It's easy to get hung up on one or two problems while you're taking an LSAT only to feel that you've ruined your score. But what does a missed question actually do to your score anyway?

Most people would agree that a 170 is a really high score. Does that mean that you have to be perfect to score a 170? Not at all. In fact, on most tests you can miss 10 questions and still score a 170. That's two whole games!

Now let's see what you need to get a 160. As it turns out, you can miss about 25 questions on average and still get a 160. That's an entire section! You can miss one in every four questions and still get a 160.

The key here is figuring out how many questions you need to answer correctly to get what you want. If your goal is a 160, then trying to push yourself to get a 180 is likely to cause more harm than good.

This isn't to say that you have to sell yourself short. Pick a score that you think you can get, and if you reach it, then it's time to push yourself further. But don't let an unrealistic goal stress you out and get in the way of a great goal. Besides, once you reach your goal, you can always reassess and set a higher goal. Just don't worry about that until you get there.

In the meantime, pull out a score conversion chart from a modern test (ideally PrepTests 54+). Find the score that you want. What's the raw score you need to get that LSAT score? Subtract that from 100. That number is the number of questions you can miss and still get your goal. Divide that number by 4 to see how many questions you can miss in each section. By seeing how many questions you can miss, many students start to feel more relaxed, which helps them do better on the other questions. Find a score that seems doable but that pushes you a little. Once you get that score, reassess and try again.

Keep it up, and you'll do awesome!

....

Related:

LSAT Anxiety Release Program

	LSAT	PrepTest	Published in
1991	June	1
	October	2	TriplePrep 1
	December	3	TriplePrep 2
1992	February	4	TriplePrep 1
	June	5	TriplePrep 1
	October	6	TriplePrep 2
	December	18	10 Actual
1993	February	7	10 Actual
	June	8	TriplePrep 3
	October	9	10 Actual
	December	Released as 16
1994	February	10	10 Actual
	June	11	10 Actual
	October	12	10 Actual
	December	13	10 Actual
1995	February	14	10 Actual
	June	15	10 Actual
	September	16	10 Actual
	December	17
1996	February	A	SuperPrep
	June	19	10 More
	October	20	10 More
	December	21	10 More
1997	February	No number
	June	22	10 More
	October	23	10 More
	December	24	10 More
1998	February	Not released
	June	25	10 More
	September	26	10 More
	December	27	10 More
1999	February	B	SuperPrep
	June	28	10 More
	October	29	The Next 10
	December	30	The Next 10
2000	February	C	SuperPrep
	June	31	The Next 10
	October	32	The Next 10
	December	33	The Next 10
2001	February	Not released
	June	34	The Next 10
	October	35	The Next 10
	December	36	The Next 10
2002	February	Not released
	June	37	The Next 10
	October	38	The Next 10
	December	39	PrepTest 39
2003	February	Not released
	June	40	PrepTest 40
	October	41	PrepTest 41
	December	42	PrepTest 42
2004	February	Not released
	June	43	PrepTest 43
	October	44	PrepTest 44
	December	45	PrepTest 45
2005	February	Not released
	June	46	PrepTest 46
	October	47	PrepTest 47
	December	48	PrepTest 48
2006	February	Not released
	June	49	PrepTest 49
	September	50	PrepTest 50
	December	51	PrepTest 51
2007	February	Not released
	June	No number	Official Sample
	September	52	PrepTest 52
	December	53	PrepTest 53
2008	February	Not released
	June	54	PrepTest 54
	October	55	PrepTest 55
	December	56	PrepTest 56
2009	February	Not released
	June	57	PrepTest 57
	September	58	PrepTest 58
	December	59	PrepTest 59
2010	February	Not released
	June	60	PrepTest 60
	October	61	PrepTest 61
	December	62	PrepTest 62

Key

• 10 Actual — 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests
• 10 More — 10 More Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests
• The Next 10 — The Next 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests
• SuperPrep — The Official LSAT SuperPrep
• TriplePrep — LSAT TriplePrep, Volumes 1-3
• PrepTest — Individual PrepTests

If you think you can increase your score by 3 or more points, you should seriously consider retaking the LSAT. Even though schools no longer “need” to average your scores, they can if they want. Yale, Chicago, Cornell, and some other schools have said they won’t, for example, while NYU, Duke, Georgetown, and some others have said they will.

For most schools, however, whether they average depends largely on how well you do when you retake it. Consider these two students:

Vijay gets a 158 and then a 164.
Otto gets a 160 and then a 162.

The average for both Vijay and Otto is 161, but which average is better?

Most schools would likely peg Otto at a 161 and peg Vijay at a 164. Given the difference between Vijay’s first score and his second, his first score was probably a fluke or premature. Yet Otto’s 162 almost reaffirms his 160. The test makers themselves concede that the test has a margin of error of 3 points. So maybe Otto preformed exactly the same on each test but got a different result simply because the test is imperfect.

Vijay, on the other hand, might have gotten lucky, but probably not that lucky. His second score means something and should be given more weight than his first.

This example brings us back to our first sentence: If you’re likely to up by 3 or more points, you should seriously consider retaking. Granted, the more you go up, the better. By going up 6 points, for instance, Vijay made it easy for schools to disregard his first score. But even a 3-point leap can make a difference.

Just make sure you’re ready to make the leap!