Bria, 141 and working toward 170: a live LSAT coaching session
This is what LSAT Unplugged coaching looks like. Bria came in at 141, aiming for 170 on the February LSAT. Steve Schwartz coached her live for about 7 minutes on both, and the whole session and transcript are below.
The numbers here are where Bria started and the goal we set together in this session. Individual results vary.
- Student: Bria
- Score when recorded: 141
- Goal: 170
- Target test: February
- Situation: Studying 15 to 20 hours a week, mornings for study and afternoons for classes, early on in her studying
- Focus: both
- Worked on: reading comp main idea / primary purpose, reading comp natural science passages, logical reasoning necessary assumption, logical reasoning flaw
What we fixed in this session
The topic never really matters. It's the structure of the passage, and finding that one key line you hold onto for dear life.
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 Bria to paraphrase older reading comp passages sentence by sentence into simple language to prove real understanding, starting with LawHub PrepTests 101 to 120.
I taught her to anchor on one central thesis line per passage instead of trying to remember every paragraph, using it to answer the main idea or primary purpose question.
The plan: I diagnosed her logical reasoning drop-off (correct on the first one or two questions, then inconsistent) as a foundational gap tied to the section's built-in order of difficulty, and redirected her from timed sections toward finishing the curriculum question type by question type first.
Where the session landed: Bria agrees to try the paraphrase method and to follow the study plan through the curriculum before doing more timed sections, and says she hopes to see improvement.
If your prep looks like Bria's did, that's fixable in one session.
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In Bria's words
I'm not sure how to decide what's important enough for me to remember and then what I can safely ignore.
Bria
I'm pretty sure that's something I can implement. Thank you.
Bria
I think I can go back and do that, and it should work for me. I'm hopeful it'll work.
Bria
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 Bria's case: Bria to paraphrase older reading comp passages sentence by sentence into simple language to prove real understanding.
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, flaw questions, Reading Comprehension.
Student reviews and finished results.
Full session transcript
Recorded December 2025.
Steve: Bria up next. Hey Bria, how's it going?
Bria: It's going good. How about you?
Steve: I'm good, thanks. Tell me what's going on, how I could help. If you could share some context, your current LSAT score, your goal LSAT score, and when you're taking the test.
Bria: My current LSAT score is a 141. I'm taking the test in February. My goal is a 170.
Steve: Okay, so we're looking for about 30 points in about four and a half months.
Bria: Yes.
Steve: And how many hours a week can you put in between now and February?
Bria: About 20 right now, studying in the morning and doing classes in the afternoon, so ideally about 15 to 20 hours a week.
Steve: That's pretty good. 15 to 20 hours a week over four and a half months scales up really nicely, we're talking hundreds and hundreds of hours you can devote to this, to build a really strong foundation. Now, are there any particular weak areas, pain points, or struggles you're facing right now?
Bria: My biggest struggle is with reading comp and remembering what I read. Mainly when I summarize each paragraph, I'm not sure how to decide what's important enough to remember and what I can safely ignore. Maybe some tips on skills I can use to quickly understand the key points, so when it's time to answer the questions I won't have to spend so much time rereading the passage to be sure I have the right answer.
Steve: My biggest thought is to make sure you're understanding what you're reading. As an exercise, take an older reading comprehension passage and rewrite the entire thing in simpler language, like you're explaining it to a 5 year old. Sounds silly, but it's effective: go sentence by sentence, word by word, and force yourself to distill the information. Proving you can paraphrase it proves you understand it. Your practice tests are numbered 101 to 158 in LSAC's LawHub. Take the oldest exams, 101 to 120, and simplify those passages, 80 of them to work with. That's a really effective starting point. Is that something you'd consider doing?
Bria: Yes, I'm pretty sure that's something I can implement. Thank you.
Steve: Of course. And then look at particular topics. You've got four categories of reading comp passages: natural science, social science, humanities, and law. Out of those four, is there one you struggle with more than the others?
Bria: I'd say natural science, a lot, because sometimes the passages are very dense and I'm trying to make sure I understand it from top to bottom, but sometimes I forget what was said in the middle of the passage.
Steve: Heard on that, I don't love those either, and a lot of pre-laws struggle with them, coming from a humanities background. The topic never really matters, it's the structure of the passage, how they present and back up the information, and who's promoting a particular position. It's easy to get lost in the middle of the passage. Find the one central thesis statement, wherever it is, first paragraph, second, or later, and hold onto it for dear life. That's your anchor, your north star, for the main idea or primary purpose question every passage has. The details and supporting examples, you can always go back to find when you need them. How's that sounding? Have you been doing that already?
Bria: Not so much, I think because I'm early on in my studying. But I think I can go back and do that, and it should work for me. I'm hopeful it'll work.
Steve: That's probably the best course of action going forward. A lot of folks summarize paragraphs, but you can't always trust paragraph breaks, some are just more important than others, chock full of details you don't need to absorb up front. You can always go back to them later to help solve a particular question.
Bria: Okay, thank you, I'll try this method. I'm sure it'll work. Thank you.
Steve: Of course. Any other particular challenges you're facing?
Bria: I face challenges with logical reasoning questions too. I probably get one or two correct, and then after that I'm unable to get any other answer correct within that section, like if it's a necessary assumption question or a flaw question. I have a hard time staying consistent with correct answers.
Steve: So you start off strong, then lose momentum.
Bria: Yes.
Steve: Logical reasoning questions run in a general order of difficulty, tougher as the section goes on, so naturally you get the easier early ones right, then hit the level three, four, five questions and your accuracy drops off. At a 141 or so, there's still a lot of foundational work to do. Let's work you through the curriculum, build a strong foundation in every section and question type. In logical reasoning you've got 15 or 16 kinds of questions, necessary assumption, inference, and flaw being the three most important, plus strengthen, weaken, parallel, resolve, and so on. Rather than burning through limited material on timed sections or full exams, follow your study plan, build the foundation first, go through the course material on each type, and you'll be in a much better position once you do take sections.
Bria: Okay, thank you, that sounds like a plan. I'll do that and hopefully see some improvement.
Steve: Awesome. And of course, if you ever need anything, have any questions, email me, text me, I'm always happy to help.
Bria: Of course, thank you. All right, thank you, Steve.
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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