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Emily's LSAT Diary: 150 to 161

Updated September 5, 2026 · Steve Schwartz

LSAT Diary, 2014

After scoring a 148 on a rushed first attempt following a Kaplan course, this test taker isolated themselves with family in North Carolina to self-study using a 4-month schedule. They scored a 161 on the September 2014 retake and later received full-tuition scholarships from Penn State Law and Northeastern Law.

  • Starting score: 150
  • Official LSAT: 161 (September 2014)
  • Outcome: Full-tuition scholarships from both Penn State Law and Northeastern Law for Fall 2015
  • What they used: Kaplan online prep class (first attempt), then self-study using the 4-month day-by-day LSAT study schedule plus the PowerScore Logic Games Bible and Logical Reasoning Bible
  • Situation: moved 700 miles from Massachusetts to live with parents in North Carolina and worked a part-time weekend waitressing job to focus on retaking after an initial 148
  • Written: 2014

In Emily's words

Distractions are great for prep.

Emily

I choked up on the first LR section.

Emily

I will be applying to law school for Fall 2015 with my new score.

Emily

Why this diary is here

I've been coaching the LSAT since 2005. From 2009 to 2021 I ran the LSAT Diaries on my blog: students wrote up their own prep and I published it as it came in, rough edges and all. Emily's is here because it ends with a number: 150 to 161.

Underneath the score, it's about retaking after a disappointing first score, using a strict section-by-section self-study schedule. The outcome: full-tuition scholarships from both Penn State Law and Northeastern Law for Fall 2015.

Written in 2014. Any Logic Games references are from the old format; that section was removed in August 2024. Everything else still applies.

Individual results vary. Score increases depend on starting point, study time, and effort.

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Emily's diary, as written

Deciding to retake

As I was heading into my senior year of college, I had my heart set on getting into a great law school and going back to school immediately after I graduated. I wanted to apply for the 2014 Fall cycle, so I opted to take the LSAT in October 2013. Without doing much research at all, I signed up for an online Kaplan prep class that started in July. Throughout that summer, I didn't really keep a strict schedule and studied when I found the time. I took about 4 practice tests before the real test. I wasn't scoring well, but I figured maybe I would pull something amazing off on test day. Well, test day rolled around and, surprise surprise, I ended up scoring a 148. This was worse than my initial diagnostic score of 150. Luckily, Kaplan offers the Higher Score Guarantee, or your money back policy, and I ended up getting credited for the entire course.

Throughout my senior year, various thoughts went through my head. I was already in debt from attending my undergrad institution. I couldn't afford to pay full tuition for a law school. I knew if I was going to go to law school, I needed a competitive score that would win me some scholarships. "Should I change my career choice? Am I cut out to be a lawyer? I bet I would make a dang good nurse!" I've always had my heart set on becoming an attorney ever since I was a little girl. I knew I needed to buck up and get my hands dirty to get the score I wanted.

A friend of mine who had scored a 169 and received a generous scholarship from Cornell referred me to Steve's website. After looking it over and reading numerous victory stories of people who jumped 20+ points on the LSAT, I decided that I wanted to be one of those people too. I noted that many people who experienced score increases relied on self-preparation instead of classes. After all, no one knows you better than yourself, right? So I decided that was the route I would take as well.

A four month schedule, one section at a time

After graduation, I began studying June 1st, 2014. I knew I was going to need to make some major sacrifices to prep. I'm from Massachusetts, but my parents live in North Carolina. So, I moved in with my parents and only let myself take a part-time waitressing job. Even at that, I would only work this job on the weekends so as to not take away from my prep. I didn't know anyone who lived in our town and had moved 700 miles away from my friends and boyfriend to prep. This was hard, but it was the isolation I needed to be able to focus on preparation. To start, I used the 4-month day-by-day LSAT study schedule as my guide.

For the first 3 weeks, I focused on only Logic Games. The key was getting the basics down before I started timing myself. Once I was comfortable with each type of game, I began timing. When I first started out, I couldn't complete any game in under 10 minutes. After three weeks, I was completing pure sequencing games in under 3 minutes. The PowerScore LSAT Logic Games Bible helped more than I can explain with my trouble areas for logic games, and I would highly recommend getting it for anyone who is serious about increasing their score.

For the latter part of June and most of July, I focused on Logical Reasoning. It took me a while to get through the PowerScore book for Logical Reasoning, but the concepts the book presents are invaluable. I performed the same kind of drilling and timing for Logical Reasoning as I did with Logic Games. Once I was completing sections with time to spare and getting 90% right, I moved on to Reading Comprehension.

It's worth noting that I absolutely hated Reading Comprehension. For a long time, I felt as though it was the one area that I could not get better at no matter what. I did a lot of research online, and everyone seemed to have their own opinions about RC. After trying out multiple strategies (marking the page, not marking the page, reading the passage twice), I realized that no one else reads and receives information the same exact way. I needed to develop my own method to absorbing the precious information that RC presented. Probably some of the greatest advice I ever read for RC was, "the best thing about RC is that the answer to every question is right in front of you, hidden in the passage. It is your mission to find the answer." This made RC seem more like a game to me and made it a much more enjoyable experience.

Testing every Monday, Wednesday and Friday

For all of June and July, I did not take a single practice test. I was more interested in covering the basics and getting the drilling down. Starting August 1st, I began testing. My plan was to take a practice test every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until September 27th, the day of the test. I would take a test Monday and then review it on Tuesday. I kept the schedule strict, and if I missed a test due to a different obligation, I would make it up on a different day. My first test, I scored a 156 (8 points higher than my October LSAT score). Throughout August and September, my scores ranged from 154 to 165. I can't stress enough how important taking practice tests is to anyone's preparation. All in all, I ended up taking 27 practice tests before the test. When I did take one, I experimented with the settings. Sometimes I would take them in a quiet place. Sometimes I would take them in my dad's closet to the sound of my baby sister crying before bed. Distractions are great for prep.

Throughout my prep, I made sure to keep my mind and body at top capacity as well. I ate brain foods such as blueberries, oatmeal, avocado, and salmon every day. I went to the gym 6 times a week for 2 to 3 hours per day. I refrained from drinking alcohol, soda, or any foods that make you feel bogged down. For the weeks leading up to the test, I woke up at 6:00 AM every day so that my body would not feel shocked on the day of the test.

The day of the actual test, I woke up at 5:30, went for a 3-mile run, and ate my normal breakfast. Before leaving for the test center, I completed 1 logic game, 10 LR questions, and 1 RC passage. I arrived at the test center about 15 minutes before testing began. The test center was very roomy, but very noisy. This probably posed a problem for a lot of other testers, but because I was used to studying with distractions I was completely fine.

Test day results

I received my score of a 161 on the September 2014 LSAT. Apparently, I choked up on the first LR section (most likely because it was the very first section of the test) and scored 15 out of 25. For RC, I went 18 out of 27. For LR2, I went 21 out of 26. For Logic Games, which was my last section, I went 23 out of 23, a perfect score. All in all, I'm satisfied with my score. A 161 is one point more than the average of all my practice tests combined. I definitely wish I hadn't choked up on the first section because I had a good chance at scoring a 165, but some things you just have to let go. I will be applying to law school for Fall 2015 with my new score and hope to be getting some scholarships!

More student stories: LSAT Unplugged reviews and finished results, all success stories.

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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