Here are the top four reasons why getting a great LSAT score is very important:

1. Law school scholarships. Law school is expensive. Tuition is often tens of thousands of dollars, and can easily surpass $100,000. Income forgone due to not working because of law school can double this figure. Then there are the books, the moving costs, the travel costs, etc. However, a high LSAT score, can substantially cut your tuition bill.

2. The financial/career benefits of attending a high ranked law school. Getting a high LSAT score can help you gain access to a top-tier law school. Graduating from such schools can distinguish you — in the eyes of potential employers and clients — from the hordes of people graduating from lower-ranked law schools. Given this reality, the “best and brightest” are more likely to attend higher-ranked law schools, which means that the friends you make at higher-ranked law schools are likely to occupy important positions in law firms, governments, and businesses in the future, and will thus be able to give you valuable legal work and more.

3. Your LSAT score reflects knowledge relevant to law school grades, bar exam passage, and more. If the LSAT was just some stupid hurdle to a profession, maybe it would make sense to just get it done with, achieve a mediocre score, and pay full tuition at a medium- or low-ranked law school. However, the LSAT tests useful, relevant knowledge. Thus, your LSAT score — really, your level of verbal English intelligence — will likely affect your law school grades, and your chances of passing your bar exam. So, don’t settle for a mediocre LSAT score — then underperform in your classes, and/or fail your bar exam (perhaps multiple times). Put in the work now to become more verbally intelligent; it’ll pay off immediately, and in the long-term.

4. Your LSAT score reflects how well you can learn new information and skills. Given the huge benefits to obtaining a high LSAT score, if you’re settling for a mediocre LSAT score, it’s likely because you do not know how to learn. (If you knew how to learn — in an effective and efficient manner — you would probably set yourself the goal of learning the LSAT so well that you get an exceptional score and reap the rewards.) If you do not learn how to learn, your legal career is going to be very difficult, starting with law school. Law is confusing, and technology is transforming the legal profession. Those who succeed will have to constantly learn and adapt. You should learn how to learn while preparing for the LSAT.

Best LSAT Tutor is run by LawSchool.Guru, an LSAT, law school, and bar exam prep company run by Troy Pasulka. Troy graduated from Cornell University, and Washington University in St. Louis, where he received a merit-based scholarship of nearly $100,000, after self-studying his way to a 171 on his first and only LSAT attempt. See reviews.