LSAT Experimental Section: Why Guessing Which One Costs You

On test day you'll sit 4 sections, and one of them doesn't count. LSAC won't tell you which one. Plenty of advice online still describes a test with Logic Games, so it gets the next part wrong too. On today's LSAT you can sometimes work out what kind of section the extra one is, and trying to pin it down mid-test is exactly how people give away points.

What the experimental section is now

The multiple-choice LSAT is 4 sections of 35 minutes each. Three are scored: 2 Logical Reasoning and 1 Reading Comprehension. The fourth is the unscored experimental section, and it's either another Logical Reasoning section or another Reading Comprehension section. Logic Games was removed in August 2024, so it can't show up anymore, scored or not.

You get a 10-minute break between section 2 and section 3. The writing sample (LSAT Argumentative Writing) is separate, unscored, and done online on its own schedule. As of the August 2026 test, the multiple-choice part is in person at a test center.

LSAC uses the section to try out new questions on real test-takers before those questions ever count. Honestly, paying over $200 to be a lab rat for 35 minutes doesn't feel fair. It does serve a purpose, though. That pre-testing is how LSAC knows how hard each question is, and it's a big reason a 165 on one test means the same as a 165 on another.

What you can figure out, and what you can't

The scored part of the test is always 2 Logical Reasoning sections and 1 Reading Comprehension section. So:

If you see 2 Reading Comprehension sections, one of them is experimental.
If you see 3 Logical Reasoning sections, one of those is experimental.

That's as far as it goes. You'll know which type of section is the extra one. You won't know which specific section it is, and that's the only thing that would actually help you.

Why guessing which one costs you

Say you see your second Reading Comprehension section and decide it must be the experimental, so you ease off. If you guessed wrong, you just coasted through the only Reading Comprehension section that counts, a full third of your score.

The other trap is the brutal section. A section that feels unusually hard feels like it must be experimental. Usually it's just hard. People who decide it doesn't count tend to rush it, and people who decide it does count tend to panic and carry that into the next section. Both cost you points.

The fix is boring and it works. Treat every section as scored. Shake off a rough one before the next section starts. You'll never know which section was the experimental, so stop spending energy on it.

How to practice for it

A PrepTest only gives you the 3 scored sections, so a plain practice test is shorter than the real thing. Your stamina won't be ready for section 4 unless you train it. Here's what I have students do once they're taking full tests:

Add a fourth section. Pull a Logical Reasoning or Reading Comprehension section from a different PrepTest and add it to your test.
Make it the one you dread. Rotate between the two types, but use the one you like least more often.
Shuffle the order. Put the extra section anywhere, so you don't know which one is the add-on. That forces the same effort on all 4.
Take the 10-minute break after section 2, just like test day.
Score only the original test's 3 sections. Every test has its own conversion table, so mixing in another test's section throws off your score.

My LSAT study schedules build this in, so you're used to 4 sections well before test day.

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Related: 10 tips for LSAT test day.

I've written free explanations for every question in LSAT PrepTest 159, 158, 157, 156, 155 and 154, with the right answer and why each wrong answer fails. All LSAT explanations are here.

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