Peter's LSAT Diary: 160 to 170

LSAT Diary, 2011

Peter started with a cold 160 diagnostic that later dropped to 158, then rebuilt his prep around Steve's 7-month study plan and tutoring. He scored a 170 on the LSAT, a 10 point jump from his original score.

• Starting score: 160
• Official LSAT: 170 (June 2011)
• What he used: Steve's 7-month day-by-day LSAT study plan, plus distance tutoring sessions with Steve
• Situation: recent college graduate, in graduate school with a part time job, engaged to be married
• Written: 2011

In Peter's words

I got my score back: 170. I was thrilled to have set a goal and reached it.

Peter

To do well also takes a willingness to work hard and stick to a rigorous schedule.

Peter

Study your wrong questions, work hard.

Peter

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. Peter's is here because it ends with a number: 160 to 170.

Underneath the score, it's about climbing out of 2 score plateaus (a diagnostic drop to 158, then a pre-test dip) using a structured schedule and tutoring, going from a cold 160 to a 170.

Written in 2011. 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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Peter's diary, as written

The Long Road to a Diagnostic

The LSAT has been an albatross around my neck since I was a freshman in college. After a poor academic showing in high school, I decided on law school and worked very hard to achieve an excellent undergraduate GPA. I faced a dilemma; with the test two to three years away, I knew from the beginning the amount of material available to study would be limited, and if I started too early, I would run out. I did have an advantage, however, because I could plan well and maximize my efforts. I took a diagnostic test (the preptest with the awful carwash game [Ed. PrepTest 30, Game 3]) and scored a cold 160. At this point I didn't know anything about percentiles, curves, or the schools I wanted to attend, I just knew I needed to put forth the best effort I could.

At one point in my senior year I was planning on taking the October LSAT, after accompanying my fiancee on a study abroad trip over the summer. This, as it turns out, was a mistake. I got very little studying done, but fortunately, what I did get through was from a Kaplan book, instead of wasting actual LSAC material before I was ready. When I took another diagnostic and dropped to 158, I knew I had to put the test off and make a real plan.

Finding Steve's Blog

Eventually, while browsing for study guides on the internet, I found Steve Schwartz and the LSAT Blog. Jubilant, I downloaded the guides, bought all the books Steve recommended, dumped the ones I'd been using, and planned on registering for June. When I did finalize a schedule, I bought the detailed seven month daily study guide. After researching schools, my goal was to earn a 170. I was in graduate school at the time, with a part time job, but I had enough time to study seriously. I think slicing the first few preptests up by question type was a great idea. I cruised through logic games (worst section on diagnostics), doing pretty well untimed. I got through logical reasoning, decently. I breezed through reading comprehension, my strongest section by far. By the point that I took SuperPrep exams A, B and C, I was feeling confident, and scored 164, 165, and 166, respectively. Better, but no cigar.

Climbing Through the Score Plateaus

I began taking full length practice tests and worked through them using Steve's guides and explanations. (I am not financially well off, but if you are going to go to law school, which entails large debt loads, the best investment you can make to go to the best school you can is to purchase the best prep materials you can.) My scores began creeping up, until a sudden drop precipitated worry. After my first distance tutoring session with Steve over the phone, I felt better and began scoring in the 167 to 169 range.

Things were looking up, until about two weeks before the test I reached a second trough of low scores. I'd read you should plateau at your goal score two weeks before the test. I had one more session with Steve and buckled down, taking a preptest a day. My last four of five tests, taken at the test site, were 168, so I thought I finally settled.

Test Day

I felt incredibly nervous the night before; I went to sleep early, ate yogurt for breakfast (courtesy of my fiancee), and stressed out at the center, warming up on recent preptests.

I took the long walk, and felt my heart in my throat until we started filling out the basic test information forms. I had practiced so much; this was just like one more lap around a track. I felt completely confident through the test, nothing untoward happened throughout. A miserable few weeks later, I got my score back: 170. I was thrilled to have set a goal and reached it, and felt more secure for law school. I give much credit to Steve for his guidance and advice, and my fiancee for all sorts of support, but to do well also takes a willingness to work hard and stick to a rigorous schedule. Study your wrong questions, work hard, and good luck in October.

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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