Let me preface this post with an explanation of my intent. I think when almost everyone approaches their LSAT administration there are moments when scores occasionally plateau, and performance feels stagnant. As a result, and understandably, motivation can quickly vanish. This is apparent in the mid-ranges as students creep their way through the 140s and 150s, grinding for every point. People starting out and generally scoring lower find that every day brings new revelations and scores improve quickly. Whereas, test-takers in the upper ranges (160s and beyond) are naturally motivated by the consistency of their success. But for test-takers toiling to get over the 150-level hump, a genuine passion for continued prep can be hard to find.
This is obviously troublesome, as it can kill your enthusiasm and desire to keep working. That stalled waypoint becomes your ultimate and disappointing roadblock. What I hope to do here is give people, particularly those in the mid-range, a slightly different perspective. By highlighting what even small improvements really mean, we hope you’ll find the will to soldier on. Let’s take a closer look at how this test is scored less from a number standpoint, and more from the viewpoint of what your score means relative to your fellow applicants.
Converting a Raw Score to a Reported Score
As a refresher, every LSAT contains approximately 100 questions and is scored from a 120 (lowest) to a 180 (highest). Since 100 questions doesn’t translate evenly into those 61 possible scores, the test makers use what’s called a Conversion Chart. They use this chart to turn a raw score out of 100 (the number of questions answered correctly) into a scaled score from 120-180.
This Chart varies slightly each test to account for subtle differences in the exam difficulties and test taker performances. But, they all look roughly similar to the following from December 2013. If want to see all of the LSAT Score conversions (from June ‘91 to the most recently released scale) we have a comprehensive chart here: LSAT Raw Score Conversion.
The chart shows the Raw Score in the right-hand columns is aligned with a corresponding Scaled Score on the left. Answering 55 or 56 questions correctly would produce a scaled score of 150 and correctly answering 87 would result in a 170 on this test.
And that’s how most people tend to think of the test: in terms of their final score. “If I’m answering about half of the questions correctly, I’ll get a 146. If I can answer 10 more correctly overall, I’ll increase my score to a 153…” and so on.
But what does that hypothetical 7-point increase really mean? Sure, a 153 is inarguably a better score than a 146, and a 158 would be better still. But how do you really make sense of those numbers in a broader, or even more meaningful, sense? How much better is that 153 than the initial 146? And how, as I suggested earlier, can a different perspective beyond just “my score” be a motivating factor?
Let’s Talk Percentiles
To answer those questions, we need to talk about percentiles. Test makers can adjust the scale from test to test consistently by making sure each final score represents a certain percentage of the test-taking audience. For instance, on every LSAT a 151 is designed to be essentially the halfway point. 50% of people score above it, and the other 50% score below it. To do that, the test makers determine where to draw the midpoint line based on overall raw scores. In the table above, 57 correct splits test-takers into even halves. So, a score of 57 then represents the 50th percentile and is scaled to a 151. Perhaps on a prior LSAT, 55 questions would have been the average. In that case, 55 would have been scaled to a 151. Presumably, that test must have been more difficult because test takers answered fewer questions correctly on average.
Similarly, a score of 172 is typically the cutoff point to score in the top 1% of all test takers. Again, LSAC determines the raw score at/above which only 1 out of 100 testers remain. In this case, a 172 is the equivalent of correctly answering 89 questions. Side note: when you hear people post-LSAT talking about the difficulty in terms of “minus-eleven” or “minus-thirteen” and so on, they’re referring to the number of questions that can be missed to score a 170.
Now, getting to my main point. Below is another chart with percentiles listed for all 61 scores from 120 to 180.
You’ll notice that at the high and low ends the percentiles don’t differ all that much, with a 120 separated from a 135 by less than 6%, and a 167 a similar percentage away from a perfect 180. What that means is that as you climb out of the lower levels, or reach the highest levels of this test, a single point or two increase is only going to differentiate you from a very small number of your fellow (and almost certainly directly-competing) applicants.
Comparing Applicants to Applicants
Let’s look at the example we began with, where Student X began with 50% accuracy (50 correct) and a score of 146, and managed to improve to a 153. Remember, that’s only a 7 point increase, just a 2-3 questions per section improvement. But in terms of the applicant pool, Student X has just leapfrogged over a quarter of all the test takers out there, moving from the 29.5th percentile all the way to the 55.6th! If 100,000 or so people take the test every year, she just put about 26,000 people in her rearview!
And that’s only from 7 points! In our courses, we see students increase scores by an average of approximately 13 points! Do that to a 146 and suddenly you’re in a whole different league of applicants, ahead of nearly 80% of all test takers. Imagine waiting in a line of 100 people, and you’re 70 people from the front, when all of a sudden someone offers you the chance to cut 48 of the people in front of you and move to the 21st spot in that line…that’s what a 146 to a 159 does, and represents the point increase our average student sees. If that doesn’t motivate you to work for every single point I really don’t know what would!
So when you start to feel like you’ve hit a wall, or a point here and there begins to lose some of its luster, remember that the game you’re playing isn’t about the score, it’s about your position in the applicant field, and even small improvements can serve to set you well apart from those people looking to take your seat in law school. Don’t let them!
Kate Pitcher says
How much improvement do you generally see for someone like me, who starts off around the 80th percentile?
Background: I’m registered for the September 2019 test, which will be my first time sitting for an official LSAT. I took a very cold diagnostic (didn’t even fully understand the types of questions that would be asked beforehand) back in April and got a 161. My RC was -4, LR sections were -3 and -4, respectively, and (predictably) my worst was LG with a -7. I work full time, and I’ve now been seriously studying with the LSAT Bibles every day, focusing heavily on LG, for about 3 weeks. I plan to take a second practice test this weekend to gauge my progress.
I know you said you see an average of a 13 point increase using your methods. Looking at these percentiles, does this average increase still apply to someone who starts off scoring reasonably well? My goal is the University of Texas, whose average applicant scores a 167. I want to be above the average & hopefully score some scholarships- my goal is a 168 or better. Is it reasonable for me to reach for a 7-10 point increase?
Thank you for this encouraging post! I’ve found your LSAT Bibles incredibly useful thus far & would appreciate any further advice. I plan to sign up for your On Demand course as soon as it re-opens this week.
Dave Killoran says
Hi Kate,
Thanks for the message! Averages are averages, and within those numbers there is often some variation. But, if you are asking me if we can get your from 160 into the upper 160s and even 170s, then I can happily say that yes, I have seen that happen thousands of times. The entire purpose of the courses, and indeed the very reason for their existence, is to raise scores. That’s it, that’s why we run courses at all. So we put everything we have into them and the feedback we receive is top-notch. i have no doubt they can help you here. You’ve already shown great ability to get to where you are, and there is hard work that remains, but coming in where you are shows you can rise higher.
Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!
Alex Ojeda says
This was so motivating and so helpful all at the same time! I’ve taken the LSAT twice but with very little preperation for it (such an idiotic mistake). I’m now gearing up to take it this October and would love some additional help!
PowerScore Test Prep says
Hey Alex!
Thanks for your comment! We’ve got a ton of advice, but it’s a bit much to post as a comment on a blog, so we’ve sent you an email with some suggestions on how to move forward with your study plan. Feel free to respond to that email if you have any questions! 🙂