The LSAT has four 35-minute multiple-choice sections, but only three count toward your score. Across those three scored sections, you answer roughly 75 to 78 questions. The fourth section is unscored, and you will not know which one it is while you take the test.
How Many Questions Are on the LSAT?
The honest answer depends on which questions you mean. On test day you answer four 35-minute sections, which adds up to roughly 98 to 108 multiple-choice questions in total. Only three of those sections are scored.
Across the three scored sections, you face about 75 to 78 questions. That smaller number is the one that becomes your 120–180 score.
Each LSAT Logical Reasoning section carries 24 to 26 questions, and there are two of them. The single scored Reading Comprehension section carries 26 to 28. The fourth section, the experimental one, looks identical but counts for nothing.
The experimental section is how LSAC tests new questions for future exams. You cannot tell which section it is while testing, so every section demands full effort.
What Counts Toward Your Score?
Here is the gap that trips people up. You answer around 100 questions. About a quarter of them never reach your score.
The two Logical Reasoning sections plus one Reading Comprehension section form your raw score: the total number you answer correctly, anywhere from 0 to about 77 or 78. LSAC converts that raw score to the scaled 120–180 number.
One consequence matters for strategy. Logical Reasoning makes up two of the three scored sections, so it drives close to two-thirds of your score.
That means LR accuracy moves your number more than anything else. Gaining four points in Reading Comprehension helps. Gaining them across two LR sections helps more.
How Much Time Per Question?
The counts only matter against the clock. Each section gives you 35 minutes, and nothing carries over.
Divide the time by the questions and the pressure becomes concrete. A Logical Reasoning section with 25 questions in 35 minutes leaves about 84 seconds per question, including reading the stimulus.
Reading Comprehension is tighter than it looks. Four passages of roughly 500 words each, plus 26 to 28 questions in 35 minutes, work out to near 78 seconds per question once you account for reading time.
Those per-question targets are averages, not rules. Some questions take 30 seconds and some take two minutes, so the real skill is knowing when to move on. Practicing under exam timing trains that instinct. AskSia's Mock Exam mode runs full-length sections at real pace and flags where your timing breaks down.
Does the LSAT Still Have Logic Games?
No. As of August 2024, Logic Games are gone.
The section formally called Analytical Reasoning, the one with the grouping and sequencing puzzles you diagram on scratch paper, was removed permanently. LSAC now uses two scored Logical Reasoning sections and one scored Reading Comprehension section instead.
This matters for your prep materials. Many free practice tests and older books still include Logic Games, which means a meaningful share of what ranks online is out of date. Training on diagramming puzzles now wastes hours.
Current prep should center on the two skills the test actually measures. AskSia's Flashcards with FSRS spacing let you drill Logical Reasoning flaw types and inference patterns on the schedule that fits your test date. For a week-by-week structure, see our LSAT study plan.
How Many Can You Miss for 170?
A 170 does not require perfection. You can miss roughly 8 to 11 questions and still get there.
Spread across three scored sections, that is only 3 or 4 wrong per section. The exact figure depends on the curve, the conversion LSAC sets for each test through a process called equating.
Percentiles compress at the top. A 153 sits near the 50th percentile and reflects answering about 57 questions correctly. A 170 reaches roughly the 96th to 97th percentile. A 172 clears the 99th.
Because every test equates differently, treat these as ballpark figures, not promises. To convert a real practice-test raw score into an estimated scaled score and percentile, run it through the AskSia LSAT score calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many questions can you miss to get a 170?
On a typical current-format LSAT, a 170 means missing about 8 to 11 of the roughly 75–78 scored questions. That works out to only 3 or 4 wrong per scored section. The exact number shifts with each test's curve, the conversion LSAC sets through equating. On a harder administration you might miss 14 or 15 and still land at 170; on an easier one, fewer than 10. A 170 sits around the 96th to 97th percentile, which clears the median at most top-14 law schools. Because the curve is unknowable in advance, treat every question as scored and bank the points you can. Run your practice-test raw scores through the AskSia LSAT score calculator to see where your current accuracy lands on the 120–180 scale.
What was Obama's LSAT score?
Barack Obama's LSAT score has never been publicly released. He attended Harvard Law School, graduated magna cum laude in 1991, and served as president of the Harvard Law Review, but neither he nor LSAC has published the number. Any specific figure circulating online is speculation, not fact. Harvard Law's median LSAT for recent entering classes sits around 174, which places admitted students near the 99th percentile, so estimates often assume he scored in that band. That assumption is reasonable but unverified. Scores from the early 1990s also used a different scale before the current 120–180 system stabilized, which makes any direct comparison shaky. If you are benchmarking against top programs, ignore celebrity score rumors and look at each school's published median LSAT in its ABA 509 disclosure, updated every admissions cycle.
How rare is a 172 on the LSAT?
A 172 puts you in roughly the 99th percentile, meaning about 1 in 100 test-takers scores at or above that level over a three-year window. On the current three-section test that usually means missing only about six of the 75–78 scored questions. The jump from 170 to 172 is small in points but steep in difficulty, because percentile gains compress at the top of the scale. A 167 and a perfect 180 are separated by only a few percentile points. For most applicants, the difference between 170 and 172 will not change which schools are realistic, though it can affect scholarship offers at programs where you sit above the median. Check your target school's 75th-percentile LSAT in its ABA 509 report to see whether a 172 moves you into scholarship range.
Is the LSAT the hardest test?
The LSAT is hard, but "hardest" depends on what you measure. It requires no outside content knowledge, unlike the MCAT, which tests biology, chemistry, physics, and psychology. The LSAT measures reasoning under time pressure across about 75–78 scored questions in roughly 2 hours and 30 minutes of testing. Its difficulty comes from pace and precision, not memorization. Average scores cluster around 151 to 153, near the 50th percentile, and only about 3 to 4 percent of test-takers break 170. By contrast, the bar exam tests memorized law across two or three days. Compared with graduate admissions tests like the GMAT, the LSAT is narrower in subject but unforgiving on timing. If you are weighing test-prep paths, our study approach for standardized tests can help you build a timing-first plan.
How long is the LSAT?
The multiple-choice portion runs about 3 hours for standard test-takers, built from four 35-minute sections plus a single 10-minute intermission between the second and third sections. That is roughly 2 hours and 20 minutes of actual testing once you add the break. The Argumentative Writing task is separate and takes 50 minutes: 15 minutes of guided prewriting and 35 minutes to write. You can complete writing online up to eight days before your multiple-choice date. Starting with the August 2026 administration, the LSAT moves to in-person test centers only, ending the remote-proctoring option. Plan for a half-day commitment on test day including arrival and check-in. To build stamina for the full length, simulate all four sections in one sitting using AskSia's Mock Exam mode, which mirrors the real timing.
Is the LSAT all multiple choice?
The scored portion is entirely multiple choice. All four sections, the two Logical Reasoning sections, the one Reading Comprehension section, and the unscored experimental section, use five-option questions, about 75–78 of which count toward your score. There is one exception: the LSAT Argumentative Writing task, which asks you to write a structured argument choosing between two options using provided facts. Writing is unscored and does not factor into your 120–180 number, but you must have one completed writing sample on file before LSAC will release your score to law schools. As of August 2024, Logic Games are no longer part of the test, so no diagramming puzzles appear. If you trained on old materials that include them, switch to current-format practice. AskSia's Flashcards with FSRS spacing help you drill the Logical Reasoning skills that now carry two-thirds of your score.
What the Count Doesn't Tell You
The question count is the easy part to memorize. It is also the least useful number on its own.
Knowing there are 75 to 78 scored questions does not tell you that two-thirds are Logical Reasoning, that the curve forgives 8 to 11 misses at 170, or that your real constraint is 35 minutes per section. The structure only helps once you turn it into a pacing and accuracy plan.
Start from your target school's median LSAT, work back to the raw score that reaches it, and build practice around the sections that carry the most points. The count is where you begin, not where you stop.
