Updated in 2024 for the new gre
For most test-takers, an elite LSAT® score is much harder to achieve than an elite GRE score. However, certain characteristics – stronger verbal skills and weaker quant skills, for example – might make the GRE a tougher test for you personally.
Read below to learn why the LSAT® is generally considered harder than the GRE.
REASON #1: Reading speed is more important on the LSAT® than on the GRE
On the surface, the average time allotted for each verbal question on the GRE and LSAT® looks pretty similar:
While these average times differ by only a few seconds, a few factors make it much harder to finish an LSAT® section within the time limit than to finish a GRE verbal section:
About half of GRE verbal questions are relatively short, vocabulary-based questions. LSAT® verbal sections contain only reading-based questions, so you have to digest far more text on the LSAT® than on the GRE.
On average, LSAT® reading-based questions are substantially harder and longer than GRE reading-based questions.
Bottom line: unless you’re a really, really fast reader, the LSAT® verbal sections will be far harder for you to complete in time than their GRE counterparts.
REASON #2: It’s easier to improve GRE quant skills than LSAT® verbal skills
The GRE equally weighs quant and verbal skills, while the LSAT is dominated by verbal skills, and includes no mathematics questions at all. Because many standardized-test takers find it easier to improve on quantitative portions of standardized tests, the general consensus is that it’s often easier to improve your overall GRE score than your LSAT® score.
Why is it easier to improve quant? If you’re like most students, your high school math skills might be a bit rusty. Just put a little time and effort into knocking off that rust, and you can expect a nice boost in your quant results. A few days of, say, reviewing geometry rules or statistics fundamentals can plausibly lead to a noticeable bump in your GRE quant score.
The same isn’t generally true of the verbal side of the GRE or LSAT®. To improve verbal scores, students often need to overhaul their reading habits or fundamentally change their approach to reading a text. For most test-takers, it takes quite a bit of time and dedication to shift the underlying reading habits that limit their verbal performance.
To be clear, this is true for most test-takers, not all test-takers! Sometimes a quick shift in, for example, verbal time management can lead to a big score increase. It’s just less common to quickly improve verbal than it is to quickly improve quant.
Bottom line: it’s easier for most test-takers to improve their GRE score than their LSAT® score, simply because it’s more common to achieve relatively quick gains on GRE quant.
Reason #3: a “good” score is different on the LSAT® vs. GRE
To identify whether it’s harder to get a “good” score on the GRE or on the LSAT®, we have to understand what, exactly, constitutes a good score on these two exams.
Since the LSAT® plays a major role in many law school rankings systems, admissions committees are incentivized to admit students with the highest possible scores. This has fueled the outrageously high average LSAT® scores at top programs: the top 14 law schools have median LSAT® scores ranging from 168 to 173. A score of 173 is in the 99th percentile – meaning that the AVERAGE student accepted to these programs scores among the top 1% of LSAT® test-takers. Even a 168 is within the top 5% of LSAT scores.
If you’re seeking admission to top law school programs, the data is clear: you’ll have to absolutely smoke the LSAT® and earn an elite score.
Law schools don’t yet face the same pressure to exclusively admit students with very high GRE scores. Because so few students apply to law schools with the GRE, these scores do not have a large effect on a program’s ranking. In addition, schools are likely using the GRE as a “workaround” to admit interesting and impressive candidates who don’t have an elite LSAT® score.
Bottom line: A “good” LSAT® score is harder to achieve than a “good” GRE score for admission to law school. However, you have to be an incredibly compelling candidate for admissions officers to take you seriously without a competitive LSAT® score. A middling GRE score likely won’t help you unless your profile stands out from the crowd in other ways.
Reason #4: The intimidation factor on the GRE vs. LSAT®
For most test-takers, there are several reasons why the LSAT® is simply more intimidating than the GRE:
Timing and Difficulty Level: Unless you’re a wickedly fast reader, you’re probably going to run out of time on the LSAT®, and that’s not a fun experience. You can still do well on the test even if you have to scramble toward the end of each section, but you have to remain calm and collected even as the clock ticks down to zero. In addition, the toughest LSAT® questions are just freaking hard, which can also dent your morale as you take the test. For most students, the GRE feels far less terrifying. Sure, you don’t have unlimited time on the GRE either, but if you have an efficient approach to the common question types, you can usually finish on time – even if your reading speed is just average, not elite. And while some GRE questions are difficult, you won’t encounter as many scorchers on the GRE as you will on the LSAT®.
Score Reporting Requirements: Law schools see ALL of your LSAT® scores unless you cancel your results entirely, but you can select exactly which GRE scores they see. Although law school admissions committees often only care about your best test score (regardless of which test you take), some law school applicants feel better knowing that they can choose which scores are sent to their target programs.
Test Attempt Limits: Finally, you can take the GRE up to five times in any 12-month period, but you can only take the LSAT® three times per academic year. Although nobody wants to take any standardized test over and over, it can reduce pressure to have more attempts in your back pocket.
Bottom line: for most test-takers, the GRE is generally a less intimidating experience than the LSAT®.
Calling all outliers: will the LSAT® be an easier test for you than the GRE?
Based on the above factors, the GRE feels like an “easier” test than the LSAT® for most students.
However, the LSAT® might actually be easier for you if:
You’re much stronger at verbal than at quant. If you’ve always struggled with math and excelled at reading, the LSAT® might be a better fit for you.
You’re a really fast reader. The LSAT® is incredibly time-pressured for most test-takers, and you’ll be positioned for an elite score if you happen to be a blazingly fast reader.
You strongly prefer reading-based questions over vocabulary-based questions. Generally speaking, reading skills and vocabulary skills go hand-in-hand. However, if for some reason you’re great at reading but struggle with vocabulary, the LSAT® might be a more pleasant experience than the GRE.
Bottom line: the LSAT® could be the easier test for some students with particularly strong verbal skills and weak quant skills.
So, should you take the GRE or the LSAT® for law school admissions?
Even though the GRE is probably the easier test for most students, there are other factors to consider when deciding which test to take. These factors include:
Whether your target law program actually accepts the GRE (the full list is available here).
Whether your application is strong enough to shine without an amazing LSAT® score.
What percentage of accepted students at your target program applied with the GRE. If only a handful of GRE applicants are accepted, that might give you insight into how the school views the GRE.
Whether you’ve already taken the LSAT®. Schools will automatically see all of your LSAT® scores from the past 5 years and will be required to report those scores (which will impact their rankings). So, the GRE probably won’t help you if you’ve already taken the LSAT®.
Want to learn more about the LSAT® and GRE?
Do law schools prefer the LSAT® or GRE?
How do law schools convert LSAT® scores to GRE scores?
A large pile of GRE articles or LSAT® articles
Everything you need to know about one-on-one GRE tutoring
How to improve on LSAT® Reading Comprehension and Logical Reasoning
