Bobby, 146 and working toward 170: a live LSAT coaching session
This is what LSAT Unplugged coaching looks like. Bobby came in at 146, aiming for 170 on the February LSAT. Steve Schwartz coached him live for about 14 minutes on both, and the whole session and transcript are below.
The numbers here are where Bobby started and the goal we set together in this session. Individual results vary.
- Student: Bobby
- Score when recorded: 146
- Goal: 170
- Target test: February
- Situation: took a diagnostic and scored 151 in September after a long break, now first week into tutoring and building a process
- Focus: both
- Worked on: must be true, necessary assumption, sufficient assumption, strengthen and weaken
What we fixed in this session
Lock up the easy points first. Build your momentum, build your morale, then get to the tougher ones once you're warmed up.
Steve Schwartz
This is one session, in the middle of the work. I've been coaching the LSAT since 2005, and every session runs the same way: find the real problem, fix the process, reset the plan.
I told the student not to start logical reasoning at the end of the section since all questions are worth the same point value and it risks wasting time on hard questions before locking up easy ones.
I gave a timing benchmark of about 1 minute per question for the first 10 easier questions to bank extra time for harder ones later in the section.
The plan: I told the student to answer reading comprehension questions in order of type: general global questions first, then detail questions, then inferential questions last, instead of straight through in order.
Where the session landed: Student says the conclusion, evidence, gap breakdown sounds faster than paraphrasing since he can't remember every detail, and that understanding how the conclusion connects is probably the most efficient approach.
If your prep looks like Bobby's did, that's fixable in one session.
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In Bobby's words
My accuracy is way better. It used to be like 6 out of 10 on my drills. Now it's more like 7 to 8 out of 10, now that I have a real process to follow.
Bobby
In the moment you forget that each question is the same, so you get locked into one for too long and forget to move on.
Bobby
That sounds faster, since you can't remember every piece. Understanding the conclusion and how it connects was probably the most efficient way.
Bobby
Questions people ask about LSAT Unplugged coaching
What happens in an LSAT Unplugged coaching session?
The coach finds the specific habit that's costing points, fixes the process, and sets the plan for the weeks ahead. In Bobby's case: the student not to start logical reasoning at the end of the section since all questions are worth the same point value....
Who runs the sessions?
Steve Schwartz recorded this one. Every LSAT Unplugged coach scored 170 or higher on an official LSAT, and students are matched to a coach on learning style and weak areas.
Where can I see finished results?
On the student reviews page at unpluggedprep.com/reviews, with video interviews and official scores.
Learn the fixes yourself: necessary assumption questions, sufficient assumption questions, weaken and strengthen questions.
Student reviews and finished results.
Full session transcript
Recorded November 2025.
Bobby: I'm doing great. Really enjoying the program so far.
Steve: Awesome. So if you could, just for context, please share your current score, your goal score, and when you're taking the LSAT.
Bobby: My current score, after taking the first diagnostic with you guys, was a 146. My goal score is 170. Right now with my tutor we've started with the lowest hanging fruit, reading comprehension, and for logical reasoning, hammering must be true questions, then necessary and sufficient assumption questions. After that we'll build a strategy once I get a hold on those. The first week has gone really well. My accuracy is way better. It used to be like 6 out of 10 on my drills. Now it's more like 7 to 8 out of 10, now that I have a real process to follow, unlike before, where it was really just working through it or hammering through it. That made the test really tiring. Every question felt like lifting 315 pounds off your chest.
Steve: Glad it's going well. Is there a particular struggle or pain point right now I could help you out with?
Bobby: From taking the first diagnostic, since it had been a while (I did take the test in September and got a 151, my first test in a while), I'd say the struggle is managing timing. I know some people like to start at the end of each section and work backwards. I like to start at the beginning, and if a question is taking too long, I'll move on. But that strategy doesn't really work, because how long is too long is my main flaw when approaching the test.
Steve: Got it. So you said starting at the end of the section.
Bobby: Yeah, starting at question 25, the hardest, and working back down, is a strategy I heard about. I haven't tried it and was curious what your thoughts were.
Steve: Logical reasoning questions are in a general order of difficulty, they get harder as the section goes on. So I'd never recommend starting at the end, because all questions are worth the same and you don't want to get bogged down in the harder ones and never reach the easier ones. Lock up the easy points first. Build your momentum, build your morale, then get to the tougher ones once you're warmed up. Don't start at the end, because you're fighting harder for the exact same points. Every question is worth one raw score point. Does that make sense?
Bobby: Yes, absolutely. In the moment you forget that each question is the same, so you get locked into one for too long and forget to move on.
Steve: Right. If you hit a roadblock and you're stuck, flag it, skip it, move on, come back later. You also asked how long to spend on the first 10. I recommend about 10 minutes, a minute per question for the easier ones. Your average is a minute 24 or so per question, but some are harder than others, so easier ones get a minute. That gives you a time bank for the tougher ones that truly need it, and the security of knowing you can afford to spend that time because you've already locked up the easier points.
Bobby: Okay. I also had a question. I remember watching one of your videos about people who score above 175, and you mentioned they look at a question and answer it within like 30 seconds. Is there a trick to getting there, or is it just practice and repetition, getting used to the structure and recognizing the flaw?
Steve: The LSAT is a test of pattern recognition. When you see a new question, if you can automatically relate it back to other questions with the same underlying method of reasoning, the same skeleton, you solve it faster because you're not navigating that format for the first time. It's like genres of film: crime, romance, adventure, action, comedy, horror. If you can bucket a new film within one of those genres, you understand its typical patterns. But if you've never seen a horror film and suddenly see one, you don't know the flow, don't go into that dark alleyway, don't go into that basement, you know what's coming because you've seen it before. Same in logical reasoning. If you're familiar with correlation versus causation, necessary and sufficient confusion, ad hominem, circular reasoning, then when an argument commits that flaw, you already recognize it, can prephrase it, and spot it faster in the choices.
Bobby: My other question is about diagramming. I'm fairly new to it. For my next practice test, in about a week, should I try diagramming even under time constraints, or start smaller, like 10 questions of a specific type in 10 or 15 minutes, and learn to diagram there? Or just start with the test and rip the band-aid off?
Steve: What's your target test date?
Bobby: February.
Steve: So you've got time, which means you can afford to do some things less efficiently for now, to build familiarity with the patterns. Diagramming is okay, but I don't want you diagramming forever. There are very few question types I'd diagram: maybe some sufficient assumption, some parallel, some inference. I'd never diagram strengthen, weaken, or necessary assumption. As an exercise, especially untimed, diagramming is fine, but over time I want you to move away from it wherever possible.
Bobby: Okay, it's time consuming.
Steve: Often it ends up being too time consuming.
Bobby: So better to just paraphrase.
Steve: Or paraphrase on your scratch paper, physically with notes, or just in your head.
Bobby: Just in your head.
Steve: Just in your head. As you interpret, paraphrasing is a natural way to show your understanding.
Bobby: Got it, so you're basically putting it in your own words, proving you've truly got it.
Steve: Got it.
Bobby: For reading comprehension: it was actually my strongest section at first, since I'd been exposed to that kind of reading before, but it's been my hardest section to improve, mostly because I didn't have a system for breaking down the stimulus. When I review a test and get a question wrong, where should I start? Did I not understand the passage, or not understand the question? Where do I start?
Steve: Good question. Start by finding the specific text in the passage that supports the correct answer, then look at what in your process led you to miss that key line. Was it your time allocation, or something else in your approach? That's especially important for global questions: main idea, primary purpose, passage organization, title, tone, author's opinion. Those are foundational, your gimmies. If you miss those, it's essential to understand why, because if you don't get the main idea, you don't get anything. It's like not knowing the genre of the film you're watching, thinking it's horror when it's romance. So ask: what is the skeleton of the passage? What is the author's opinion? If they could articulate it in one key sentence, what would that be? Start there. Then look at your time allocation between the passage and the questions. I generally recommend 2 and a half to 3 minutes on your initial read of the passage, so you have enough time for the questions. You might want to time that too.
Bobby: One last piggyback question. I rarely get the main point question wrong, that's the one I get right most consistently. Is it possible that as I answer the questions I understand the passage better as I go, so by question 5 I get it better? Is it worth going back after the last few questions to correct question 2, 3, or 4 once I understand the text better, or is that not worth the time?
Steve: It's normal that your understanding improves as you go deeper into the passage. But I wouldn't recommend redoing earlier questions just to double check yourself. There is a way around this though: do the questions in a particular order. General global questions first, like main idea, then detail oriented ones, then save inferential ones for last. That takes you from easy to hard within a passage, building understanding in layers. Main idea is fundamental, detail questions send you back to specific lines, and inferential ones are toughest and need that deeper understanding. I wouldn't start with an inferential question, I'd start with the main idea.
Bobby: Understood. And just to clarify, probably not a good idea to go back and reanswer questions, better to move on to the next section.
Steve: If there was a question you really didn't get, where you were guessing and hoping, then yes, flag it and come back to it. But my default wouldn't be to re-examine everything.
Bobby: Got it, that makes sense. That's all the questions I have. Thank you very much for your time, Steve.
Steve: Of course, Bobby. One last comment on paraphrasing. It's great as an exercise, a drill to articulate your understanding untimed, during review. But during the exam itself, rather than just paraphrasing, I'd also consider a more structural breakdown: what's the conclusion, what's the evidence, what's the gap. Start there, in that order, conclusion, evidence, gap. That's more of an argument structural breakdown, beyond content focused paraphrasing. Consider that when working through logical reasoning.
Bobby: That sounds faster, since you can't remember every piece. Understanding the conclusion and how it connects was probably the most efficient way.
Steve: Yep. Awesome, Bob. It was a pleasure. Thanks.
More coaching sessions: Zabdi, 141 to 155, Abigail, 147 to 160, Leah, 153 to 170, Dominic, Alina, 157 to 170. Student results and reviews.
I've written free explanations for every question in LSAT PrepTest 159, 158, 157, 156, 155 and 154, with the right answer and why each wrong answer fails. All LSAT explanations are here.
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