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Take the LSAT far enough ahead that your score is released before you apply, which for most applicants means the summer or fall before their target cycle. Sitting earlier leaves room to retake the LSAT once and still apply early in a rolling cycle. Lovare's free diagnostic helps you judge if you are ready.
By Ali Unar, Founder, Lovare Institut; JD/MSFS Candidate, Georgetown University. Last updated August 2026. Every figure on this page was verified in August 2026 against the sources listed below.
You should take the LSAT so your official score is released before the schools on your list begin reviewing applications. For most applicants that means sitting the test in the summer or fall before the cycle they plan to apply in, or earlier. Because many law schools admit on a rolling basis, an earlier score usually supports an earlier, stronger application. According to LSAC's LSAT dates calendar, upcoming LSAT administrations run September 2026 through June 2027, and each test's score-release date is listed there so you can confirm scores arrive before you apply.
The law school application cycle drives the best LSAT date. Applications typically open in the early fall for the following year's entering class, and rolling admissions rewards applying early. Taking the LSAT by the late summer or early fall lets you apply near the start of the cycle. Leaving your only sitting until late in the cycle can mean applying when fewer seats and scholarship dollars remain.
Yes, plan your LSAT date so a retake is possible without derailing your application. Choose a first sitting early enough that, if your score comes in below your target, you can test again and still apply reasonably early. Confirm the gap between test dates and score-release dates before you commit. Under current LSAC policy there is no limit on retakes within a single testing year, but you may take the LSAT five times within the current reportable period, meaning since July 2021, and seven times over your lifetime, according to LSAC's Limits on Repeating the Test policy.
You are ready to take the LSAT when your recent full-length practice test scores sit consistently at or above your target, not just once. Take practice tests under real timed conditions, and treat a stable score across several of them as your signal. If your practice scores are still climbing, a later test date often produces a better result.
Most people study three to six months before taking the LSAT, so count that back from your chosen test date. Your diagnostic gap sets the exact length. When picking a test date, make sure it leaves enough study runway and still releases your score before your application deadline.
Start studying three to six months before the LSAT date you intend to take. Choose that test date first, working from when scores must be ready for your applications, then count back to set your study start. Beginning early also leaves room to retake the LSAT within the same cycle.
Before you take the LSAT, strengthen Reading Comprehension by reading each passage for structure: main point, author's viewpoint, and shifts in position. Practice untimed until accuracy is high, then rehearse under the 35-minute clock. A wrong-answer journal by question type shows which passage questions to target before test day.
Verified August 2026.
September 19, 2026
September 18, 2026