Expensive Courses (Live or Asynchronous)

The decision to take a more expensive commercial course is an individual one that you should make based on your budget and study style. Commercial courses have the following potential advantages:

1. Convenience — they assist you in each step of the preparation process by providing strategies, practice LSATs, and explanations
2. Interactivity — there is often an instructor with whom you can discuss any questions that arise. (For more expensive asynchronous courses, you may be able to correspond with an  instructor via email.)
3. Structure — for people who have trouble staying motivated to study or who prefer external deadlines, courses provide a study structure that can help keep you focused on your LSAT preparation.

These courses can range in price from around $500-2000 (before discounts & payment plans). To the extent that you can afford a commercial course, think of it as an investment. The higher you can get your LSAT score, the more potential you have to receive merit-based financial aid for law school (which is based in part on your LSAT score). However, it is not necessary for everyone to take a course such as these in order to do well on the LSAT. Applicants who put significant time and effort into self-study can also do well.

You may want to consider the CPLA LSAT workshop ($100 or free to those with financial need) if you are not sure whether you would prefer a live course, or if you are planning to study on your own and looking for a good place to start. It includes 5 live sessions and additional asynchronous lessons. 

In Person courses: Post pandemic, it has been very difficult to find in person test prep options in Madison, as most companies have moved to live online courses. If you are looking for an option that meets in person, you may have better luck in bigger cities such as Chicago.

Examples of LSAT courses include:

• 7 Sage
• Blueprint
• Kaplan
• LSAT Ally
• LSAT Demon
• LSAT Engine
• LSAT Lab
• LSATMax
• Magoosh
• PowerScore
• Princeton Review
• TestMasters

Discount Codes: Discount codes for commercial courses may be available. We recommend googling a bit and checking sites like Retailmenot or Honey to check for discount codes before purchasing. Pre Law Student Orgs on campus also sometimes have discount codes for test prep. Contact your Pre-Law Advisor for more information on discount codes.

Need-based discounts: It is also a good idea to ask your test prep company if they offer any need-based tuition assistance. For example, Kaplan has a program that allows students with financial need to get up to 50% off the price of a course even if they do not qualify for the LSAC fee waiver. Information about need based discounts is often not listed up front on a sales page. 

Also, see “Free/Law Cost Courses” above for more information on free commercial test prep courses for those with financial need.

There are two questions to ask yourself when it comes to LSAT practice tests:

–Is this test in the new (no logic games) format?   (Preptest #101 and up)

Preptests numbered below 100, as well as Preptests A-C are all previously released real LSATs that included logic games. To keep track of which test you are using, they were numbered so that the lower the number, the older the test.  The testmaker divided all of those exams into their respective sections, cut out the logic games, and then reformatted them into Preptests 101 and up. 

Have you already taken any practice test sections in the old format and want to see which numbered test it is included in now? Check out this chart showing how the exams were reformatted when logic games were removed.

Every Preptest can be found on LawHub. Four of them are available for free and the rest are available with a paid upgrade to a LawHub Advantage subscription. This is currently the only official place to get the practice tests — if you take a commercial LSAT course, they will require you to subscribe to LawHub Advantage to access those practice tests.  

If you find an old practice test somewhere else, as long as it was an official exam the Logical Reasoning and Reading sections will still be good practice, but you won’t be able to get an accurate score for the practice test you are taking and you’ll be using up some of the content that you’ll see on Preptests 101 and up if you decide to take them later.

-Is this test in the correct digital format? 

The LSAT is a digital exam that you will be taking at home or at a testing center, but always on a computer (unless you have an accommodation for a paper test). Therefore, you’ll want some or all of your practice tests to be taken on a computer. There are some features of the digital test such as the highlight tool that you will want to become familiar with prior to test day. A pdf or a paper test will not include these features. Your eyes will also adjust differently to a screen than a paper test. 

Making your practice tests as realistic as possible by mimicking test day conditions is the best approach to minimize test anxiety. Make sure you are always using a separate sheet of paper for any scratchwork and do not write on whatever test you are using.

Borrowing LSAT Prep Books

The UW-Madison Library system has some LSAT prep books available.  Some are available for use in the library and some are available for checkout. Most of the books are located either on the first floor of College Library, or in the Law Library. The Law Library is open to pre-law students except during finals periods. 

Shortcut to search for LSAT Prep titles in the UW Library catalog:  https://search.library.wisc.edu/search/catalog?q=lsat

The Center for Pre-Law Advising Office in the Middleton Building (1305 Linden Dr) has some limited LSAT prep books available for check out. These would not be listed in the UW Library catalog and may still include the old Logic Games content.  Stop by or call us at (608)263-6614 to check on availability.

Purchasing LSAT Prep Books

You can purchase a variety of LSAT prep books online or in bookstores.

NOTE: If you are looking for books of practice tests for the new LSAT (without logic games), that content will be published but not until perhaps late fall/winter of 2024 or in early 2025. Until then, the best place to find practice tests other than the 4 free ones available on LawHub is to subscribe to LawHub Advantage.

Book Titles

Many students may choose to prep with a book or set of books for the LSAT.  Keep in mind that since the test will be digital, you’ll want to use a separate sheet of scratch paper when working out of a physical book to mimic the test day experience. You should also plan to at least take some of your practice tests online through LSAC’s LawHub (4 free tests are available here).

There are many good publishers in the LSAT arena, but some of the most popular books include:

The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim

The Powerscore Bible Series

Both of these options provide custom study plans based on how many months/weeks you have to prepare.

This is a great question for a 1:1 appointment with a Pre-Law advisor.

The LSAC does allow you to retake the test, and allows you to take the test up to 7 times in your lifetime. However, most test takers do not approach anything near 6 retakes. Testing 1-3 times is most common.

It is possible to hurt your chances of admission by retesting in certain situations. We recommend preparing thoroughly for your first LSAT, with the plan not to retake unless you need to, but to have a backup test date in mind just in case. Sometimes the timing of registering for a potential retake date may require you to register prior to knowing if you will need the retest date, so look at the LSAT Dates and Deadlines carefully.

Law schools will see all official scores when you apply, and different schools may consider multiple scores differently. The LSAC provides schools with your score as well as a score band, which indicates a range of scores that someone with that LSAT score would likely score if they retook the exam. Law schools are most concerned with your highest LSAT score, but may choose to take other test scores into consideration at their discretion. Some schools may expect to see an addendum explaining a discrepancy in scores if students test multiple times and have a difference in score of 5 points or higher.

You might want to consider retaking the LSAT if (a) something went wrong on test day that you believe negatively impacted your test score or (b) you scored significantly lower on test day than you had on comparable practice tests, but in both cases you will want to make sure there is sufficient time between tests to further prepare.

The LSAC has published data showing that scores for retakers often increase slightly, but there is a chance your score will drop. High scores have a lower chance of improvement upon retesting.

We suggest consulting with a Pre-Law advisor to determine how retesting in your case could impact your chances of acceptance.

See also: LSAC website on repeating the LSAT

An LSAT score is good for 5 years. If you plan on taking one or more gap years, you do not have to wait to take the LSAT. Depending on what you plan to do after you graduate, it may be helpful to prepare for the LSAT while you are still in school and in the habit of studying.