Taking the LSAT

The LSAT is the single most important part of your law school application, since it measures your aptitude for legal thinking, not what you remember from previous study. In many law school admissions offices, the LSAT score is trusted more than the grades an applicant achieves while an undergraduate. Many Touro students wait until after they graduate to take the LSAT, but this is unnecessary if you can set aside time to study for the LSAT while you are completing your undergraduate degree. 

Even if you regularly ace standardized tests, you should strongly consider devoting two or three months to studying for the LSAT. Many prospective students take an LSAT prep course, but if you are disciplined you can buy study materials and prepare by yourself. The September LSAT is usually the best to take since it occurs early in the school year and gives you time to re-take the test later in the fall if your score is below your expectations. If you wait until the last fall test and are disappointed with your score, you will have to wait until the winter to retest, which can hurt your chances of admission to top-tier schools. However, most law schools will consider January or February test results in their admissions decisions.

The LSAT is scored on a scale of 120-180, with the median at about 151. However, admission to a top-tier law school usually requires a score of 170+, which falls among the top 2.5% of test-takers. Mid-level law schools usually look for 156+, which means roughly the top third of all test-takers. It is difficult to gain admission to any law school in the New York area if your score is lower than 140 and in the bottom 13% of test-takers.