Average Number Of Hours You'll Be There On LSAT Test Day

The LSAT is a long exam, totaling just over 4 hours from start to finish, if everything goes according to plan.

Here's how I arrived at that number:

Getting started (housekeeping stuff):
Listening to rules
Bubbling-in name and address
Filling out "Certifying Statement" in cursive (stating you won't cheat):

Total: 30 minutes


4 scored 35-minute sections:
2 Logical Reasoning
1 Logic Games
1 Reading Comprehension

Total: 140 minutes - 2 hours, 20 minutes


2 unscored 35-minute sections:
1 Experimental (could be any of the 3 scored types above and any of the 1st 5 sections)
Writing Sample (taken after the 5 regular parts of the LSAT - LG, LR, and RC)

Total: 70 minutes - 1 hour, 10 minutes


Break between 3rd and 4th sections:
10-15 minutes

(Note: There is no break between sections 1-3, and no break between sections 4 and 5. Sections 1-3 are all back-to-back, and sections 4 and 5 are back-to-back.)


Altogether, this is about 4 hours and 15 minutes.

(Your mileage may vary - sometimes the proctors don't know what they're doing, can't find the booklets, etc. If this happens, you might be there much longer.)

Even if everything goes according to plan, this is still a long time, especially for smokers and other drug users.

It can be difficult to get through such a long period without a fix, especially when the first section begins at 9AM (February, September/October, and December). The June exam is the only one that begins at 1PM.

Here's LSAC's policy on bringing cigarettes, gum, nicotine patches, and coffee to the test center.

Photo by molinarius / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0