Xavier's LSAT Diary: how he scored a 171

LSAT Diary, 2015

Xavier spent almost a year self-studying for the LSAT, postponing twice before taking his first official test, then retaking in February. He describes fighting through an LR plateau, hitting scores near 170 on practice tests, and battling burnout as he chased a 170-plus score, which the post's intro says he reached with a 171.

• Starting score: 150s
• Official LSAT: 171 (February 2015)
• What he used: self-study over about a year, following LSAT Blog and reading other LSAT Diaries
• Situation: undergrad senior who postponed twice (from December to June to September, his first actual test) before retaking in February after a nearly year-long self-study process with a study partner who'd scored 170 cold
• Written: 2015

In Xavier's words

Drill, drill, drill from early June to August.

Xavier

A word on burnout.

Xavier

This caused me to panic.

Xavier

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. Xavier's is here because it ends with a number: a 171.

Underneath the score, it's about a long self-study timeline: pushing through an LR plateau and managing burnout while chasing a 170-plus score.

Written in 2015. 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.

Book your free LSAT tutoring lesson

Xavier's diary, as written

Part 1

A slow start and a postponed test

So for the first part of my LSAT diary, I'll do a basic timeline of my study schedule, along with the different obstacles I found along the way. I'd like to devote the second part to specific tactics and approaches I used in preparation for, and on, test day, which I found helpful.

I started to study for the LSAT in September 2013, with the intention of taking the December test of that year. After realizing that I'd be at somewhat of a disadvantage for applying late in the cycle, and realizing that studying while juggling my last semester of undergrad was more work than I'd anticipated, I decided to focus on getting my GPA as high as possible and taking the June test instead. Between September and December I focused on developing as solid a foundation of LG technique as possible.

While I never took a cold diagnostic, I went through a few timed individual sections that fall and realized that studying for the LSAT was going to be far more work than I'd anticipated. My LR scores fluctuated anywhere between -8 and -15, while critical reading was usually -10 or so. I'm fairly confident that if I'd taken a cold diagnostic, it would've been somewhere around or slightly below 150. I didn't bother to take any timed games sections for a while. When I did, I was averaging -5. I took my first "realistic" timed LSAT in March and scored a 161. I knew that for law school to be worth it for me I'd need to clear the 170 mark, so this was pretty discouraging.

Finding my technique

In order to assess where I was at in terms of strengths and weaknesses, I started doing untimed full sections to see if there were any holes in my technique. At this point, I'd picked up games fairly quickly and was averaging around -2 timed, so I put games practice on the back burner for a few weeks. My LR, on the other hand, was still a mess, and while there wasn't a solid pattern in the types of answers I was getting wrong, my technique was bad and I struggled to really understand the different question types. I went through LR pretty quickly, still expecting to take the June exam, and experienced my first breakthrough. My timed LR scores jumped up to -6 or so, and I started to feel the familiarity with the question types other test takers had described. I also found that as I devoted more time to focused practice, my reading comprehension also improved slightly, although definitely not as drastically as LR.

At this point it was around mid-May, and I decided that my practice test scores still weren't good enough for me to confidently take the June exam. Postpone. I was sad to have to sacrifice my summer for the LSAT, but realized I'd be much more upset if I bombed the test because I was still shaky on technique. It was around this time that I began seriously working with a study partner, a friend who'd heard me complain about the test on too many occasions, sat down and took a timed practice test with me, and he scored a 170 cold, and decided to study for the September test and apply to law school on a whim. On one hand, having a study partner proved helpful in the sense that I could discuss the intricacies of the questions with someone, but at the same time I was still scoring in the mid to low 160s and feeling very discouraged. Not to mention I'd plateaued and hadn't really seen a score increase in several weeks. I decided to start drilling LR sections every day, developing a method of circling answers I was uncertain of and focusing on process of elimination. I can't stress enough how much this helped. If I had to single out one part of my studying process that most drastically improved my score, it would be developing a good process of elimination technique. I got very good at eliminating wrong answers down to two, and for that, reading explanations proved very useful in explaining why particular questions were wrong and others right. Drill, drill, drill from early June to August.

Chasing 170 and hitting a wall

By August I was scoring around 167 to 170 on practice tests. Careful not to exhaust my supply of exams before the big day, I worked on the tests numbered in the 50s for August, and the 60s through 73 for September. At this point I was taking 2 to 3 timed tests a week, spending the other days carefully reviewing mistakes. At this point I was putting in around 20 hours a week or so, definitely the most so far. Studying for a year gave me the luxury of taking breaks to avoid burnout when I needed them, and I generally never spent more than 15 hours per week on the LSAT until this time.

A word on burnout: at this point I knew I needed to work on my timing if I was going to get that 170+. My technique was good at this point, but I was barely finishing LR and RC sections on time. I realized that if I could move quickly enough to have about 5 minutes at the end of these sections to check my answers, I'd have no problem clearing 170. I decided the best way to do this was to start taking 4 practice tests a week, on consecutive days. On one hand, I noticed that doing this actually did improve my speed towards the last few days. The first week I did this I scored 169, 169, 171 and 176 respectively. On the other hand, I was beginning to feel serious burnout. After two weeks of doing this my scores plummeted back to 167. And I was unable to break through this barrier, including the last practice test I took a few days before the actual exam. As you can imagine, days before the actual exam, this caused me to panic. My practice test average less than two weeks before the exam was a 168. I figured at this point, avoiding burnout while doing everything I could to be on top of my game for test day was my best and only strategy. I started looking up articles and advice about managing pre-test day nerves, and used this advice to create my own test day strategy.

Part 2

Remove all unnecessary obstacles

Get everything in order long before the test. Having your passport photos, #2 pencils, sharpener, snacks and a gallon ziploc in order leaves you one less thing to worry about. Consider picking out an outfit the night before, and be sure to familiarize yourself with the testing site beforehand. Luckily, our site was at my old undergrad, so I knew exactly where we needed to go beforehand. Plot your route out beforehand, making sure there will be no traffic, etc. All these little things add up, and you don't want to have to deal with any unnecessary headaches on this important day.

Adjust your sleep and habits

This goes without saying unless you're taking the June exam, or already accustomed to being fully alert and awake by 8:30. Note: although the official starting time is 8:30, the exam most likely won't start for at least an hour later due to test administration procedure and whatnot, so don't go crazy with this. Personally, I don't see any need in making any drastic changes to your sleep schedule (waking up at 1 am, for instance). If you can change it gradually over the course of a few weeks, even better.

Routine is key here too. Start taking fully timed, 5-section tests at the scheduled time and day of the week of the actual exam. Minimize distractions the weeks and days leading up to the test. This goes without saying: the night before the LSAT is not the time to be fighting with your girlfriend, arguing with parents, or dealing with any other potentially stressful situations. I also gave up drinking and smoking the week before. I'm not sure if this impacted my score or not, but it gave me the confidence to know that if I did badly, it wasn't because of my own hedonism.

Expect to be nervous, and prepare for it

I really can't stress this enough. I'm not an anxious person by nature, and somewhat of an adrenaline junkie, but on test day I felt a constant state of adrenaline unlike anything I've ever experienced. When you read about people scoring 10 to 15 points below their practice test average on the actual exam, this is most likely what killed them. Do whatever you need to do to ensure you are as relaxed as possible leading up to, and on, the actual day of the exam. For me, this meant taking the week leading up to the exam off from work, exercising vigorously, meditating, eating healthy, playing video games, and getting a massage the night before to help me sleep.

Even after taking all these measures, I still only managed about four hours of sleep. It didn't kill me though, because I'd gotten a full night of sleep every night leading up to test day. I truly believe this step was instrumental in helping me score several points higher on the actual exam than my practice test average. A final word of caution: my study partner, who I'd been practice testing with since May, was averaging 173 to 176, and never scored below a 170. He took very few measures to minimize test day anxiety, and ended up with a 166, his lowest score ever. When I drove to his house the morning of to pick him up on the way to our testing site, he looked sick and clearly hadn't been sleeping. My point is that the test is both a physical and mental challenge, and if you neglect either, you run the risk of damaging your score in a serious way.

Enjoy the test

This probably sounds stupid and unlikely, but it helped me, so here it is. Try to look forward to the exam. You're getting the opportunity to sit in a room with a bunch of really bright people and think as hard as you can for 3 and a half hours. Test day doesn't have to be the worst day of your life, and with the right attitude it can be a rewarding experience. Use the adrenaline to your favor, and do your best not to let it overwhelm and scare you. I managed to finish every section with at least five minutes left, which had never happened on any of my practice tests, and I attribute this to increased focus from having so much adrenaline. Plus, you have the whole rest of the day to celebrate afterwards.

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.

Enough reading. Try a question. Free LSAT drills, 1 at a time, explained the second you answer. Start free drills