My LSAT Journey and What I Learned (Long Read)

Hey 7sage people,

I just took the November LSAT yesterday which should be the last time I ever take the test. I wanted to take the time to write out some major take aways I learned during the 6 months I prepped for this test.

The score range that I shot for was originally the high 160s. I started out with a 153 diagnostic in May of 2024. I did not look at any LSAT material before taking that test. I studied from May until the end of this past October. I ended up taking the September, October and now November tests. Throughout this period, I took 10 PTs scoring between 153 and 166. I recieved a score of 157 on the September Test and then jumped 5 points to recieve a 162 on the October test. I'll be posting this without the knowledge of my November score.

A couple of main take aways I found

1. Budget more time than you think for the entire process. No one really explained the law school application process to me and I started way later than I should have. If you are in undergrad and are planning to enroll in law school the fall after you graduate, you should begin prepping your junior year, take the LSAT in the summer and then apply fall of your senior year. 7sage does not give a specific amount of time required to get the score you want but I would honestly suggest more than 6 months. I prepped 6 months but it felt more like 5 because a lot of the fundamental stuff is so far away from how the actual test feels. I saw consistent improvement throughout my PTs and actual test scores and I think if I had allotted more time I would have scored even higher.

2. This one is more personal preference, but I would highly suggest sitting for an actual test before you are PTing in your desired score range, and taking all of your tests at a test center. A large part of the LSAT is the mental game and no matter how many practice tests you take, you will feel anxious the first time you take the test. I would suggest sitting for an early test and getting the first time nerves out of the way. I employed this strategy for the September test and I think it really helped me on the next two tests. I also suggest taking the test at a test center to remove the stress associated with worrying about if your WiFi is going to fail, or the possibility of a computer error, and so on and so forth. The feeling of knowing that all I needed to do was show up and take the test was very comforting.

3. Take care of your body. The LSAT takes a lot of time and mental energy to engage with and if you aren't getting enough sleep, eating poorly and not getting exercise you are standing in your own way.

4. Take breaks, especially if you are in undergrad. I am not saying blow off studying for the LSAT, but one extra practice test is not more valuable than missing out on some amazing memories with friends and family. I also think that if you are hitting a wall with studying or are seeing your performance plateau, a solid break can help break you out of your slump.

Content Based Advice

1. My scheudle consisted of taking a PT on Monday, reviewing wrong answers on tuesday and then drilling the next couple days on the question types I struggled with. I did not use blind review but I did keep a wrong answer journal. The main advice I can give for the wrong answer journal is that there are two types of questions. Questions that subscribe to a common pattern and uniquely difficult questions. Common pattern questions are numerous and usually have a formula that can be applied to all questions of that type. Once you know the formula, it is very easy to get these right and you should place more emphasis on reviewing these questions. Then there are the uniquely difiicult questions. These questions are normally high level difficulty and do not subscribe to a common pattern or formula. These are especially hard to crack and are a huge time sink for many testers. In my opinion, you should not bother with reviewing these questions especially if you are on a time crunch. When I encountered these in my wrong answer journal I would simply write "LC" or "Lost Cause" and move on. Remember, It is only one question! For most testers, one question will not make or break their overall score. It is much more valuable to study the common pattern questions because those are easy points.

1a. This leads me into my next strategy. There is an element of luck to the LSAT. Each LSAT will have a different amount of each question type and each test is curved a different amount. This means you could miss more on a subsequent test and recieve a similar score. You will come to find out that the question types you struggle with are usually solveable, they just involve a large time investment during the test. I adopted a strategy from some other 7sagers which was utilizing an exit strategy. An exit strategy is when you encounter a question stem you know you struggle with and immediately skipping it and going to the next question. I also used this strategy when I encountered a question that had a long causal or conditional reasoning chain even if I knew how to do it. This allows you to bypass a time trap and answer easier questions. I refined this strategy so much that on the novemeber test I had approximately 5 minutes to go back and look at the 5 or so I skipped and give each one a strong try.

Disclaimer: For individuals looking for advice on achieveing a 170+ or wanting to go to a T14 law school, you will probably not find useful advice here. The law school that I want to go to is the University of Alabama School of Law and I was not looking to perfect the LSAT. I am just hoping to give a few tips and some perspective on the journey because it is a huge investment and often dictates very impactful consequences. In no universe is this an exhaustive strategy for doing well on the LSAT. I would encourge everyone to look at other discussion posts on 7sage. There are a lot of great strategies and frameworks out there that could really help you achieve your goals. I want to wish everyone the best of luck whether you are trying to go to a local law school or Stanford.