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Anna's LSAT Diary: how she scored a 165

Updated September 7, 2026 · Steve Schwartz

LSAT Diary, 2010

Anna, a college student who skipped a paid prep course over its cost, scored a 165 on the February LSAT using Steve's 3-month self-study schedule. She calmed her nerves by treating the LSAT like a class and keeping a Bible near her study materials for perspective.

  • Official LSAT: 165 (February 2010)
  • What she used: self-study using Steve's 3-month LSAT study schedule, no prep course
  • Situation: a college student who decided against a paid prep course over the cost
  • Written: 2010

In Anna's words

I found the quickest way to nip the spazzing in the bud was to keep perspective.

Anna

God is in control, He alone is necessary and sufficient for joy in life.

Anna

All in all, I lived and got an awesome score!

Anna

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. Anna's is here because it ends with a number: a 165.

Underneath the score, it's about staying disciplined through a self-built schedule and calming test-day nerves with faith and routine.

Written in 2010. 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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Anna's diary, as written

When I started planning for the February LSAT last year, I was completely clueless about the test, so I did what I always do: I Googled it. It immediately became clear that many people take an LSAT prep course, but when I navigated to a list of course prices, I had a cow: I'd have to forgo 2000 cans of Diet Coke for even the scrimpiest group LSAT course!

I know it's an investment and it isn't as if it even approaches the cost of college, but somehow the massive cost of tuition is so large it feels like Monopoly money, whereas these courses were just in the extremely expensive end of the "real money" category.

Choosing to go it alone

Luckily, my cow was short-lived, as I was soon given the motivation to opt for the Diet Coke over the course:

First, I found LSAT Blog, a free (thank goodness!) alternative source of guidance and information.

Second, I expressed my hesitation about taking an LSAT prep course to a friend. When she replied with a skeptical comment about being able to do well on the LSAT without a prep course, my knee-jerk reaction was, in the words of Emperor Kuzco, "bring it on."

Once I'd decided to go sans course, I did what most readers of this blog probably do and selected one of Steve's LSAT study schedules (in my case, the 3-month schedule). I have to be honest though: I obsess, so the schedule was more of a structured restraint. I knew I wouldn't struggle with forcing myself to study (I'm in college, for Pete's sake!) but I didn't want to overdo the LSAT stuff and end up ruining the next 3 months of my life.

Keeping perspective

I vowed to stick only to the schedule, and to treat the LSAT like any other class with homework assignments. I usually stuck to this philosophy, though every once in a while I'd go a little overboard. This usually happened because I was trying to watch Dirty Jobs while studying, which meant bombing a problem set, thereby triggering a panic attack, and I'd start to spaz a bit.

I found the quickest way to nip the spazzing in the bud was to keep perspective, so pretty early on, I began keeping a Bible near my LSAT study material and reading it in between tests or book chapters. Reading the Bible helped remind me that God is in control, that He alone is necessary and sufficient for joy in life (you can tell I'm an LSAT taker, right?) and that law school is not the be-all, end-all.

Test day

As the test grew closer, I continued to treat it like I would a final exam for a class, and made a summary study sheet. I put all the Logical Reasoning question types, the Logic Games notations, and the Reading Comprehension tips into a word document and edited them down to a double-sided colorful reference card I could use to review on the morning of the test. When the fateful morning arrived, I got up in plenty of time to drive around town singing at the top of my lungs to my favorite music and took my Bible with me (though I had to stash it outside). All in all, I lived and got an awesome score!

Next step: law school admission.

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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