@fa4664 dont give up and good luck. you'll get there it just may not be in the timeframe that was originally expected. Just remember theres no rush law schools aren't going anywhere. also you could just need a little break for a month or two to let your brain soak in the information and build new connections. I am coming off one and it definitely helps with score increases and learning this stuff.

Its definitely a hard exam. but its also learnable. In my personal experience I was stuck in the 130s and 140s for 6 months. took my first exam bombed it lol. But what really helped me see huge score increases in PTs was not learning all the little tricks and the gimmicks. I actually just focused on simplifying the exam into two basic parts. Treat most of LR as assumption based questions and treat everything in RC as structure based questions. you can also study "classes" of questions that function relatively the same. For example some of my drills are Flaw,NA,WSE because even though the end task is a bit different the overall process is actually the same. Find the conclusion, find the underlining assumption (gap). then predict the answer choice, read the answer choices carefully, then choose.

Something different I learned that may help you alot is to study formal conditional logic in philosophy. you dont need to understand everything but just how its used and why it exists. I met with a few 170s scorers it came up a few times. I tried it and it didn't work immediately but once I got a grip on it it helped me conceptualize the moving parts in LR and what is actually the point of what we are being asked to do.

If i could go back and restart all over again with what I understand now. Id say the biggest game changer at least in my experience is consistently identifying the conclusion and consistently understanding the method of logic being applied. once youve got it down you start to feel so much more in control. sounds hard at this point in time but try focusing only on spotting conclusions first consistently then build up from there. you'll see really quickly that there are subtle shifts in the words or ideas and that will make overall logic look clearer.

@Ekathrynkrause totally get it. I was stuck in the 140s for 7 months. I understand your feelings. Before I answer your question I want to say this and its gonna sound very crazy. Have fun with the LSAT. Your going to read that and be like this dude is crazy. But trust me once you learn to have fun with it you may find the score increases come sooner.

Right now you are a pseudo scientist. All you need to do is to put some hypothesis to the test. You can develop theories and approaches that work best for yourself and you get to test them. if you are scoring at a score lower then you want you have to switch up the formula. I eventually learned that I could not brute force my way through this. But every question and I mean literally every question on this thing can be solved by creating a process (Step 1, then step 2, then step 3, then step 4). In my WAJ I made a step by step process for every single question type that works for me. They idea here is that it cannot have too many parts and it cannot also lack direction. heres an example piece of a weaken question approach for you below

Step 1 Read the stimulus and identify the logic gap. Identify all argument parts and Translate if necessary

Step 2 Identify a potential weakness within the argument by checking for dangling variables and asking a "what if"

Step 3 Carefully read through all of the Answer choices. 

Step 4 Choose your answer.

Do you see how easy this is? Not super mechanical but it is quick and has a clear goal in mind. You will be incredibly slow in the beginning but as you drill these quick processes into your habits you'll get lighting quick.

This serves another purpose in my WAJ. Because identity statements are not allowed "I feel stupid because I missed this", "i don't have the ability to find this", ETC none have a place in our study. What happens is you become more robotic and this is where the Behaviors come into play. When I do my WAJ journal based on the process approach I can quickly see how I reacted under the stress. Say I am doing a long drill and the time is getting to me on a question. When I go back through and review I can see very quickly where the hiccup was. Step 1 was missed because of stress related to timing issues or Step 4 wasnt enacted right because focus was lost due to looking at the timer (You'd be surprised lol). You can see what corners were cut and you can see what was unintendedly missed. From there you have to modify your testing behavior. But while your testing you need to stay 100% engaged. Each question type in my WAJ has its own tab. All you need to do is put the date above the ones you add and then make a note in the log with the date so you know what your looking for in the next days review.

Do the small things in yours to preserve your drive and momentum.

Here is an example of my WAJ questions. It can vary but I generally stick to this or variations of this and what I've described in my last post.

EXAMPLE:

Date

SCREENSHOT OF QUESTION

Why did you get this question wrong?

Without identity statements describe what step was missed and what happened

write down your logic then Include the behavior. were you feeling anxious due to time? did you skip steps in your process? did you cut any corners? How was you environment? Were you angry because the group chat is blowing up your phone while your trying to study and you cant lock in? Even goofy stuff like that.

What's the pattern in this example?  

Describe the exact pattern you see in the stimulus. if it is conditional logic map out all the chains present. Include identifying all the indicator words and articulate what group they belong to. List hypothesis, cause and effect relationships, and everything you see within the premises and conclusion. You will see them again.

How do you do it the correct way?

Now heres the fun part you have to do it a third time. 7 sage lets us do blind review. But I found I needed guided review as well. you can use all the resources in the review of the question but you must in detail write it all out. Pay very close attention to JY and the other experts in explanations . Try to mimic them and what they are saying. But make sure you truly understand the material before moving on. If you missed a step in your process you are going to do the process again but with every step.

Then you come back the next day and just look through it all again. if it feels intuitive great if not make a note in your log and keep revisiting until the skills needed to get it right are intuitive

Hey man hang in there. Im also in the same boat as you. I started at a 136 in Jan 2025. I thought I was cooked lol. Did everything studied like my life depended on it, got a tutor, got other study materials and finally got to a 164 on my PTs. But when I took the Jan 2026 exam I actually choked and left with a 146 hahaha. It can be very discouraging but there are so many different skills needed for this exam that it can feel impossible to improve. The secret is though is that its not impossible it just takes time and a lot of effort. You can totally learn it with some sweat equity. In my experience The LSAT is a lifestyle. My official 146 was do to me not adhering to that principle in the end. You got to make sure you get good sleep every night, eat good meals, and most importantly have down time to rest your brain. In the two weeks leading to the exam I was scrambling to get as much information in as possible rather then taking it easy and maintaining strong testing behaviors under stress and this factor alone led to more stress then I was acquainted with. It led to me eventually choking on the LSAT by almost a full 20 points. Remember that it is a marathon and not a race.

This is an exam about Skills, Organization, and Behavior. If you are set on all three then their is no score cap except 180. You need the skills to understand the material. You need the organization to quickly and efficiently review the material in a way that helps you learn the patterns in LR and RC. You need the right behaviors to ensure that the skills are done correctly under the conditions that are given to you. Finally you cannot allow yourself to get demotivated. Do your best forget the rest.

I would suggest stretching your exam date to June to give you a better cushion to study and work really hard at this. But either way with a good attitude and a little bit of elbow grease you'll get there no doubt.

Heres some tips that might help you break out the 140s:

• I know this one is going to be annoying but review the fundamentals. If you are in the 140s I promise you it will help break out of it. BUT don't go through it quickly. Go through it slow let it soak in. Choose only 1 set of materials for it at first. For example don't do 7sage and loophole at the same time. You need to go fully through the fundamentals of one first then you can do the others. The reason is that they are all different strategies. I have LSAT friends who are still stuck in plateaus because of this. Be very careful about that.

• do your best to review every mistake of your logic and patterns even on the correct answers. In my WAJ I will randomly throw in questions I got right solely to review the patterns. Try your best not to be overconfident in review. Seriously I wasted time not reviewing things I got right.

• Make your WAJ organized - Since the Jan 2026 exam my score has increased alot under exact testing conditions solely because I reorganized my WAJ and review it at the start and the end of every session everyday. I can see the patterns and I take notes on my behaviors. This really has helped me make the necessary modifications to get score increases once again.

• Get a friend to proctor your PTs. Seriously I've learned so much about my approach since the Jan 2026 exam doing this.

• Finally you need to be as objective as possible in the review of your own performance. For example when I got my official score back I didn't dispute the statistics and say its wrong or faulty. I took it as I just need to more work on the stress side of the exam and that's ok. Law schools aren't going anywhere anytime soon don't blow through all your attempts or try to brute force it. You only need to win once. just ask yourself in review these questions:

what were the points of failure? What did I do right? What patterns are present? What can I do to get to the next level?

Hey Breynna,

is the offer still live? I live in Aldie VA. its a little far from DC but can make the commute. I am free anytime after 4pm on weekdays till around 10pm and am free all weekend. Currently PTing in the mid 150s (BR mid 160s) and have a tutor but am looking for a study group to bounce ideas and work through LR problems.

Hey Zaid,

I am interested in participating in this. Im currently trying to crack 160. My availability is 4pm - 9pm est on week nights. Im super flexible on weekends. Feel free to reach out.