How many questions can I miss on the LSAT?

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!

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Related:

LSAT Anxiety Release Program