The LSAT is widely considered a hard exam, but it is very learnable with focused, sustained practice over several months. How difficult it feels depends a lot on your starting point, your target score, and how much time you can realistically devote to preparation.

Why the LSAT feels hard

• It tests logic and reading skills, not memorized content, so most people are working in formats they have never seen before (logic games, dense arguments, comparative passages).

• Strict timing (about 35 minutes per section) makes even understandable questions feel stressful, so time management becomes a major hurdle.

• Scores are scaled from 120–180, with the average around 150, so aiming for 165–170+ (common for competitive schools) requires outperforming most test takers.

What the test is like

• Sections focus on logical reasoning, analytical reasoning (logic games), and reading comprehension, plus an unscored experimental section and a separate writing sample.

• Questions themselves range from easy to very challenging, with easier ones more common early in a section and harder ones often appearing later.

• The content is intentionally unfamiliar, especially in reading passages, to force you to rely on pure reasoning and close reading rather than prior knowledge.

How most people experience difficulty

• Many students need several months of consistent study to reach even a few points above the median (around 155–160), and higher scores often take longer.

• A small fraction of test takers ever reach a near-perfect score, which reflects how demanding the upper end of the scale is.

• People often report that the test feels “impossible” at first but becomes manageable and then predictable after working through many official practice questions.

Making it more manageable

• Plan for at least 2–3 months of steady prep if you want to be around or slightly above average, and 4–6+ months if you’re aiming for top scores.

• Use official LSAT practice tests, review every mistake carefully, and track patterns in the types of questions you miss to make the difficulty drop over time.

• If you take a timed diagnostic test early, it will give you a realistic sense of how “hard” the LSAT is for you personally and how much improvement you need.