.png)
Raw score conversion on the LSAT turns the number of questions you answered correctly into the scaled 120 to 180 score reported to law schools. LSAC uses a separate conversion table for each test form, a process called equating, so a harder form requires a slightly lower raw score for the same scaled result.
By Ali Unar, JD candidate at Georgetown Law and founder of Lovare Institut. Last updated August 2026. Figures on this page were verified in August 2026 or point readers to the current source.
Raw score conversion is the step where LSAC translates your raw score, the count of questions answered correctly, into the scaled 120 to 180 score that law schools receive. The raw score itself never appears on your report. Only the converted scaled score and its percentile are shown, because the scaled score is comparable across every LSAT form.
Each LSAT form ships with its own conversion table that pairs every possible raw total with one scaled score. LSAC builds that table through equating, a statistical process that holds the meaning of a scaled score constant from test to test. As a result, the raw score needed for a 165 on one form may be a point or two different from the raw score needed for a 165 on another.
Equating is how LSAC keeps a 160 in one administration equivalent to a 160 in another, even when the forms differ in difficulty. When a form is tougher, the curve is adjusted so a slightly lower raw score still reaches the same scaled score. This matters because it means no universal raw-to-scaled chart exists, and you should always use the conversion table tied to the specific test you took.
To convert a practice test, count your correct answers for a raw score, then read that raw total against the conversion table printed with that PrepTest. Avoid generic charts, which can misstate your score by several points on a form with an unusual curve. The table below shows the typical relationship between raw and scaled scores, verified against a recent official form.
The current ranking is best read directly from the source. See the U.S. News Best Law Schools list for the up-to-date order, and each school's ABA Standard 509 report for its median LSAT, GPA, and acceptance rate.
A good LSAT score is defined by your target schools, not by a single national cutoff. Because each ABA-approved law school lists its median LSAT in its Standard 509 report, a score at or above that median makes your file competitive there. 120 to 180. Aim to clear the median of every school on your list.
The average scaled LSAT score lands slightly below the middle of the 120 to 180 range, because the scale is centered so most test-takers score near the middle. The exact mean changes a little from year to year. the low-to-mid 150s (LSAC does not publish a single headline average; the median falls near 152 on the percentile tables). Raw scores are always converted before they are compared to that average.
The LSAT is scored on a 120 to 180 scale using a form-specific conversion table. You earn a raw point for each correct answer, with no penalty for wrong ones, and LSAC converts that raw total into your scaled score. Since August 2024 the scored sections are two Logical Reasoning and one Reading Comprehension, alongside one unscored variable section, after Logic Games were retired.
Conversion tables differ because LSAC equates each form to a common scale. If one test is harder, its table lets a slightly lower raw score reach the same scaled score, keeping a 160 equivalent across administrations. This is why the number of questions you must answer correctly for a given score is not fixed, and why the right table to use is always the one for your specific form.
Verified August 2026.
August 21, 2026
August 21, 2026