How long did it take you to reach 170+?

JPJ July2021

Over the summer I took a diagnostic and got a 141. I read the LSAT Trainer and did all of the recommended exercises. I just started the 7Sage CC a couple days ago. My goal is a 170 on the September LSAT. Obviously anything is possible, I was just curious to hear about anyone's experience who was able to do this. I'm in school full-time but I'm still able to devote a lot of time to studying for the LSAT.

LSATcantwin

While working full-time it took me about a year and a half to move from my Diagnostic of a 151 to my final score of 171.

There were about 4 months during that time I didn't study very much, if at all. It took me quite a bit though haha

sophie74

Same as @LSATcantwin. I started in June 2016 at 156, and scored a 174 in Sept 2017. I started seeing 170s in practice tests in April 2017, though. So, about 10 months. The 170+'s during practice weren't consistent though until the summer of 2017. Also was working pretty much full time.

studyingandrestudying

@Emily2122, I'd recommend following the story of @"Cant Get Right". It's really cool.

pioneer321

I started in the low 140s as well. Took me about 8 months before I hit my first 170. A couple of notes on that. My first 4 months of studying were too casual (reading the trainer, untimed work only), and not exactly efficient. If I studied better from the start, might would have happened faster. Also, the 8 months time is total of the time where I actually studied. In reality I studies for a bout 6 months around last Summer, than took a long hiatus, and came back to it this July. This meant that I needed extra time this year to get in a rhythm and delayed progress by a bit too.

I did break 170 on the real test after all, so I guess it worked out. Good luck with your studies!

Cant Get Right

I started in Summer 2015 with a diagnostic somewhere in the high 140's. My official scores are:

Oct 2015 - 163
Dec 2015 - 162
Sept 2016 - 170
Sept 2017 - 176

Two pieces of advice:

Don't expect this to be something you can do on the side while you're in school. If your diagnostic was in the 160's, then maybe. Starting in the 140's though, if you're really committed to breaking into the 170's, you need to plan to take at least one full year off after you graduate to devote to that. That's probably not something you want to hear, but no one ever does. Everybody wants to be the guy that can do it in three months, but you and I are just not that guy. If we were, we wouldn't have had diagnostics in the 140's. You can either do this fast or you can give yourself a chance to break into the 170's. You can't have both. Choose one.

The second piece of advice is to just do it right from the start. Everybody thinks they're special at first and that they can both half ass it and get a 170. I wasn't and I couldn't. You're not and you can't. If you want to score in the 170's, you've got to study with 170's standards which are very strict. That means moving slowly which is why accepting the longer timeline is so essential. If you're preparing at a 170's level, anything less than perfect understanding is a catastrophe, regardless of whether or not you got to the right answer. Don't cut corners. Don't move on from anything in the CC that you don't feel like you really, truly understand. Watching videos accomplishes nothing. They are tools, and tools don't do anything if you're not wielding them. Don't cheat in BR (checking your score before you BR, for example). You're only cheating yourself. Don't lie to yourself. Our brains are hardwired to tell us we're special and we're smart and we get things. Our brains are lying flatterers that are not to be trusted. Be highly skeptical of any thought that crosses your mind that suggests that you've achieved understanding. Thinking you fully understand just means you've failed to identify something deeper that you don't. Strive to find fault in your reasoning. You will be tempted to look for the successes because they are comfortable and encouraging. The failures are the path forward though, so look for failures even in your successes.

I imagine this could seem discouraging. I imagine this could seem extreme. This is what you're up against though. I'm painfully aware of how lame a metaphor this is, but I bet that people who set out to climb Everest are shocked when they actually see it. No matter how mentally prepared someone is, I suspect it's simply beyond the scope of anything we are capable of imagining. I suspect they realize that it's a much more monumental task than they could ever have realized. And I suspect they are in an almost religious state of awe, reverence, and dread. The LSAT is slightly less impressive visually, but I wish people could see it this way before they start out. Starting in the 140's, it's bigger than you think; you have further to go than you can comprehend; and unlike Everest, there is nothing about the test that will clue you in to that. If you commit to doing it and doing it right though, you can do it. I know you can because I did, and there was nothing special about me starting out.

OlamHafuch

@"Cant Get Right" said:
I started in Summer 2015 with a diagnostic somewhere in the high 140's. My official scores are:

Oct 2015 - 163
Dec 2015 - 162
Sept 2016 - 170
Sept 2017 - 176

Two pieces of advice:

Don't expect this to be something you can do on the side while you're in school. If your diagnostic was in the 160's, then maybe. Starting in the 140's though, if you're really committed to breaking into the 170's, you need to plan to take at least one full year off after you graduate to devote to that. That's probably not something you want to hear, but no one ever does. Everybody wants to be the guy that can do it in three months, but you and I are just not that guy. If we were, we wouldn't have had diagnostics in the 140's. You can either do this fast or you can give yourself a chance to break into the 170's. You can't have both. Choose one.

The second piece of advice is to just do it right from the start. Everybody thinks they're special at first and that they can both half ass it and get a 170. I wasn't and I couldn't. You're not and you can't. If you want to score in the 170's, you've got to study with 170's standards which are very strict. That means moving slowly which is why accepting the longer timeline is so essential. If you're preparing at a 170's level, anything less than perfect understanding is a catastrophe, regardless of whether or not you got to the right answer. Don't cut corners. Don't move on from anything in the CC that you don't feel like you really, truly understand. Watching videos accomplishes nothing. They are tools, and tools don't do anything if you're not wielding them. Don't cheat in BR (checking your score before you BR, for example). You're only cheating yourself. Don't lie to yourself. Our brains are hardwired to tell us we're special and we're smart and we get things. Our brains are lying flatterers that are not to be trusted. Be highly skeptical of any thought that crosses your mind that suggests that you've achieved understanding. Thinking you fully understand just means you've failed to identify something deeper that you don't. Strive to find fault in your reasoning. You will be tempted to look for the successes because they are comfortable and encouraging. The failures are the path forward though, so look for failures even in your successes.

I imagine this could seem discouraging. I imagine this could seem extreme. This is what you're up against though. I'm painfully aware of how lame a metaphor this is, but I bet that people who set out to climb Everest are shocked when they actually see it. No matter how mentally prepared someone is, I suspect it's simply beyond the scope of anything we are capable of imagining. I suspect they realize that it's a much more monumental task than they could ever have realized. And I suspect they are in an almost religious state of awe, reverence, and dread. The LSAT is slightly less impressive visually, but I wish people could see it this way before they start out. Starting in the 140's, it's bigger than you think; you have further to go than you can comprehend; and unlike Everest, there is nothing about the test that will clue you in to that. If you commit to doing it and doing it right though, you can do it. I know you can because I did, and there was nothing special about me starting out.

This is so great. Should be required reading at the beginning of the 7Sage course. By all accounts, @"Cant Get Right" is one of the nicest guys around, but he knows that sometimes, the nicest thing you can do is to give unembellished straight talk.

Leah M B

I'm not quuuuite to the 170 mark yet, but consistently scoring 169/168 on PTs with an official 168 in December. I started with a 155 diagnostic in March of 2017 and it took me until about late November to make it to the high 160s. I've put studying on pause while I'm working on applications right now but I'm just about to crack into the 170s. There were a few months that my studying was half-hearted though, so I would gauge about 6-7 months of serious studying while working full time to get me from 155-169.