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Zach went from a 151 diagnostic to a 176 in 6 months

Updated September 5, 2026 · Steve Schwartz

Student story

  • Starting score: 151 (diagnostic, May 2020)
  • First official LSAT: 169 (October 2020)
  • Retake: 176 (November 2020)
  • Study time: About 40 hours a week for the first month, then 25 to 35 a week for 5 months
  • Program: LSAT Unplugged course and coaching

In his words

I heard the typical line, that most people improve about 10 points. Within a month I saw a 10 point increase right off the bat. That told me 10 points is the bare minimum.

Zach

By the end I could read the stimulus and predict the answer choices before I got to them. It wasn't a trick. It just started clicking.

Zach

I kind of had the mindset that LSAC already had my money. A 169 was in line with my practice tests. A 172 could open so many more doors. What's a few more weeks of studying?

Zach

What actually moved his score

I've been coaching the LSAT since 2005, and Zach's jump is one of the biggest I've seen on camera. Watch the interview and you'll hear the 25 points come from 3 habits, in his own words.

He built the foundation before he touched a practice test. The first month was all concept work on Logical Reasoning, which is 2/3 of your score. Speed came after.

He reviewed harder than he drilled. Two or 3 practice tests a week, and the day after each one was review only. He traced every Reading Comprehension miss back to the exact line the answer came from.

He retook a good score. A 169 in October felt done. He took 1 week off, reinforced for 2 more, and picked up 7 points in November.

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

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Full interview transcript

Recorded November 2020, after Zach's November score came back.

Zach: I started at the end of May. I found your channel about 2 weeks into studying. I was trying to get a better understanding of necessary and sufficient assumptions, and I liked the content, so I ended up subscribing to the membership for a few months.

I'd heard the typical line, that most people improve about 10 points. But after joining the course, within about a month I saw a 10 point increase right off the bat. And I was expecting to study a lot longer than a month. So taking the course and then speaking with you opened my eyes: 10 points is the bare minimum, and I can achieve a lot more. From that point I set the bar a lot higher, just from the quick improvement I saw early on, building the foundation.

Steve: Thanks for sharing that. You had an incredible increase. Do you want to recap the numbers? The starting point, the middle, the end.

Zach: Sure. My first diagnostic was a 151. I took my first official LSAT in October and got a 169. Then in November I got a 176.

Steve: That's insane. 176 is within a fraction of the top 1% of test takers. You mentioned joining the course and the membership. What would you say is the biggest insight you got from working through the material?

Zach: A stronger understanding of the Logical Reasoning questions. When I first joined I understood most of them, but not to the extent I do now. By the time I was done with the course I understood them to the point where I could explain them to others. It was almost natural. Reading a question, being able to pre-phrase what it was going to ask, and then after reading the stimulus, being able to almost predict a lot of the answer choices depending on the question type. A lot of strides in Logical Reasoning, and a better overall strategy going into the exam, how to go about each question type.

Steve: The pre-phrasing is interesting, because it means you absorbed enough of the reasoning patterns that you could anticipate what was coming next.

Zach: When I first began your course, I remember you kept reiterating: see the patterns in the exam. I trusted that at some point I'd get there, but I never really understood what you meant. Then it started clicking. I'd be like, okay, this is going to be a main conclusion question, or this one's going to be supported, just from what the stimulus contained. Over time it naturally kicked in.

Steve: How many hours would you say you put in between May and November?

Zach: The first month was the foundation part. The first few weeks were probably 40 hours a week. Once I got to practice tests, after about a month and a half, I toned it down to 25 to 35 a week, because you kept mentioning not to burn out, and I experienced that for a couple weeks. I got a little sick during part of it. So 25 to 35 hours a week for the majority of the 5 or 6 month span. Mostly a practice test one day, review it the next day, 2 or 3 a week.

Steve: Was that difficult? That's a pretty grueling schedule for a lot of people.

Zach: I had a pretty clear schedule during the pandemic. But I really took to heart what you said about a thorough review process. That helped me understand and make strides, especially in Reading Comprehension. If you're not thoroughly going back and reviewing the questions you get wrong, you can't see where they're pulling the answers from, where they got that inference. It helped me understand that the main conclusion could have parts from the very first sentence all the way to the last sentence of the passage, and where each question type pulls its answer from. The emphasis on a heavy review process was essential.

Steve: Review is definitely the key. I say it all the time. I want to shift gears and ask about the retake. You took it in October, got a 169, and decided to retake in November anyway. It ended up being worthwhile, you went all the way up to 176. Why didn't you leave it at the 169?

Zach: I kind of had the mindset that LSAC already had my money. I had to sign up for November before I even knew my October score. And like you've mentioned a lot, schools really only care about your highest score. A 169 was right in line with my average on recent practice tests. My highest was a 174. I figured if I got a few points lower, like a 165, I don't think schools would hold it against me. But if I got a 172, that could open so many more doors. You'd said this multiple times and it made sense: what's a few more weeks of studying? I took a week off after October, then took it in the first few days of November. 2 or 3 more weeks of reinforcing what I already had. It was a no-brainer. I couldn't get a refund anyway. It ended up paying off.

Steve: Big time. 176. What's next? What schools are you thinking about?

Zach: I wanted the dust to settle with the pandemic. I'm holding off to apply in fall 2021 for fall 2022, making sure all my application elements are sound. I'm starting a legal internship at the end of spring to get some experience. I wanted to do in-person law school, and I wanted that to be more solidified going into the application process. My mindset before the 176 was to apply toward the beginning of the cycle. The 176 changes that element a bit. But there's no rush to apply to law school, in my opinion.

Steve: Agreed. You apply with a 176 at the beginning of the cycle and the world's your oyster. You could apply to any school and have a reasonable shot. Anything else you want to share with people studying now?

Zach: A lot of it is what you reiterated to me, and I'm just passing it on. Have a strong foundation before you get into practice tests. Have a strong understanding of the questions and what they're asking. Make sure you're doing the basics right before you get into timing.

Steve: I appreciate you coming on. Keep in touch, and send over your application essays when you're ready. I can bring them into one of the course workshops and you can get feedback from me and others there.

Zach: That would be awesome. The ones I had critiqued earlier were very helpful.

Steve: I'm really excited for you. Applying at the beginning of next cycle is going to give you a lot of options and a lot of scholarship money.

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

More student stories: Annie, 153 to 170, Stanford Law, 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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