Dominic, aiming for 165: a live LSAT coaching session
This is what LSAT Unplugged coaching looks like. Dominic came in at mid to high 140s, aiming for 165 on the October LSAT. Steve Schwartz coached him live for about 26 minutes on both, and the whole session and transcript are below.
The numbers here are where Dominic started and the goal we set together in this session. Individual results vary.
- Student: Dominic
- Score when recorded: mid to high 140s
- Goal: 165
- Target test: October
- Situation: Just graduated undergrad, took the LSAT once already in January scoring mid to high 140s, job searching for full-time work and getting married at the end of August with a honeymoon planned, currently able to study about 5 to 6 hours a day on a part-time job schedule
- Focus: both
- Worked on: question type recognition in general, must be true, strengthen, flaw
What we fixed in this session
You're not bad at the LSAT, you're just applying the wrong playbook. You're using the same strategies that helped you ace college classes, and the LSAT isn't school.
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 diagnosed that Dominic had been memorizing test content from repeated Law Hub practice tests instead of understanding question types, and redirected him toward pattern recognition and reviewing mistakes in depth using an error log categorized by mistake type.
His reading comprehension slowdown comes from not trusting his read of the passage, and taught him to build a mental map by tagging each paragraph's role (theory, example, critique, transition) instead of rereading for every question.
The plan: I told him to stop drilling large random batches of questions and instead go deep on one question type at a time, predicting the answer before looking at choices and running a Socratic review on every miss to fix the underlying pattern.
Where the session landed: Dominic agreed to focus on the structured study plan my team built for him, said he'd stay in touch as his job and wedding schedule changed, and decided to hold off on one-on-one coaching until he sees how the program goes first.
If your prep looks like Dominic's did, that's fixable in one session.
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In Dominic's words
I realized a little too late that I was focusing more on memorizing than on understanding the different question types.
Dominic
I could recognize some, since I'd taken so many drill sets before, but I couldn't tell you, oh, this is such and such question type.
Dominic
I think one-on-one coaching would be great, it gives me the familiarity of a classroom, I feel like I thrive more with someone there helping to filter the material than with pure self-study.
Dominic
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 Dominic's case: Dominic had been memorizing test content from repeated Law Hub practice tests instead of understanding question types.
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: flaw questions, weaken and strengthen questions, must be true questions.
Student reviews and finished results.
Full session transcript
Recorded September 2025.
Steve: You're not bad at the LSAT, you're just applying the wrong playbook. You're using the same strategies that helped you ace college classes: highlighting, rereading, doing all the homework, and wondering why your score's stuck in place. But the LSAT isn't school. It's not about doing more, it's about doing what actually moves the needle. This is Dominic, and he's looking to improve from the 140s to a 165 in the next 4 months. My name is Steve Schwartz, and I've been teaching the LSAT for the past 20 years. Today, Dominic's going to bring me his biggest LSAT challenges, and I'll help him address them as he looks to improve by 15, 20 points.
So how's the programming coming along so far?
Dominic: It's going great. I love the layout and the getting started material was fantastic, I'm very grateful for that. I just got my study plan this morning, so I'm going to start working on that after this call.
Steve: Okay, cool, awesome. I'm glad it's coming along well. Have you been able to join any of the live sessions yet?
Dominic: I attempted Monday night, I tried to follow along with a reading comp section. After not being able to follow along, I went onto Law Hub and looked at it more in depth, I think it's in the more advanced material. I still need to access that, I'm going to do that today as well.
Steve: Okay, good. I know it can be a little overwhelming, there's a lot of new things to learn about the LSAT, especially the practice tests and the premium Law Hub, just to access the related materials to what we're covering in the sessions, but you'll pick it up with time. I wanted to have this quick call with you since we hadn't met yet, and I wanted to learn more about you and your situation and see if I could give you pointers or advice. Would that be useful for you?
Dominic: Yes, please, that would be amazing.
Steve: Tell me a little about where you're at right now, where are you currently scoring?
Dominic: I've scored in the mid to high 140s. I took the LSAT back in January. I just graduated from my undergrad, so during the spring semester I focused more on that than on my LSAT studying, but this summer I'm really going to drill down and study much more in depth than before. For the January LSAT, my main source of studying was the free tests on the Law Hub website, kind of just taking those tests over and over again. I realized a little too late that I was focusing more on memorizing than on understanding the different question types, because I was consistently scoring in the mid 140s, and that got me discouraged. I have your LSAT Unplugged book, that was how I found your course. I read the book and realized what I was doing wrong, but it was a little too late at that point. I did apply some of the things you mentioned in the book and the course, but I don't think I was able to do it consistently enough before the January LSAT.
Steve: Okay, well, I'm glad you found the book helpful, and I'm glad you found me and the program. It sounds like you've learned some valuable lessons from what happened before, so you can avoid making those same mistakes again. The focus on understanding the strategies versus memorization is going to be really key for you. What's your goal for test day?
Dominic: My goal for test day is at least a 165.
Steve: 165, okay. And when are you planning on taking it, how long do we have?
Dominic: October is when I plan on taking it.
Steve: Solid, so we've got about 4 months and change to get you from the mid to high 140s up to 165 plus, 15 to 20 points in 4 months and change. Very doable, especially since it sounds like you've largely just been self-studying.
Let me tell you one of the most frustrating things I hear from smart students. They'll say, "I don't get it, I'm putting in the time, I'm doing the work, why isn't my score going up?" If you're disciplined, showing up every day, following all the advice, this can feel infuriating, it should be working. But you're not bad at the LSAT, you're just applying the wrong playbook, the same strategies that helped you ace college classes. School trains you to perform for grades, the LSAT trains you to think under pressure. In college you get partial credit for effort, you could write a decent essay and still get an A minus, you could cram for the midterm and walk out with a curve boosted score. But on the LSAT there's no partial credit, no fluff, no bonus points for trying hard. You either saw the flaw in the argument or you didn't, you either followed the chain of conditional logic or you fell for the trap. That's why it feels unfair if you're used to the school model.
What actually works is pattern recognition, strategic review, and confidence under time pressure. If your accuracy isn't moving during logical reasoning drills, it's probably because you're not reviewing your mistakes in depth, you're not spotting why you fell for a trap, and you're reading every stimulus like it's brand new. The fix isn't more hours, it's better systems: predict before you look at the choices, write down the conclusion and the support to force clarity, and use an error log that categorizes your misses by type, like causation, equivocation, and negation. The LSAT isn't academic, it's athletic, you're building muscle memory, reaction time, and intuition through reps, feedback, and mistakes you analyze and correct. We once had a student who plateaued for 5 weeks straight, stuck at a 160 and ready to give up, but when we shifted her strategy to fewer full sections, more focused drills, and targeted Socratic review, her score jumped to 173 in just 3 weeks. That's not a promise or a guarantee, results vary, but it shows what's possible when you're willing to change your approach.
What are some weak areas or low hanging fruit right now?
Dominic: The first one that comes to mind is my reading speed, you mentioned in the book having applications to train your brain to read faster. So I'm definitely going to put that into practice. The other is not fully understanding the question types. I could recognize some, because I'd taken so many drill sets, but I couldn't tell you, oh, this is such and such question type. That's something I want to hone in on during this course too. I also focused on eliminating the blatantly wrong answers, reading the question first, then the logical reasoning stimulus, and looking at which answers were obviously wrong. I don't know if that's a strategy you recommend.
Steve: Yes, reading the question first is a strategy I like, it gives you the proper lens or perspective from which to view the argument, zooming out to the bigger picture. What you're alluding to is pattern recognition, the more practice you do, the more you'll learn the patterns of the test, because there's a limited bag of tricks they keep pulling out again and again. Because there are all these previously released exams in Law Hub, if you expose yourself to more of them and review in more depth, on test day there won't be anything truly new to you, you'll have seen it all before during practice. With 4 months till your test, you've got plenty of time to do dozens of these exams and review them in depth, so you can make the mistakes now and learn from them to avoid making them on the actual test.
Dominic: Yes, thank you.
Steve: Picture this: you finish a reading comp passage, move to the first question, and your brain short circuits. Wait, where did they say that, was it paragraph 2 or the author's opinion? You squint back at the screen, start rereading, and get more confused. That's the reading comp spiral. The real problem isn't your reading speed, it's trust. You finish the paragraphs but don't lock in their function, so when a question refers back to an example or a critic's perspective, you're not sure, and that time adds up, and across a whole section you're toast.
The fix is to build a mental map, not a photographic memory. Read passages with navigation in mind, tag each paragraph with a label like theory, example, critique, or transition. Notice who's speaking, is it the author, a scholar, a group of researchers, and watch for tonal shifts like however, in contrast, and some argue, which signal important pivots. If you know where the key parts of the passage live, you don't need to remember every detail, you just need to know where to look. That saves brain power, saves time, and gives you the confidence to stop second-guessing every answer.
Here's a bonus tip: learn to predict before you scan the choices. Before you read the choices, ask yourself what the right answer should say. It's a quick gut check that anchors your brain, so you're comparing answers to your expectation instead of being pulled in five directions by five shiny choices. Reading comp isn't about being brilliant, it's about being efficient, and efficiency comes from structure: tag your paragraphs, notice the tone and role, and predict before the choices.
And to your point about reading speed, yes, there are apps for it, like a phrase reader or a spreeder, basically putting yourself on a treadmill that displays text at faster and faster speeds so you get accustomed to reading dense passages even under the time constraint of the actual exam.
Dominic: Okay, cool.
Steve: Now let's talk about plateaus. You're putting in the hours, reviewing your tests, trying to be diligent, but your scores stay flat. Most students respond to this the wrong way, they'll say, "I guess I got to study more," and do a full practice test, drill more sections, reread notes. But this is actually the moment to slow down and go deep, not wide. Wide is shallow, deep leads to mastery. If you're plateauing, it doesn't mean you're bad at the LSAT, it means your improvement curve has shifted from volume based to precision based, and that's a good thing, it means you're past the beginner gains.
The next level comes from getting ruthless about one thing at a time. We'll tell students, let's ignore reading comp for a week, let's only look at necessary assumption questions, because progress accelerates when you stack your wins in one area instead of scattering your attention. Say you're working on flaw questions: don't just drill 20 random flaws, read 5 flaw questions very slowly, pause after each one and ask what's the conclusion, what's the flaw, how would I describe that flaw in plain English. Before you look at the choices, make a prediction, write down what you expect to see. When you get it wrong, do a Socratic review: why was this answer tempting, why is it wrong, why is the right one right. That's where the growth happens, you're not just fixing that question, you're fixing the way your brain approaches every future question like it. Plateaus don't mean you're broken, they mean it's time to switch gears, pick one area and go deep, because the LSAT doesn't reward generalists, it rewards precision.
You mentioned reading comp, and memorizing question types in logical reasoning. Are there any particular question types giving you trouble right now?
Dominic: I could recognize some, since I'd taken so many drill sets before, but I couldn't tell you, oh, this is such and such question type. That's something I want to really hone in on during this course too.
Steve: That basic familiarity is going to be step number one, laying the strong foundation. We divide LSAT prep broadly into 3 major phases, which you saw in the book too: accuracy, pacing, endurance. Accuracy is building familiarity with the roughly 15 different types of logical reasoning questions, plus the types in reading comp, that's not enough alone to get you a 165, but it's the first step. Step 2 is pacing, working on time management to solve questions within the 35 minute allotment per section. Endurance is the third and final phase, pulling it all together with full length practice tests. With 4 months, you'd devote roughly 5 weeks to foundation, 5 weeks to pacing, 5 weeks to endurance. All of that combined is what's going to get you from the 149 to the 165, no single phase will do it alone, but all of them combined get you that 15 point increase.
Now let's talk about something nobody wants to admit: sometimes the best move for your LSAT score is to do absolutely nothing, close the books, log out of Law Hub, and walk away. If you're burned out, mentally fried, every question feels like a chore, more studying is like pouring water into a broken cup, you don't need more, you've got to fix the cup. Most people don't realize they're burned out until they're deep in it, they'll say things like "I feel like I should study but I can't focus," or "I keep rereading the same passage and zoning out, I'm getting worse even though I'm studying more." That's not laziness, that's a signal. We often schedule breaks into our students' study plans on purpose, especially after a big push or right before test day, because recovery is part of performance. Students often come back from a few days off faster at reading comp passages, spotting flaws more easily, and feeling more confident, because the brain needs downtime to consolidate information, the same reason athletes don't train at 100% intensity every single day.
Here's how to take a strategic break: not a month off pretending the test doesn't exist, but 2 to 5 days, clean, no sneaky reviewing. Use the time to sleep, move your body, and reflect on what's been working and what hasn't. When you come back, ease in with light drills, don't jump straight into a full length practice test, treat it like rehab, not punishment. Burnout doesn't mean you're weak, it means you care, and breaks position you to come back sharper and stronger.
How many hours would you say you could put in on average between now and the test in October?
Dominic: I can give you a couple different answers, because my life's going to alternate a lot in the next couple months. I'm actively looking for a full-time job, and if I get one, that's definitely going to impact my study time. I'm also getting married at the end of August, and hoping to go on a honeymoon, I think I saw that implemented in my study plan. As of right now, with a part-time job, I'm hoping to study 5 to 6 hours a day. I put 6 to 7 initially because I was being optimistic, but with the job search and the wedding planning, I might need to cut back to 5 or 6ish.
Steve: Congrats on the upcoming wedding, that's exciting. You've got a lot of big changes going on, and yes, those will affect your studying. Make hay while the sun shines, you've got the time now, make the most of it. If you can do 5 to 6 hours a day without burning out, do that, then once you have the job, you might need to reduce it a bit. We've already adjusted your plan accordingly to account for the upcoming changes, but if you need revisions, let us know.
Now let's talk about that inner voice, the one that shows up right after you choose an answer and says, "Wait, is that really right?" You reread the question, reread the answer, look back at the stimulus, start doubting yourself, change the answer, get it wrong, and realize your first instinct was right all along. If you've been second-guessing everything on the LSAT, you're not broken or indecisive, you're smart, but your brain is overthinking in the wrong direction. High achievers are often the worst at multiple choice tests like the LSAT, because in school being detail oriented was rewarded, you got points for being thorough. But the LSAT isn't looking for nuance, it's looking for precision, the right answer isn't the most thoughtful, it's the one that matches the logic. When you start doubting and digging and rationalizing, you're usually moving away from the core of the question.
The real skill is learning to trust your gut when it's trained and ignore it when it's not. First instincts are only useful if you review your patterns. I'm not saying always trust your first answer, that's too simplistic, but if you consistently find your first choice was right and then you changed it, that's a pattern, and if your gut is often wrong, that's also a pattern. We actually track this with our students: how many questions did you change, how many of those were right before you changed them, what triggered the doubt. It's about the data.
Practical tips to reduce second-guessing without losing accuracy: limit rereads, you get one reread max, if you're still unsure after that, flag it and move on. Use prediction, write down what the right answer should say before you look at the choices, prephrase. Talk it out, even studying alone, verbalize your reasoning out loud, it forces clarity. And log every answer you changed during timed sections, then review why you changed it. That gives you awareness, and awareness gives you power. Second-guessing doesn't come from being bad at the LSAT, it comes from caring too much about being right and not enough about being clear. The more you train clarity, the more you trust your instincts, and confidence is worth at least 5 raw score points.
You don't need to do 6 hours a day for 4 months to get the increase you're looking for. It could be that you do 6 hours a day now to build the foundation, then once it's built, you reduce it a bit, working more on timed sections and timed exams and review. Every student's different, but you put in the time where you can to maximize the score increase you can get.
Dominic: Absolutely, okay, thank you.
Steve: There's a toxic idea floating around that says you've got to do hundreds of questions a week to improve. But more questions doesn't automatically translate into more learning. When students brute force their way through drills, they go fast but don't slow down to understand the logic, and they're not tracking what kind of questions they're missing or why. After a month of that they're exhausted, confused, and often plateauing. More volume does not guarantee growth, focused reps do, quality over quantity. Say you're struggling with must be true and strengthen questions: instead of 50 random questions from every category, pick 10 must be true questions from recent practice tests, and before answering, write down what kind of information must be true based on the stimulus, then answer it. If you get it wrong, spend 5 to 10 minutes unpacking what the stimulus was really saying, why the wrong answer was tempting, and what made the right one right. Then do the same with 10 strengthen questions. You're only doing 20 questions total, but the quality of learning is 10 times higher than blitzing through 100 without understanding a single flaw.
You mentioned you're just getting into it now, and you have all these changes coming up, you might get the job, you have the wedding and the honeymoon coming up. Do you think you might benefit from a bit more support rather than just the classes, maybe some one-on-one coaching?
Dominic: Possibly, if it's okay, I want to get my feet wet in the program first, see where I need the coaching and the improvement. I plan on being completely transparent with you all, and I'm very grateful for my study plan, I like a very structured study program, so this is great. Whenever I do get the job confirmed, I'll reach out to you all as soon as possible so we can adjust accordingly. I think one-on-one coaching would be great, it gives me the familiarity of a classroom, I feel like I thrive more with someone there helping to filter the material than with pure self-study. If it's something I feel I need, I would of course reach out.
Steve: Absolutely, anytime, the door is always open, we're here to support you in getting to your goal. As you have more time available now, it could be that all you've got to do is follow the plan we've laid out, watch the videos, follow the lessons, join the semi-private sessions, and if your needs change, if you get the job and have less time to study, that may be the point to increase efficiency through getting support after you've built that strong foundation. Just reach out and we'll set you up with a coach that's best for you based on your schedule and needs when the time comes. In the meantime, it sounds like you have the time, so just follow the plan, stick to it, and stay in touch as things evolve.
Taking a break from LSAT prep is not a failure, it doesn't mean you're lazy or that you're falling behind. For a lot of students, especially high achievers like Dominic, taking a break is one of the smartest, most strategic things you can do. Your brain consolidates learning during rest, the same reason a problem you couldn't figure out yesterday suddenly makes sense after a good night of sleep. When you've been hammering at the test for weeks and step back for a few days, your brain has a chance to catch up, patterns click, concepts settle, and confidence starts to rebuild. What matters is that a break is intentional, you come back with a plan and re-engage with fresh eyes, rather than pushing through burnout until you flame out, or taking a break and feeling guilty the whole time. For our students, we sometimes build in breaks, especially after months of grinding, and when they return we shift the focus to rebuild timing and accuracy and capitalize on the mental clarity they just earned. That's when scores move, not during the burnout, but after the reset. The goal is not to study every day without stopping, it's to walk into test day with a calm, clear, sharp mind and a strategy that works, and sometimes the fastest path forward is to pause, recover, and reset, just like Dominic.
More coaching sessions: Zabdi, 141 to 155, Abigail, 147 to 160, Leah, 153 to 170, Alina, 157 to 170, Logan, 172 to 175. 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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