AJ Dybantsa holding back tears after getting banished to the Washington Wizards
If you took those PTs once a day, then I think a likely culprit to your problem is overdoing it. I'm not a 170s scorer, so I'm not in a position to tell you what it takes to get that 175+. But I am a guy who made the mistake of taking a practice test once a day like it's a Super Mario coin block glitch - thinking it's going to increase my score linearly. This test is anything but linear; you will find a lot of volatility in your PT scores, especially as you get closer to the 170s and that margin for error becomes small. Once I started treating PTs like a measuring tool that should really be taken max once per week, I was able to focus more on drilling to get my score up from the 140s to the high 160s.
Like I said, I'm not in the 170s myself so I'm not going to treat what I'm saying like it's going to be a magic fix. But I wanted to give my two cents if you found yourself having score volatility on top of taking a practice test more frequently than needed. Hope this helps and I hope you get that 175+!
@marchagu To just add on to everything I said, I definitely think there's some things you could try that helped me get out of the 150s and low 160s rut.
Focus on drilling LR and do at least one RC passage whenever you study.
When NBA players practice, playing practice games will only get them so far. Same thing applies with the LSAT: practice tests are important as a measuring tool to see where you are at in your studies. However, practice tests are not panaceas that will increase your score. Too many will burn you out and achieve the opposite intended effect.
When you get hurt on the court, playing one game to sacrifice a dozen more isn't worth it. For the LSAT, recognize burn out! If you push through and get by one day of studying just to not do well for the next week or two, it obviously wouldn't have been worth it. Rest is important, almost as important as the days you do put in the work.
Here's where basketball and the LSAT sort of separate from each other (at least for me): less is more! Steph Curry may put up a thousand three point shots a day whenever he trains, but if he attempts 1000 LR questions a day, he may as well be answering them with a blindfold on. I found the most progress doing some LR drills and RC passages rather than doing multiple sections and practice tests. I will not argue a causal relationship here, but I will say that "less is more" deserves some due consideration.
Whenever I play basketball, if I go into any game thinking I'm going to do bad or go into it without confidence, I will play bad. So how about for the LSAT? If I go into studying, a practice test, or the real test with a bad mindset and psyching myself out, it probably won't end well. I'm not saying this is you, but if you do find yourself having a bad day (maybe because of the LSAT), then you gotta sit on the bench, do something that you enjoy or relaxes you, and then go back into it with a stronger mind.
I really hope this helps and I'm always here if you ever need support!
My diagnostic was also a 148. The next few tests didn't fair too well for me either: my PT scores dropped and, at best, would fluctuate. What helped me out was thinking about another basketball analogy:
In 2023, the Miami Heat were the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. They made the last half of the play-in tournament, so most would expect the team to be a "happy enough to be here but not good enough to make it far" type of team. Low and behold, they made it out of the play-in tournament with a spot in the play-offs, only to face off against the first-seeded team in the East: the Milwaukee Bucks. Low and behold again, the Heat beat the Bucks, and were able to continue to defy the expectations of the NBA by making it all the way to the NBA Finals. A team that barely made the playoffs made it all the way to the NBA Finals.
The LSAT is a lot like the NBA: preparing for the LSAT and ultimately taking it is a long stretch like an 82 game NBA season, on top of the post season itself (at least that's how I like to think of it). You will inevitably get PT scores that you won't like, just like how teams will lose games. You may even get a real test score that you won't like, just like how some teams will get eliminated in the playoffs or lose the Finals. You feel as if your hard work hasn't paid off, but I argue otherwise: there are steps to success, and losing is still a step forward - even if it doesn't feel like it. The mistakes we make today are lessons and tricks we add to our bags to be more successful down the line.
"If winning means anything to you, it will mean as much as you taking your last breath." - Pat Riley
@ANP Thank you for this. When I first started out, I felt very alone. Now I'm glad I'm in a place where I can make sure others also don't have to feel like they're alone in this.
When you say you feel behind, what or who exactly are you behind of? From the time when I first started running marathons until my last one, one thing was constant: I didn't care who I was in front of nor who was in front of me (not in a harsh sense of not caring lol). You'll hear some people say the LSAT is like a marathon, and I am inclined to agree with them. At the end of the day, there are two things to consider here:
The LSAT is a competition between you yesterday and you today. If someone random scores a 175 on the test, that doesn't stop you or me from also scoring a 175. The only person that can stop either of us is ourselves respectively.
The LSAT and admissions also isn't a race. You have a dream school or some other schools in mind, that's great. But let's say you miss the June or August test. Does that mean the Death Star will commence primary ignition and blow up your dream school? Absolutely not! Your dream school, and all the other schools on your list, will still be here regardless of what test you take.
But there's only seven max attempts that you can take for the LSAT. If law school will be here regardless of which test you take, then why try to rush it knowing that there are limited attempts? Your best bet is to be patient with yourself and take the test when you are ready, not register when you hope to be ready.
So to answer your questions:
You have as much time as you allow yourself to have.
There are possible solutions to your problem: being patient with yourself, reading up on the core curriculum if you need to, carefully drilling and reviewing instead of burning through practice tests, and understanding that less can be more (less questions but putting in more quality time behind them).
It's natural to want results and to get discouraged when those results don't show up. But you gotta understand that there are steps to success; if you fall short on a question/passage, a drill set, a practice test, or even the real one, that does not solidify anything. Michael Jordan lost eight playoff series in his fifteen season career. Do those eight different seasons make him a failure? Absolutely not. You will get to where you need to be, but understand that the journey will not look linear. Hang in there and do whatever work that you can do. Never give up.
Hey guys, I got a serious question:
So I was thinking about either taking the June or August LSAT (planning on taking either one in-person). I was wondering if the test center will allow me to show up wearing a full 2018 Lebron James game fit (jersey, compression tank, shorts, shoes, literally everything that my glorious king would wear).
@LukaDoncicForMVP Just to add something I lowkey forgot to say, just to refer to whether or not it's worth it for you to take the June LSAT, here's a piece of advice I got from my tutor as to whether or not you're ready (which isn't 100% accurate but seems reasonable): if you can score your goal score three tests in a row, you can approach your test day with a good degree of confidence. I don't want to say that this is going to be the best indicator of which test you should take, but I think it's a reasonable principle to follow.
I think you gotta chill out with the practice tests. They're meant to be a measuring tool, so you want to give yourself some time spaced out in between tests to truly see if you're actually improving with your studying (from drilling, journaling, reviewing, sections, etc.)
Consider this example: If I want to bench 225, am I going to hit the bench press every day trying to get a PR? No, I would probably end up tearing my pec. Same thing with practice tests: you will probably burn yourself out before the June test if you keep going through all these PTs too frequently. Best case scenario is that you just run out of practice tests that you can take to properly evaluate yourself to see if you're ready for June or not.
With that said, I absolutely think you can get a 166+. You've already scored it twice so it's absolutely possible. You're also obviously a hard worker and you've got no problem with the grind. But I strongly encourage you to take the time to focus on your weak spots (7Sage analytics lowkey goated to see where you need to work) and to focus more so on the journey that you're on rather than the goal.
It's okay to have a goal in mind; after all, this is what drives each and everyone here. But it's important to take the time to understand the steps it takes to get to that goal. Whether it's focusing on the conditional language you'll see in LR, the macro-level reading strategies for RC, or whatever it may be, I firmly believe that your success will be deeply rooted in your understand of the test.
With that said, I really do believe in you. I'm not going to tell you which test to take because I'm not a tutor or expert who's going to be able to tell you that. But I can tell you that you deserve success (based off of the work ethic you've got) and I'm rooting for you to succeed.
I spam a lot of basketball analogies here, but I think this one is particularly best suited for your case:
Mamba Mentality is a mindset that isn't about getting a result. It wasn't about obsessing about getting a ring, achieving records, or winning an MVP. Mamba Mentality is about the journey and the process of getting better every day. The LSAT can drive you into the mindset of only being concerned with the end result; a lot of people will be so quick to gun for the highest possible scores, but very few will understand and appreciate the journey that is necessary to get there.
I was in your same place not too long ago. I was the person who took practice tests every day thinking that the only thing that mattered was the score - nothing else. And when I didn't get the results that I wanted, I sank like a rock. What ultimately changed for me was seeing the LSAT as a process; focusing on understand each question and each passage and, most importantly, breaking the LSAT down into smaller pieces rather than trying to tackle the whole test.
I am not a guy in the 170s, so I'm not going to claim that I am some wizard who is going to magically transform you with my advice. But after more than a year of studying and seeing a lot of improvement in recent times, here's some advice I'd like to share:
Work on first understanding the stimulus. Practice understanding what premises are and how to spot the conclusions (on question types that have a conclusion). What worked best for me was studying up on pivot words and understanding conditional language. The core curriculum here and LSAT Lab videos on YouTube help a lot.
You say you are "4 days behind", but behind what or who exactly? The LSAT isn't a race, so if you're comparing yourself to other people and where they're at, it is important to understand that we're all on our own journeys and one person's success isn't going to screw up yours. If you're trying to impose a deadline on taking the test, it is best to remove that mindset. Pressuring yourself to rush just to meet a deadline is only going to make you do worse in the long run. The LSAT and law school will always be here, so why rush?
You say that "you don't want to take a break", but let me ask you something: if you are on a basketball team and you are injured, are you going to play on? Life isn't a movie where doing something theatrical like that will pay off. If you are feeling burnt out, then it is pertinent to rest. At the end of the day, it is a lot harder to come back from burning out than it is coming back from taking a few days of rest.
And lastly, focus on the process. It's okay to have goal schools and a goal score in mind, but constantly trying to chase it without focusing on the journey you'll need to take to get there will be very frustrating. Take it one day at a time and have fun with the process (because the LSAT can be made to be fun).
I know everything I said is very generic, but if you ever need more help or if you just want someone to talk to you, you can always reach out and I'd be happy to help.
Gonna try to break Lebron's double digit scoring streak with this one
Yeah, he DNP'd Austin Reaves and Rui. He also treated Taurean Prince like he was his own flesh and blood. But is he wrong when he tells us to read and understand the stimulus before moving on to the answer choices? Hell no! So go hard on them LSAT questions! Salute!
@Dibble LSAC would lowkey trade Luka Doncic for Khris Middleton and one late FRP 😭
So I was at the AAC for the Mavs game and I saw this on the jumbotron. Do you guys think this is a sign?
I am not a 170+ scorer so please take my advice with a grain of salt (since your goal is to score in that range).
From the day I started until now (around a year and a half), I still find myself in the same place as you. I was stressed out because I felt like I wasn't really improving, so I thought that more was more. I would do a practice test every day and try my best to do as many questions as I can thinking that the LSAT was that simple. Little did I know, I was wrong. By allowing my life and my studying to be dictated by stress and pressure, I was going more backwards than forward. During this time, I was still PTing in the 150s and I still haven't really found a foothold yet into even a 160 flat.
So what changed? Why am I here typing this?
Because the minute I realized that the old adage "less is more" holds true, especially for the LSAT, that was when I found improvement. The minute I stopped pressuring myself into seeing only goals and results and started shifting my mind toward embracing the process and the journey was when I started to improve. The minute I started to accept that it's okay to be stuck on one question or one passage for a really long time was when I took the time I needed to improve. Even if it was little by little every day, simple baby steps, I knew that quality work would trump quantity any day of the week.
Now I'm here, having gone from a 148 diagnostic to PTing in the high 160s, still hopeful that I will break into the 170s. So what would be my advice to you?
If you're burnt out, stop and rest. Just like what Drake said, "like a sprained ankle, boy I ain't nothing to play with." If I'm playing basketball, would I do better or worse with an injury? Obviously worse! The same thing applies to the LSAT: it's a lot easier to just take a break and rest than to claw your way back from burning out.
The work that you can do from 1-3 hours of consistent work, focusing on the logic of the questions and the strategies for reading comprehension, will be a million times better than 4+ hours of drilling and testing. Even one question or one passage holds a lot of valuable knowledge that can greatly benefit you. Slow down, and make sure that you take the time to gain that knowledge.
Focus on the journey, not the destination. You have a goal score in mind, and that's great. But don't allow the stress and anxiety that comes with not achieving that goal bog you down. Steph Curry didn't become Steph Curry over night, let alone in a matter of years. He became who he is by focusing on the quality of his shot and game, not by focusing on a ring.
I hope this helps and I hope that you get to 175+!
Lately I've found myself in a bit of a slump; I've been studying for the LSAT for about a year and a half and I've taken three total tests in that time. The past three times didn't go so well, so I find myself grinding to do better for the fourth time. It can be very frustrating not seeing the results despite whatever work you've put in, and it gets harder every day to find reasons to stay in the fight. So I wanted to drop something here that I like to think about that helps put things into perspective:
When the Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated in the first round by the Pacers during the 2022-23 season, Giannis Antetokounmpo was asked if he saw this season "as a failure." To answer the question, he asked if Michael Jordan's nine seasons where he didn't win a championship would be considered a failure. A little parallel reasoning there, right? Not a lot of people reminisce about the seasons when Jordan lost - they extol the six seasons when he won. So to sum up the question, the Bucks 2022-23 season wasn't a failure - it is simply a step toward success. For every game lost, every playoff series missed, and every playoff exit, there's always an opportunity to learn from it and grow for the next season.
So what does this have to do with the LSAT?
The same principle can be applied. Did I fail because I scored a 148 on my diagnostic a year and a half ago? Did I fail because I scored a 153 on my first official test? Did I fail because I didn't like the next two tests? Did I necessarily fail at anything, or did I simply just take steps closer and closer to a win?
We will all have good days and bad days - days where we will all find success and days where it's simply not our turn yet. It can be very frustrating to not see positive results and it can be even more tiring to try and stay in the fight, especially after a year. But one thing that I've learned that has helped me with my perspective on things is to understand that you will face adversity in order for you to succeed. So wherever you are at with your journey, remember that there is no such thing as failure - only steps to success.
"There is no failure in sports." - Giannis Antetokounmpo
Definitely not an unrealistic super reach for you at all. While I agree with the notion that you should also have some other schools in mind to apply to, there's nothing wrong with shooting for the stars. While I'm not aiming for Harvard Law myself, I strongly suggest approaching your studies carefully; if you watch basketball, right before Kyrie Irving tore his ACL, he was averaging a lot of minutes per game (I think he was leading the league during the 2024-25 season). My point being is that if you overdo it during your studies, you will find yourself going backwards due to burn out (take it from me: a guy who used to take one PT a day and didn't find it helpful at all). Start off with like 1-3 hours of focused study a day, finish the core curriculum, and then get right down to drilling to find out where you're struggling. LSATLab on YouTube has a lot of good videos for LR and RC that I've found very useful for helping me break into the high 160s, so I definitely recommend giving them a try.
All in all, I really do think scoring in the 170s is in the books for you, as well as Harvard Law. I will not say it will be easy, but as long as you focus on the process itself and be willing to even crawl your way past the finish line, I think you'll stand a very good chance.
"Greatness is not meant for a few chosen people. It's meant for those who persistently pursue their dreams every day and make that choice when they wake up." - Kyrie Irving
One thing I've been repeating to myself whenever I found myself in your position are some NBA stats. Lebron James leads the NBA in points with 42,184 points. But do you know who leads the league with the most missed field goal attempts (missed shots)? Lebron James, with 15,095 missed shots in his career. I've been studying for around a year and a half and I've found myself with three tests that I'm not at all happy with. But something about one of the best basketball players of all time leading in both makes and misses tells me something: maybe winning relies on failing. I've taken damn near every practice test available, with many modern ones being taken over three times. I've done thousands of questions and missed hundreds of them.
I can't promise you that November will give you a score that you'll like. But I can promise you that success requires failure. It's okay to be scared and it's okay to be frustrated. But just like LBJ, persistence will be your best friend. I hope this helps!
@Bobby68 YEAH LIGHT THE BEAM WE'RE ALL SEEING PURPLE