I scored a 180 on my first official LSAT after studying for 5 months while working full-time, so I understand both what it takes to master the test in a relatively short period and how difficult it can be to balance LSAT prep with work, school, and life. Since then, I have tutored students across a range of score levels, helping them strengthen their fundamentals, improve consistency, and build a clearer process for both Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension.
Whether you need a full LSAT breakdown, help with a specific question type, Blind Review support, timing strategy, practice test analysis, or a new approach after hitting a plateau, I'm here to help. My tutoring style is structured, patient, and direct: I focus on why wrong answers are tempting, why credited answers are correct, and how to recognize the same patterns on future questions.
Reach out to me for a free 15-minute consultation to see how I can help you move toward your goal score.
Discussions
Hi! I agree that the small question-type samples are less important right now than the broader patterns you identified.
I would not wait until finishing the entire Core Curriculum before drilling. A better approach is:
Learn one concept or question family.
Complete a small set of untimed questions immediately afterward.
Review every answer carefully, including uncertain correct answers.
Revisit the concept if you cannot consistently explain why all five choices are right or wrong.
Gradually introduce timed sets once the underlying process becomes reliable.
At this stage, I would prioritize accuracy and reasoning consistency over speed, but I would not avoid timing entirely. Short timed sets can reveal where your process breaks down, while untimed review shows whether the issue is understanding or execution.
Your RC results especially suggest a pacing problem rather than a humanities weakness. Going 15/20 across the first three passages and then running out of time indicates that the biggest immediate gain may come from learning when to stop wrestling with a question, make the best supported choice, and move forward. I would review where the extra time accumulated, not only the final passage.
For full PTs, I would use them sparingly at first. One every two or three weeks is enough while building foundations. Full tests become more valuable once you have a repeatable approach and need to work on endurance, pacing, and consistency. In between, timed sections and carefully reviewed drilling will generally produce more improvement.
I would also avoid waiting for a rigid accuracy benchmark before progressing. A useful standard is whether you can consistently:
Identify the conclusion and support.
Describe the gap before reading the choices.
Explain why the credited answer performs the required task.
Explain the precise defect in each tempting wrong answer.
Your jump from 141 exposure to a 147 pre-study baseline is encouraging, and a goal in the mid-to-high 160s is ambitious but not unreasonable with a structured, long-term plan.
@starglooms Breaking the practice up into sections can be helpful for that very reason, but just remember that stamina is a huge component of this exam. Therefore, it is essential to do the full length PTs. Sorry to hear about the tech issues! I hope you have a smooth exam in August and good luck!!
I would not assume you have actually lost the ability to score in the high 160s. A 169 shows that level is possible, but it may not yet have been your stable baseline. The official test, disappointment from the 163, burnout, and pressure to recreate the 169 can all make your decision-making less efficient.
I would do three things before the August exam:
Reduce volume briefly. Take a couple of lighter days instead of responding by doing more and more questions. Fatigue often shows up as misreads, second-guessing, and poor final-two decisions.
Audit the recent 161–162 tests. For every missed or uncertain question, identify whether the problem was:
not understanding the reasoning,
misreading the task,
timing,
changing a correct answer,
or choosing a tempting answer despite having the right prediction.
You need to know whether your underlying skill declined or your timed execution did.
Focus on consistency, not recreating one 169. Do timed sections with very careful review, then take another full PT under realistic conditions. Your goal should be to bring your average back up, not chase a single peak score.
I also would not take full PTs constantly between now and August. One or two well-reviewed tests will tell you more than several rushed ones. If your next few full tests remain around 161–163, September may give you a better chance of reaching 169 than forcing August. If they return to the mid/high 160s, then the recent dip was probably temporary rather than true regression.
Hope this helps!
I wouldn't cancel August solely because of this one PT. It was your first full PT since June, and scoring around -3 on individual practice sections suggests that your underlying skills may have improved even if they did not yet transfer across an entire exam.
I'd use the next week or so to take another two or three full, strictly timed PTs. If you remain around 161–163, I would probably skip August rather than use an attempt to "see what happens," especially since your goal is 170 and you are already registered for September. If your full-test scores begin moving into the mid-to-high 160s and the remaining misses appear fixable, keeping August becomes more reasonable.
Getting another 161 would not necessarily "look bad." Schools receive all reportable scores, but their treatment of multiple scores varies, and many place the greatest weight on the highest score. A repeat score is usually more neutral than affirmatively harmful.
I also would not rush the LSAT to submit applications a few weeks earlier. The September score is scheduled for release on September 30, so you can receive it before submitting in early October. Even if you submit before a later retake score arrives, LSAC automatically sends updated CAS reports to schools when you repeat the LSAT during the same application year. You should still notify each school and check whether it will hold your file, because some schools may review an application as soon as it is complete.
An early-October application is already early. At schools such as Georgetown, regular-decision applicants typically wait "approximately 8–12 weeks after completion for a decision", which can put an early-October file into December or January anyway. That is not universal, so I would not assume no school will look earlier, but there is very little reason to sacrifice the stronger LSAT score merely to submit a few weeks sooner.
@plantpreps That makes a lot of sense, and I think your point that this is only one test is important. At the 173–174 level, the issue often is not missing major concepts; it is based in execution like overthinking, changing answers without a concrete reason, and creating fatigue through too much volume.
Lowering volume can actually be very effective when it leads to deeper review, more attention to uncertain correct answers, and less pressure to constantly prove that you can hit a particular score. The mindset shift you described also helps a lot because uncertainty stops feeling like an emergency, which usually leads to cleaner first-pass decisions and less second-guessing.
Congrats again - A 180 is no small feat!
Very impressive! For those that are likely wondering - what do you think was most important in getting over the 173-174 plateau?
RJlsattutor
Independent Tutor180 LSAT Scorer Offering 1:1 Tutoring, Free Consultations & $25 Group Classes
Hi 7Sage users!
I posted here in June and ended up filling most of my tutoring availability with students preparing for the August LSAT. Since many of those students are now approaching test day, I expect additional spots to open soon for students who are seeking individualized LSAT support.
About me: I scored a 180 on the LSAT and have been tutoring for the test full-time since then. I work with students across different score ranges, from those still building their foundation to those trying to break into the high 160s and 170s. My focus is on making the test feel less random by helping students build a clear, repeatable process.
My approach: I do not think LSAT tutoring should just be someone explaining questions after you miss them. Most students already understand explanations once they hear them. The harder part is learning how to see the issue before choosing an answer.
For Logical Reasoning, I focus on argument structure, flaw recognition, prediction, and wrong-answer elimination. We work on identifying what the argument is actually doing, where it is vulnerable, and what the correct answer needs to accomplish.
For Reading Comprehension, I focus on structure, viewpoint, author attitude, and passage organization. The goal is not to memorize every detail, but to understand how the passage is structured and where to return for support when a question asks for it.
Sessions are interactive. I want to hear how you are thinking through the question before I explain it. That lets us figure out whether the issue is comprehension, timing, answer choice discipline, confidence, or review habits. From there, we build a study plan around your actual weaknesses rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach.
Good fit for students who:
feel inconsistent across practice tests
understand explanations after the fact, but miss similar questions later
struggle with timing or confidence
want a clearer process for LR and RC
are trying to move from the 150s into the 160s, from the 160s into the 170s, or 170+
want more structure in their weekly study plan
are struggling to grasp the foundations of the exam
Options: I offer both 1:1 tutoring and group classes (meeting Thursdays at 6pm & Sundays at 3pm EST).
1:1 tutoring:
Single session: $120/hour → 1-hour session
Group class (max of 10 people):
Drop-in class: $25/class → Join the next class!
I also offer a free consultation so we can talk through your current score, goal score, timeline, and whether tutoring would be a good fit.
To book, use one of the links above. You can also comment here or send me a private message on 7Sage with any questions.
@greenlsatbook Thank you so much - I really appreciate this. It’s been great seeing you improve so quickly!