Max's LSAT Diary: 155 to 176

LSAT Diary, 2013

Max cold-scored a 155 on a free proctored LSAT as an undergrad, then 3 years later, laid off and debt averse, built his own free study plan from LSAT Blog. He worked section by section starting with logic games on his way to a 176 on the June 2013 LSAT.

• Starting score: 155
• Official LSAT: 176 (June 2013)
• What he used: self-built schedule using LSAT Blog's free study schedules and logic games explanations
• Situation: Recently laid off, debt averse after paying off undergrad loans, studying while training for the San Francisco marathon.
• Written: 2013

In Max's words

Think about solving the LSAT like a complex problem that you solve in pieces.

Max

I never felt rushed on any LR section on test day.

Max

I heard that learning logic games yields the quickest results and is therefore the most rewarding.

Max

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. Max's is here because it ends with a number: 155 to 176.

Underneath the score, it's about building a free, self-taught study plan section by section, starting with logic games.

Written in 2013. Logic Games comes up a lot; that section was removed from the LSAT in August 2024, so treat those parts as history. Everything else still applies.

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

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Max's diary, as written

Part 1

As a young kid, when I'd argue with my mom, she would always tell me (backhandedly) how I'd make a good lawyer someday. So law as a profession was always somewhere in the back of my mind.

Deciding to self-study

I studied science at a strong university in the West, but when the prelaw society announced a free LSAT exam, proctored and everything, I took the chance, never having studied before or even knowing what types of questions they'd ask. I got a 155.

Three years later, I had recently been laid off from a job and had money saved up, so I decided to study for the June LSAT, and train for the San Francisco marathon.

Having recently paid off my undergraduate student loans, I was (and still am) very debt averse. So I knew that, if law school was going to be an option, I was going to have to be a strong applicant and receive some serious amount of scholarship. I graduated from a very well-respected college, but with a fairly (for law school applicants) average GPA. So I figured I would have to do exceptionally well on the LSAT to have a good chance at scholarship.

The money issue also meant that I wanted to try studying without an expensive study prep course. If I didn't do well, I was at least willing to consider getting a job, then taking it with the help of a prep course.

I had a few friends who had taken the LSAT in the last few years. I asked for their advice. Some of them had taken a prep course, some of them hadn't. Those that had always vehemently recommended a prep course. Those who hadn't always vehemently recommended taking lots and lots of practice tests. I wanted to create my own schedule.

Using the blog

LSAT Blog was, for me, unique and extremely helpful. Especially:

1. As a resource showing how other people in a similar position to me approached the LSAT
2. It gave me sample LSAT study schedules to choose from
3. It had excellent logic games explanations
4. It was completely free

At first you are going to get a lot wrong, and that can be disheartening. Don't get discouraged. Think about "solving" the LSAT like a complex problem that you solve in pieces. Go section by section. Within each section, go weakness by weakness. First I worked on learning each section. Then I took practice tests. First I focused on logic games, then logical reasoning, then reading comprehension, because I heard that learning logic games yields the quickest results and is therefore the most rewarding.

Logic games

Basically everything I learned about identifying and solving the standard games (sequence, linear, in/out, grouping), I learned from this blog. I started at the beginning of the blog's LG section, and went straight to the end. To refine my skills and speed, I would work on LG sections from the earlier tests to preserve later tests as full practice tests.

Logical reasoning and reading comprehension

For me it helped to know whether I was taking something from the argument and applying it to the stimulus question, or vice versa, and doing a bunch of problems over and over and going back and checking every single one.

Toward test day, I was getting 99% of all the questions I wasn't sure about right. That feels good. After that, the problem with LR was speed. I read a post on this blog (perhaps another LSAT diary) that recommended doing 5 problems in 5 minutes. Then 10 problems in 10 minutes. Then 15 in 15 minutes. By the end I could do around 20 in 20 minutes, and other than on what turned out to be the experimental section of the actual test, I never felt rushed on any LR section on test day.

Like logical reasoning, I made the most progress on reading comprehension, not from learning strategies, but from doing them over and over. As the test day approached, RC had gone from the easiest section for me at the beginning, to the most difficult (likely because I had gotten better at the LR and LG). Most of my troubles stemmed from being rushed and somehow not ever being able to understand what the writers of the LSAT claimed was the "main point" of the passage.

Part 2

Test day results

My entire test average (not including the original 155) was about 169, with a high of 176. By the end, getting over a 170 was not a surprise, and getting below a 170 was a bit of a disappointment. My score on the actual test (176) was the same as the highest practice test score I ever got, and I think I only got that score once, and felt like it must have been a fluke. This is worth noting, because I was told by a few people (including an admissions officer at a law school) that I should expect my actual test score to drop as many as 5 points from my average practice test score. In the same way that your test score can be lower than you might have expected, it can also be higher. I was hoping for a 172.

Lessons on stress and structure

Stress practice tests! Stress keeping strict time limits! Time limits require discipline, and it was hard for me to learn, I took it in steps. When I first started taking practice tests, I would give myself enough time to finish, and record the extra time in notes (for example, "for LG: -2 but with 5 extra minutes"), but by the end I was very strict with the time requirements, even if I had to guess on the last few problems.

Be organized. This, I think, will be the best thing for your sanity and your score. Well before you plan to take the test, determine how long you have. Determine how much you'll have to work each day. Determine what you'll work on each day. Then record your progress as you study. If you develop a system and believe in the system, I bet you'll do better, and I bet you will feel better about doing it. I recorded all of my work and progress, especially with the practice tests.

After I took the test, I wasn't sure how I had done. I answered all of the questions, and even had time to go back on a few of the sections. I was extremely surprised by my score, and feel very grateful to have it over with and not have to go through the studying process again. I texted my score to a friend who just finished his 1L at Harvard and had given me some pointers along the way. His response: "It is a testament to the fact that hard work pays off." I like that.

Other things that helped

I would have read more argument-based essays on the side.

I would have meditated more to practice focus (like awareness and breathing-based meditation).

I'm so happy I was training for a long run at the same time. It allowed me not to obsess too much about the studying and gave me a daily physical outlet.

I'm so happy that most everyone around me kept reminding me that this test is not even close to the most important thing in life (even if, as one friend joked, "one point can mean a difference of $50,000").

After the test, I donated what small amount of money I could afford to Steve for his efforts with this blog. It wasn't anything close to the value of the blog for me. It's so nice that there is at least one free resource out there for people who want to study for the LSAT. Thank you Steve.

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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