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Many students think their law school admissions chances are over when they get an LSAT score lower than they expected. I see it happen every admissions cycle: A student studies hard for the LSAT, gets a score much lower than they expected, and spends months studying to retake it. That can be a good option for some, but it also takes time to study and retake the LSAT.
Your chances of getting into law school with a low LSAT score might not be as low as you think. The LSAT, along with your GPA, is used as an initial screening filter to show that you can do well in rigorous courses in law school. But there are other ways to show this, too.
Below, I’ll get into the strategies of how to get into law school despite a lower LSAT score, including what you need to do to still clear that initial application screening phase.
You can get into law school with a low LSAT score, but it depends on the strength of the rest of your application. Law schools rely heavily on LSAT scores, but they don’t admit students based on a single number. A low LSAT score can be offset by other compelling factors, especially if you apply strategically.
The LSAT is a primary requirement for any law school. The only reliable way to get into law school despite having a low LSAT score is to retake the test and hopefully improve your score. You can take the LSAT up to five times within the current five-year reportable score period, with a lifetime limit of seven. That's more than enough time to commit to a study plan created by an expert 99th percentile tutor and improve your score.
More people retake the LSAT than you might think. According to the LSAC’s LSAT Performance with Regional, Gender, Racial/Ethnic, Repeater, and Accommodation Breakdowns: 2018-2019 through 2024-2025 Testing Years, 49.1% of all test takers took the LSAT more than once in the 2024–2025 admissions cycle. Roughly half of those who take the LSAT do so at least twice.
Law schools can see every attempt, but they focus on your highest score. A significant increase between tests actually works in your favor because it shows you found your weaknesses and put in the work to fit it.
However, the key word here is "significant." A 2-3 point increase falls within the LSAT's standard margin of error and won't land as a real improvement to an admissions committee. You need a 4+ point increase for a retake to actually change how schools evaluate you.
The best way to prepare is with an expert practice test. Take our free practice test, which was created by our 99th percentile tutors to help you secure a good score on your next attempt.
After two or three attempts with minimal score movement, a fourth attempt doesn’t give you a much higher return. If your score hasn't moved after three serious attempts, consider pivoting to the GRE or JD-Next rather than another LSAT take.
Watch the video below if you’re planning to retake the LSAT and want to learn more:
You can also take a gap year to gain more work experience and offset a lower score. Jobs such as a paralegal can show that you’re prepared to study law more than an LSAT score ever could.
Aim for longitudinal involvement in these roles. Don’t just highlight a paralegal job if you only worked in it for three months. You should have worked in your legal position for at least 1 year to be competitive, but the more, the better.
Admissions committees at law schools are looking for applicants who can articulate why their professional experience makes them a better law student. A paralegal who writes about how drafting motions exposed gaps in their legal reasoning that law school would fill is far more compelling than someone who lists the job title and duration without connecting the experience to their readiness for law school.
Non-legal work experience counts too, but you need even more sustained involvement to make the case. Focus on skills that translate well, such as:
If you're applying straight from undergrad with a low LSAT, pay close attention here. For K-JD applicants (kindergarten through JD, with no gap), a low LSAT score is essentially your entire quantitative identity when you have no professional track record to balance it against. Work experience gives admissions committees a second lens through which to evaluate you. Without it, the LSAT carries almost all the weight.
If you already have strong work experience, make it the primary focus of your resume and personal statement. If you don't, a gap year with intentional employment may be the single best thing you can do for your application.
Apply to law school as soon as you can. You can apply as early as early to mid-September of the year before you plan to enroll. That means you’ll also need your LSAT score by June of that same year to allow time for score reporting and possible retakes.
In our law school application timeline webinar, Mark Saunders, an expert at Juris Education and a Duke University School of Law graduate, shares his tips on applying early.
"You really want to get your applications out as soon as possible. The application season starts on September 1. There are some schools out there that if you apply on September 1, you'll have a decision later that day."
Applying early can help you get into law school with a lower LSAT score because many schools use rolling admissions. That means the earlier you apply, the more seats are available. Admissions officers might not have too many other LSAT scores to compare yours to early in the admissions cycle.
However, you also need to have a compelling personal statement, resume, and letters of recommendation to persuade admissions officers to take a chance on you. Applying later in the cycle means fewer seats will be available, and admissions officers might need to admit only students with LSAT scores above the median of previous matriculants.
Learn the complete application timeline, including the best time to apply, by watching the video below:
You can submit an addendum to explain why you have a low LSAT score, but only if something drastic affected you. If you just got a low score because you missed a few questions or didn’t study well, don’t submit an addendum.
Acceptable reasons to submit an addendum if your score dropped significantly include:
There are many other acceptable reasons to submit an addendum, but they all have one thing in common: They affected your life in significant ways and drastically impacted your ability to properly study for the LSAT.
In our LSAT strategies webinar, Mika MacDonald, an expert at Juris Education and graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, shares her advice on submitting an addendum.
"My typical rule is that you should send an addendum if your score dropped after a test. If you took the LSAT and got a 158, then took it again and got a 151, that’s worth sending an addendum to explain the drop. But if your LSAT score is lower than you hoped for, that isn’t a good reason to send an addendum as it would just draw attention to that number more."
Keep your addendum brief. State exactly what happened, how it impacted you, how you solved the issue, and how that’s affected your current state.
You don’t need an LSAT score to get into law school. The LSAT is a logic test, but if you’re more inclined toward math problems, you should take the GRE instead. The GRE has much more math than the LSAT, but more than 100 law schools accept it as an alternative to the LSAT.
If you took the LSAT, received a low score, and don’t want to retake it, study for the GRE instead. Many law schools don’t require an LSAT score if you submit the GRE.
You can also take the JD-Next, an eight-week online program that culminates in a final score based on a final exam. Over 60 law schools accept the JD-Next as an admissions assessment. Take the JD-Next if you want an alternative to the LSAT, struggle with traditional logic puzzles, or want to prove your readiness using actual legal coursework.
The JD-Next is an excellent way to show that you’re ready for law school for the schools that accept it, as you’ll already have taken legal coursework.
Ensure the law schools you’re interested in accept the GRE or the JD-Next before taking the alternative exams.
Your chances of getting into law school might be lower, but it’s not impossible. I’ve seen thousands of students apply to law school with a low score the same way they’d apply with a high score. That’s a big mistake.
If you have a low score, the primary thing that needs to change is your strategy. You can’t just apply to a T14 school and expect to get accepted. Apply strategically by dividing your schools into tiers and using the ABA to get a realistic sense of your competitiveness.
Below, I’ll share expert strategies for what you need to change in your strategy to maximize your acceptance odds with a low score.
Aim for two to three reach schools, three to four targets, and two to three safeties. Most low LSAT applicants make the mistake of loading their list with reaches and hoping one works out. Your targets and safeties are where acceptances will come from, so treat those applications with the same care you'd give a T-14 application.
Your GPA shifts these tiers slightly. If your GPA sits above a school's 75th percentile, you can bump that school down a tier even if your LSAT is low. A 3.85 GPA paired with a 148 LSAT tells a different story than a 3.20 GPA paired with the same LSAT score. Use the 509 data to cross-reference both numbers before locking in your categories.
You should know exactly which law schools you're more likely to get accepted to. The American Bar Association (ABA) has detailed 509 reports that list the LSAT percentiles of matriculants for each law school.
You can look up the school you’re interested in, and it’ll generate a report of statistics on matriculants for that year. You’ll find percentile data on the right side of the PDF, as evidenced in the screenshot below.
You can also get comprehensive admissions data on all ABA-accredited law schools. That way, you can filter the list in Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel by the lowest median LSAT score and see how your score compares with it.
By using the 50th percentile LSAT score (median), you can learn which schools you have the best chance of clearing the screening process.
A low LSAT score is anything below the national median of 159, whereas a good LSAT score is anything above the national median. However, these numbers change based on the schools you’re applying to.
The table below shows the overall competitiveness of different LSAT scores:
If you have an LSAT score that’s below the national median of 159, it’s considered low. However, scores within the 140-158 range are still accepted at some law schools, so you’re not automatically out of the running. Applying to any school in the 120-139 range will be very limiting and is unlikely to result in acceptance.
Speak with an expert LSAT tutor at Juris Education for expert prep on increasing your score. Our tutors help you earn a guaranteed LSAT score of 165+, helping you get into most law schools.
Here are the 20 law schools with the lowest 25th percentile LSAT scores in the 2025-2026 admissions cycle. We used the 509 ABA report to find these figures.
Note: The 25th percentile is not the lowest score in each incoming class. It marks the point where 25% of enrolled students scored at or below that number, which means the actual lowest matriculant score is likely a few points lower. Use these figures as a benchmark for the bottom quarter of each school's class profile.
Learn if your LSAT score will affect your admissions odds with our free tool:
The lowest scores law schools accept generally fall in the 135-145 range, though this varies by school. According to the ABA, the lowest 25th percentile LSAT score in the 2025-2026 admissions cycle was 136 at Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law.
Keep a low LSAT score if you don’t want to retake the test or if it falls close to the median score of schools on your list. Whenever possible, retake the test to improve your score, or consider taking the GRE or JD-Next.
Yes, a 145 is a low LSAT score, as it’s 14 points below the national median of 159. A score in that range limits you to regional and lower-ranked programs and makes a strong case for retaking the exam.
You increase your LSAT score by diagnosing your weakest question types through timed practice tests and then targeting those areas with focused study. Consistent daily prep over eight to 12 weeks produces better results than cramming, and a structured course or tutor can help.
Delaying your application is better if the extra time will give you a meaningfully higher LSAT score or a stronger overall profile. Submitting a rushed application with a low LSAT just to apply early sacrifices more than it gains. However, if your score is unlikely to change and your application materials are ready, waiting a full cycle without a clear improvement plan costs you a year with no strategic advantage.
Law schools care about both GPA and LSAT scores, but the LSAT typically carries more weight because it’s the only standardized metric the ABA uses to compare applicants across different undergraduate institutions. A high GPA from a rigorous program can offset a lower LSAT at some schools, but a strong LSAT score opens doors that a high GPA alone can’t.
David Merson was the original author of this article. Snippets of his work may remain.
Co-Founder of Juris Education, Dartmouth College
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