How many times can you take the LSAT?

What counts toward the limits

As of October 2026, LSAC counts:

• Every test you sat, scored or canceled. That includes a score you cancel after Score Preview.
• Not absences or withdrawals.
• Not tests taken before September 2019.
• Not the LSAT-Flex tests from May to August 2020, which LSAC introduced during the COVID-19 emergency.

How many times can you take the LSAT in a year?

LSAC’s current rules don’t set a yearly limit. There are only the two above: five tests in the reportable score period and seven in your lifetime. The one other rule is the 180 cap, which stops you testing again once you’ve hit a perfect score in the current period.

How schools see more than one score

When you apply, schools get all your reportable scores: every valid score from the current testing year and the five before it. LSAC tells schools that your average score is the best predictor of how you’ll do. Some schools give more weight to your highest score. Each school decides for itself, so ask the ones on your list.

Is a retake worth it?

LSAC says many people score higher the second time, but some stay the same or drop. People who retest in the same testing year gain 2 to 3 points on average. Its advice is to change how you prepare, not repeat the same plan, and to work on the question types that cost you points.

A retake costs the same $253 as a first test. A Tier 1 LSAC fee waiver covers up to two LSATs in its two-year period, and a Tier 2 waiver doesn’t include a retake. You don’t need a new writing sample if you have one from the current reportable period.

Asking for an exception

If a serious, unusual circumstance means you need to test beyond a limit, you can appeal:

1. Email TTL@LSAC.org with a detailed explanation of what happened.
2. Include your name, your LSAC account number, the test date you want and any documents that support your case.
3. Send it at least five business days before the registration deadline for that test.
4. LSAC decides within five business days, and the decision is final.
5. If you’re approved, you register by phone with an LSAC representative.

An approval lifts only the limit you asked about. An exception to the five-test limit, for example, doesn’t lift the lifetime limit of seven.