Self-study
So I've been lightly studying since May 2025, actually locked-in studying since August 2025, while working a full-time-ish remote job. My diagnostic starter score back in May 2025 was a 162, and through lots of copious wrong answer journaling, watching videos and podcasts, and endless drilling, I scored a 173 literally 4 times in a row on test-day-simulated practice tests that I took from January to March 2026. Toward the end, I was studying for ~2-3 hours everyday and couldn't get my score to budge upward, but at least it also wasn't going down.
On the April 2026 test, I scored a 166 after taking it in-person at a test center.
I'd thought coming out of the test that I felt a bit ambiguous, definitely was unsure on a good number of questions, but not to a much worse degree than I usually feel after any practice test. I slept well the night before, felt not burnt out (I'd tapered off studying ~3 days prior to the exam), and felt very alert and sharp in the test center (though now I realize that was probably ambient stress that my body was misinterpreting). I'm also historically not a bad test taker -- I've never seen anywhere close to this big of a score drop across previous standardized tests including my high school SATs, AP exams, college exams, etc.
I guess I have a few questions that I'd love people's thoughts on (also would love to chat with anyone in a similar boat or who has been in the past!!):
Would it be worth switching to taking the test at home in June, because it's the last time we can do it and it seems that my performance in-person at a test center was way off?
Based on what I've read about the admissions process, I'm planning on keeping my score and just working toward a 170+ goal in June. But I'm curious if there are reasons to not do this.
What strategies do folks have for minimizing test day stress and translating PT performance into real scores? And is it normal to see a 7-point drop the first time you take the LSAT but then rebound?
Best of luck to everyone, and if you're planning on retaking like me, we got this in June 🤞
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Very similar situation, and I think it comes down to the fact that test day variables are always crazy, no matter how much you prepare.
I was a 166 scorer in September, raised to a 172 in Feb, and just got back a 171 from April. I'm bummed because my average was a 177 from around 14 PTs leading into this test, and I just feel a bit lost, but I am truly still considering a retake in june.
Definitely don't cancel your 166! It's a great score (especially for a first score) and any improvements will just show further dedication.
As someone who is constantly seeing lower official scores than my PT average, let me know if you solve the problem of test day anxiety!
I just had the same experience. Cold diagnostic of 168, recent prep tests as high as 178, recent average 174. I only needed to pull off something above a 170. Instead, I ended up with a 167 on the April LSAT. It definitely stings. Hugely discouraging, as this closes the only two doors that were viable for me (I have a kid at a critical life stage, and it would be selfish to move out of state to chase law schools, but the only two schools in my state have surprisingly high LSAT medians and I have a low GPA from years ago to overcome).
Sorry it happened to you too. Like you, I'm also signed up for June and am not sure what to do differently.
First, though, I wouldn't consider doing the June test at home. I personally had problems with the at-home writing section that caused it to get rejected and left me hugely stressed and rushed. Frankly, even if it's a more comfortable environment, I think the risk is just too high on the LSAT itself. There seem to be a lot of problems and they know that; that's likely part of why they're discarding at-home testing. I think you just have to hope that, having done it once, some of the inherent stress of the testing environment is lessened the second time.
I also see no reason to discard the score. I'm going to keep mine, even though I'm crushed by it. If law schools couldn't see that you'd discarded a score (if the April LSAT simply disappeared entirely from your history) then perhaps it would make sense. But that's not how it works. Since schools can see that you sat the LSAT and chose to discard it, I just don't see how it's helpful at all in our situation. If they see a sat test with a discarded result, of course the only possible assumption is that you didn't score well. In fact, even if it's a huge disappointment and (like me) perhaps not good enough for your needs... it's still a 91st percentile result. As schools only really care about the highest score (that's the only thing that affects their rankings), it seems to me that you might just as well leave it alone, be transparent, and just aim at a higher score in June. The only benefit I can see to discarding a score and having that discard visible to the schools would be in circumstances a lot lower than what we both delivered.