I've been studying for over 9 months on the LSAT, and I went from a 154 diagnostic in January to a 168 on the September 2026 LSAT. I need a 173 minimum, but I've plateaued and don't know where to go from here. My highest mock exam was a 169 back in late July, and haven't seen improvement since. I used Testmasters as a foundational prep course, which I completed back in April. Since then, I've been studying with a tutor and drilling with 7Sage. For Logical Reasoning, I try to evaluate the argument before looking at the question stem/answer choices, and if I can't form a good evaluation within a moment or so, I decide to look at the question stem/answer choices.
I noticed that once I made a meaningful and consistent leap in minimizing the number of questions I get wrong in my LR, my Reading Comprehension went down by a lot, around/worse than where I was when I first began studying. I used to get around 5-6 wrong in my LR and 2-3 wrong in my RC, but once I started getting around 2-3 wrong in my LR, my RC dropped super low, down to 6-8. This mainly ended up happening because I wouldn't have enough time in my last passage, but I never used to have a time management issue in RC before.
I've been using an LSAT log for my wrong answers since June, with the column titles for LR as-
Time
Argument Evaluation: why doesn't the support prove the conclusion?
Question Type (e.g., necessary assumption/resolve discrepancy/parallel reasoning/etc.)
What Happened? (why did I get the question wrong/why is the wrong answer wrong/why is the right answer right)
Growth/Action (what should I keep in mind so this doesn't happen again)
I also flag any wrong questions which-
I got incorrect in my blind review, too
I spent too long answering
I got wrong because I ran out of time
I was down to two answers (the right vs wrong one) and ultimately chose the wrong one
In LR, there isn't one specific question type that I get wrong more than others. Most of the questions that I get wrong in timed sections/mock tests, I get correct in my blind review. I'm usually able to answer the first 10 questions in 10 minutes. I shoot for the first 15 questions in 15 minutes, but that doesn't always happen. I'm able to get almost every question correct in my untimed drill sets. My blind review process is:
Marking the questions I got wrong (without looking at the right answer)
Seeing which incorrect answer I picked
Of the four remaining, I try to pick the correct answer.
Essentially, I need to cut down from ~10 questions wrong on the exam to ~5 questions wrong, so I have to half the number of incorrect questions I get (from ~3 wrong/section to ~1-2 wrong/section). I don't know what to do differently, and I feel really stuck but I refuse to give up until I get at least a 173. I'm signed up for the November LSAT, but if my mock exams don't improve enough then I'll probably cancel and sign up for January instead. Any advice?
1 comments
Hi there! First off, congratulations on jumping from a 154 to a 168, that’s a fantastic improvement! From what you’ve shared, your main challenge seems to be working under timed conditions, not a lack of understanding. I think your best chance to boost your score even further is to focus on getting your RC section back to your previous level, around -2 or -3, instead of the current -6 to -8. If you can do that while keeping up your strong LR performance, you’ll likely recover most of the points you need, and you won’t have to worry about being perfect on LR.
I’d also suggest tweaking your blind review process a bit. As you go through the timed section, try to flag every question where you felt even a little unsure. Before you check your answers, go back and redo those flagged questions from scratch, making sure all five answer choices are still in play. If you already know which ones you got wrong and eliminate those choices, your blind review might give you a false sense of confidence about your understanding.
For LR, don’t feel like you have to analyze every argument in detail before you even look at the question stem. Instead, just find the conclusion and support, then let the question tell you what kind of analysis to do. Also, try not to get too hung up on hitting exactly 15 questions in 15 minutes—if that pace makes you rush and miss things, it’s okay to adjust. For RC, keep an eye on where your time is going, and practice letting go of a tough question so you can give the last passage a fair shot.
Your plan to decide between November and January sounds like a good one. I’d recommend making that call based on how you’re doing on several recent full-length practice tests, not just one. If you’re consistently getting close to your goal score under real test conditions, you’ll know you’re ready.