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When to take the LSAT, for a fall start: summer or early autumn of the year before, chosen so at least one further administration remains open before you apply. Work backward from your application month rather than forward from today, and build the retake slot into the calendar.
For a fall start, the answer is almost always the summer or early autumn before it, with a second sitting still available if the first disappoints. That is the whole logic: pick the month that leaves you a retake before schools finish reading.
Applications are read on a rolling basis at most schools, which means a strong file submitted in the autumn is competing against a smaller pool than the same file submitted in February. The LSAT date drives the application date, so the LSAT date is where the calendar decision actually gets made.
The mistake is picking the latest date you think you can be ready for. That maximizes study time and eliminates your retake, which is the wrong trade for almost everyone.
All eight windows come from LSAC's own test dates page (LSAC test dates (https://www.lsac.org/LSATdates)), checked on July 26, 2026.
AdministrationTesting windowAugust 2026August 5 to 8, 2026September 2026September 9 to 12, 2026October 2026October 7 to 10, 2026November 2026November 11 to 14, 2026January 2027January 13 to 16, 2027February 2027February 12 to 13, 2027April 2027April 8 to 10, 2027June 2027June 9 to 12, 2027
Start from the deadline and move backwards rather than forwards from today. Forward planning produces a date you like; backward planning produces the date that actually works.
StepWhat you decide1. Pick your application monthAutumn of the year before you start, if you want the rolling-admissions advantage2. Subtract score releaseYour score must be in hand before you submit, so the test sits comfortably before that month3. Add a retake slotChoose a first date with at least one further administration before your application month4. Count backwards to your start dateThen, and only then, work out how many study weeks that leaves you
Later than most guides admit and later than is wise. Schools differ, many accept scores from administrations well into the winter and some into the spring, and every one of them is reading a thinner set of seats by then.
The honest framing is not can you but what does it cost. A January or February sitting for the following autumn usually means applying after a large share of the class is already admitted, and after a large share of the scholarship budget is committed.
If that is your only realistic option, take it and apply. If you have a choice, the earlier date with a retake behind it beats the later date with none.
The specific latest-acceptable administration is set school by school and changes cycle to cycle, so confirm it with each school on your list rather than with any general page.
Retaking is normal rather than remarkable. In the 2024-25 testing year, 49.1 percent of test takers tested more than once, per LSAC Technical Report TR 26-01 (https://www.lsac.org/sites/default/files/research/TR-26-01.pdf). Planning as though you get one attempt is planning against the base rate.
The gains are real and modest. Mean second-attempt improvement was 2.39 points in 2024-25, 2.50 in 2023-24 and 2.69 in 2022-23, from the same LSAC report. A retake is worth having available and is not a strategy for a large jump.
Which is exactly why the buffer belongs in the calendar rather than in your hopes. Build the second date in, and if you do not need it, you have lost nothing.
Registration deadlines are not in our verified fact set. LSAC publishes a registration deadline, a late registration window and a deadline to change your test date or center for each administration, and those dates sit alongside the test dates on LSAC's own page (LSAC test dates (https://www.lsac.org/LSATdates)). We are not going to restate them from memory.
The reason for the caution is that deadlines move independently of test dates, and a wrong deadline is the one error on a page like this that can actually cost somebody a cycle.
So use the table above to choose a month, then open LSAC's page to get that month's deadline before you build anything around it.
Every LSAC figure on this page was taken from LSAC's own pages and last checked on July 26, 2026. Prices, dates and policies move without notice, so the source link sits next to each number rather than in a bibliography at the bottom.
Where LSAC has not published something, this page says so in those words rather than filling the hole with a plausible number. That is the difference between a gap and a guess, and only one of them is safe to plan around.
For a fall start, the summer or early autumn before it, chosen so that at least one further administration remains available before you apply. The retake slot matters more than the specific month.
Many schools accept winter administrations, but rolling admissions means later applications compete for fewer seats and less scholarship money. The specific cutoff is set school by school.
Just over half sit once. In 2024-25, 50.9 percent tested once, 29.7 percent twice and 13.1 percent three times, per LSAC Technical Report TR 26-01.
Register for a date that gives you a retake, then decide closer to the time. Waiting for readiness tends to push the whole cycle later without producing the readiness.
On LSAC's test dates page alongside each administration. We deliberately do not restate deadlines here, because they move independently of test dates and a stale one can cost a cycle.
Written by Ali, Georgetown Law, founder of Lovare Institut.
August 5, 2026
August 5, 2026