Time Management and Guessing Strategy Help Area

The Answer Choices and Answer Transferring Theories

LSAT Guessing Strategy and Probability Tables

The Importance of Using a Timer

Guessing Strategy and Probability Tables

Do not guess randomly!

Because the LSAT does not assess a scoring penalty for incorrect answer choices, you should always guess on every question that you cannot complete during the allotted time. However, because some answer choices are historically more likely to occur than others, you should not guess randomly. The following tables summarize which answer choices have occurred most frequently over the years.

LSAT Answer Choice Probabilities
		A#	A%		B#	B%		C#	C%		D#	D%		E#	E%		Total #
LR		581	18.6%		646	20.7%		634	20.3%		673	21.5%		591	18.9%		3125
RC		331	19.8%		331	19.8%		332	19.9%		364	21.8%		310	18.6%		1668
LG		282	19.4%		297	20.4%		286	19.7%		293	20.2%		295	20.3%		1453
Total		1194	19.1%		1274	20.4%		1252	20.0%		1330	21.3%		1196	19.1%		6246
All Answer Choices June 1991 - June 2009*

The table above documents the frequency with which each answer choice appeared as a percentage of all LSAT answer choices between June 1991 and June 2009 inclusive. If history holds, you would be best served on the test as a whole by always guessing answer choice (D). Do not choose random answer choices; do not put in a pattern such as A-B-C-D-E etcetera. Although guessing answer choice (D) does not guarantee you will get the questions correct, statistically speaking guessing answer choice (D) gives you a better chance of answering correctly than guessing randomly.

Last Five Answer Choices Per Section June 1991 - June 2009*
		A#	A%		B#	B%		C#	C%		D#	D%		E#	E%		T#
LR		92	14.8%		118	19.0%		122	19.7%		142	22.9%		146	23.5%		620
RC		57	18.4%		65	21.0%		58	18.7%		69	22.3%		61	19.7%		310
LG		72	23.2%		60	19.4%		56	18.1%		63	20.3%		59	19.0%		310
Total		221	17.8%		243	19.6%		236	19.0%		274	22.1%		266	21.5%		1240
*These statistics do not include the unreleased February 1998, February 2001, February 2002, February 2003, February 2004, February 2005, February 2006, February 2007, February 2008, and February 2009 LSAT administrations.

As the second table indicates, if you cannot finish the final questions in a section, in the Logical Reasoning section you should always guess answer choice (E). In the Reading Comprehension section you should always guess answer choice (D), and in the Logic Games section you should guess (A).

Please keep in mind that the strategies discussed above hold only for pure guessing. If you are attempting to choose between two answer choices, do not choose solely on the basis of statistics alone!

On a related note, if you are a strong test taker who correctly answers most questions but occasionally does not finish a section, quickly review the answer choices you have previously selected and use the answer that appears least as your guessing answer choice. For example, if you have completed twenty questions in a section, and your answer sheet contains a majority of (A)’s, (B)’s, (C)’s, and (E)’s, guess answer choice (D) for all of the remaining questions to get the percentage of each response as close to 20% as possible.