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Annie went from a 153 to a 170 and got into Stanford Law

Updated September 5, 2026 · Steve Schwartz

Student story

  • First official LSAT: 153 (2020)
  • Retake: 170 (October 2020)
  • Law school: Stanford Law School (admitted April 2021)
  • Timeline: Started studying March 2020, paused before the June test, retested in October
  • Program: LSAT Unplugged course, live mastermind classes, the Socratic Review Method

In her words

I saw an email and thought, is this real, what is this. I pretty much just started crying and was in the fetal position.

Annie

We get into the test maker's mind and into each person's own unwarranted assumptions and habits of thinking.

Annie

The law school admissions process isn't very transparent right now, so I hope this video gets some information out there.

Annie

What actually moved her score

I've been coaching the LSAT since 2005. Annie's story gets shared a lot because of the Stanford ending, but the part worth copying happened months earlier.

She pulled out of a test she wasn't ready for. A breakdown before the June 2020 exam told her something. She paused, regrouped, and sat in October instead of taking a score she'd have to explain.

She stopped studying alone. The live classes gave her other students' tips on top of coaching, and she says the group is where the strategies stuck.

She reviewed for the why. The Socratic Review Method traces each wrong answer back to the test maker's reasoning and to your own habit that fell for it. That's a 17 point difference between her 2 official scores.

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

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Full interview transcript

Recorded April 2021, a few days after her Stanford Law acceptance.

Annie: I got a very late admission cycle surprise. I was admitted into Stanford Law School this week. I'm very, very grateful for that result.

Steve: You must be ecstatic. What happened? Did they email you, did they call you?

Annie: I got an email from Dean Deal. I didn't recognize the Stanford logo at first. I was actually preparing for our class, on my computer, and I opened my emails and saw one and thought, is this real, what is this. I was in shock for a while, and then once I took the news in, I pretty much just started crying and was in the fetal position for a while. I'm still taking it in because it only happened 2 days ago, but I'm super happy.

Steve: That's incredible. I couldn't be happier for you. I can't think of someone who deserves it more, everything you put into this entire process, the LSAT side, the admissions side. I'm just happy for you. I'm hoping you could backtrack a little and walk folks through your LSAT journey, take it from the top through to the present.

Annie: From the beginning, I'd already been out of school for 3 years at that point. I was fortunate enough to land straight from undergrad into a career representing New Zealand as a diplomat for a long time. I wanted a change in direction, and I knew law school would open a lot of doors for me. Looking into LSAT material, I started with the self-prep books, the big companies everyone knows, and got some results, but that's when I found your company, LSAT Unplugged, and started taking classes. I did the mastermind live classes, where we have access to you but also to a brilliant community of students prepping for the test on their own. Everyone was so helpful. You come to class with a question and get your experience plus everyone else's tips and tricks, and you find the approach that suits you best.

I started studying in March 2020. I had a mental breakdown right before the June exam, and I came to you about it. You so graciously replied very quickly. I was unsure whether I wanted to take the exam, I didn't feel ready, so I took a pause for a month. Then I took the October exam, my first ever take, and I was lucky enough to get a 153.

Steve: That was a fantastic score increase, 153 to 170, several months invested in the process. That was October, and we're now speaking in mid to late April, so about 6 months since you got that LSAT score back.

Annie: It's been a very long process. For future applicants doing this, the first thing is to get your LSAT score, and you feel such a sense of relief when you finally get the score you worked for. But after that comes the application, a different beast. I'm really grateful for everyone who's supported me through this process, but the law school admissions process isn't very transparent right now, so I hope this video gets some information out there.

Steve: I'm sure it will. Everyone's always so grateful when you share your insights in class, and it's great to have this for everyone else too. Can you share a little about what your classes are like? Your journey didn't end in October. Since then we've welcomed you into the LSAT Unplugged community, first as a student, and now as an instructor. Your classes have been so well received. What are your classes like, what do you do?

Annie: I teach both Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension. For Logical Reasoning, I teach a beginner foundations class where I go through every question type specifically and in detail, the tricks and tips for identifying the question, the little things I learned along the way, my personal approach. Then we go into the Socratic Review Method, which is unique to your course, where we look at real questions in real time and analyze why a wrong answer choice was attractive, why a right answer choice was right but also unappealing, and get into the test maker's mind and into each person's own unwarranted assumptions and habits of thinking. We weed out the habits of thinking that lead us to incorrect answer choices and write an individualized takeaway so we know to avoid the same mistake in the future.

Steve: I love that you've taken that on. The Socratic Review Method is unique to our course, and you walking students through it live is a great way for them to adopt it into their own review and studying outside of class. You're also doing the Reading Comp deep dive classes. Can you share a bit about that?

Annie: The Reading Comp deep dive classes are also really special. I give students around 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the difficulty of the passage, to read it in class, and then we immediately go into analyzing it: the main point, the structure of each paragraph, and then the different questions. I share how to approach a question depending on the question type, and then again analyze why each answer choice is right or wrong. That's the most important thing, back to that review process, breaking it down from beginning to end.

Steve: I'm glad you're doing those, and I'm excited for you with your journey at Stanford as well. What's next for you? Are you going to relocate to California?

Annie: Yes, I'm really excited. I've spent all my time in the U.S. on the West Coast, and now I'm excited to relocate to sunny California.

Steve: I couldn't be happier for you. Do you have any particular plans for your legal career, any areas you want to focus on?

Annie: I haven't decided yet. I have a strong passion for international human rights law because of some of the things I've been through, but I'm also open to antitrust law and intellectual property law, areas I've had exposure to through my previous work experience. I don't want to close any doors.

Steve: Good to keep it wide open. Things could radically change for you during law school as you get exposed to new areas. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to connect with me. Stay on for a moment after we end the interview, I want to catch up with you a bit more, but this was fantastic. I'm excited for you, I couldn't be happier.

Annie: Thank you so much.

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

More student stories: Zach, 151 to 176, Judy, 161 to 171, Columbia Law, James, 157 to 168, Natalie, 147 to 170, Kenny, 154 to 164, full scholarship All LSAT Unplugged 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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