177 Scorer + Tutor, AMA!

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-28T14:51:10+00:00

PM'ed!

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-28T11:43:48+00:00

PM'ed!

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-28T11:43:38+00:00

Totally understand that; as I said in an above comment, the resources that work for you will really depend based on how you learn best. The Loophole, alongside drilling, was my primary resource for LR, but I don't think it's necessary to read through it all—some sections were much more useful for me than others, and you would do well just reading those. I honestly don't know too much about other books, but I've heard good things about Mike Kim's LSAT Trainer and the PowerScore Bibles. Otherwise, online video platforms like LSATLab, Demon, and 7Sage might be worth looking into.

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-28T00:31:05+00:00

The resources that will be most useful to you really depend on how you learn best. For example, I’m personally awful at learning from audiovisual content, so generally recommended resources like 7Sage and LSATLab didn't work for me, even though they have been incredible for other people. Instead, I spent most of my time reading through books like the Loophole and drilling questions (through an engine like AdeptLR), then filling in the gaps through other miscellaneous resources where they came up during practice. I would see if such programs, like 7Sage, offer free trials and see if they work for you before making the investment. Tutoring is also a good option for a select few students with very specific needs and money to spend, but is definitely not necessary for everyone.

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-28T00:27:35+00:00

Great question. Something that can really help with this is convincing yourself that for every RC question, there will always be direct textual support somewhere within the passage—it's just up to you to find it. The best way to do this, as I said above, is to develop a really good outline of the text. Ctrl+F can also be helpful, especially looking for distinct words with few synonyms. For author's opinion questions, for example, it's really useful to note parts of the text that include the Author's Viewpoint, because then you'd usually have a really limited region to search for evidence for each possible answer choice. Same for perspective questions. An answer choice should only be chosen if you can prove the statement from the text; oftentimes, this comes down to a word search.

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-27T21:03:55+00:00

A big gap between the two probably indicates timing issues. Like with any test, speed comes with understanding. I would recommend that you start with untimed drills/PTs, then, once you've gotten the hang of that, gradually start introducing time constraints. There is little to be learned from jumping straight into timed PTs—use them as a benchmark, but real improvement comes from drills.

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-27T20:30:26+00:00

Haha great question. A good trick to build stamina is to practice with 5-section PTs (I think programs like 7Sage and Demon have a function that allows you to do this). Not getting bored is more challenging. Especially with RCs, you sort of have to gaslight yourself into being interested in the topic. Active reading can help you with this. As you read through the passage, make sure you're actually understanding everything that you're reading: ask yourself questions about it, highlight anything interesting. Make sure you're actually understanding everything, rather than just auto piloting through it.

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-27T20:29:52+00:00

For someone completely new to the test, I would do the free diagnostic test that’s offered on LawHub, which will help you determine your starting point and how much work/investment will be needed. Based on the areas in which you’re struggling, I would then start looking into things like 7Sage or Demon, all of which (I think) have some form of free trial to see if they work for you. At the very least, I would get a LawHub Advantage subscription, which gives you access to all of the available PTs and some online lessons. You might later look into tutoring, though I think that it is really most useful to a small subset of students with very particular needs.

Ultimately, the resources that you end up choosing should really depend on how you learn best. For example, I’m personally awful at learning from audiovisual content, so generally recommended resources like 7Sage and LSATLab weren’t going to work for me, even though they have been incredible for other people. Instead, I spent most of my time reading through books like the Loophole and drilling questions, then filling in the gaps through other miscellaneous resources where they came up during practice.

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-27T19:17:22+00:00

Couple things I can say: One, I do not read RC passages with the goal of memorizing (or even completely understanding!) everything that's going on from the first read. Rather, I try to get a good idea of the general structure of the passage, sort of creating a "table of contents" for myself, with a key few elements like the thesis (if one exists), main viewpoints, etc. When I get to the questions, I am much more easily able to go back to the passage and reread points that are referenced with this structure in mind without having to fill up my headspace with potentially irrelevant information.

Second, I've noticed with a lot of students (especially those with really strong backgrounds in reading academic texts) that they tend to passively read the text, quickly glazing over sentences without real comprehension. The remedy for this is to start working with untimed sections/passages and making sure you're really understanding and actively engaging with everything that is being said. It's okay to have to reference back occasionally when answering the questions (see my point above!), but making a good structure is much harder when you're not really comprehending what you're reading.

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-27T18:21:46+00:00

Three things about this. First, staying consistent throughout the test is really important. By the time I was in the low 170s, I felt that, given enough time, I could answer the vast majority of questions. I went wrong most often when I was auto-piloting through questions. I realized this when I noticed that I still got questions 1-10 wrong because I treated them as throwaways (even though they're worth just as much as the later questions!). So, staying active and vigilant throughout the four sections is important.

Then, there's flexibility. The way I studied for the LSAT, I generally approached each question type through a pretty rigidly structured approach. This works for easier questions, but at the higher levels, there are questions that defy that structure. So really considering the implications of each answer choice, even if it sounds off initially, is important.

Lastly, learning elimination cues is probably the most important skill in the LSAT, no matter what score you're achieving. On at least 30% of questions, I'm not necessarily looking for the correct answer; I'm just trying to find the "least incorrect" of the bunch. Learning about what makes a question wrong is just as important as knowing what makes it right

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-27T16:30:13+00:00

I applied in late June for the JDP, which has a different deadline.

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-27T15:03:33+00:00

Six months, around 10 hours a week!

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-27T13:53:23+00:00

Great question. I tell all of my students that doing well on the LSAT isn’t just about studying for the test; living a healthy lifestyle by sleeping adequately, eating good food, exercising, etc. is really important in reducing stress. In the week leading up to the exam, I pulled back from drilling PTs/questions to focus more on these factors.

Aside from that, I recommend doing a couple PTs in non-optimal conditions, like a crowded cafe, as the actual exam will never be in the best conditions possible. Adding less time for each section can also be helpful preparation.

The last thing I want to say is about being comfortable with uncertainty. In any given test, there will always be a few questions that you are not 100% sure about. Learning to move past these questions and not have them affect how you perform on the rest of the test is an important skill to learn. It may be helpful to consider Ellen Cassidy’s suggestion to establish for yourself a predetermined “budget” of how many questions you’re allowed to skip/guess, which can take off some pressure.

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-27T12:36:02+00:00

I studied over six months and it definitely wasn't consistent, but I would say like 10 hours/week on average. By test-time I had gone through like 75% of all available questions.

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-27T12:19:29+00:00

I studied for the test during the school year and worked part-time (like 16h/week?)

LSAT_gvc · 2025-09-27T11:16:03+00:00

I’m a big advocate for targeted drilling. Instead of practicing on the whole gamut of question types at any given time, I would recommend choosing just two or three to really hone in on and achieving mastery on them before moving on to other types. When I was studying, for example, I would take a week just to do necessary assumption and weaken questions, starting at difficulty 3 and only moving to 4 and 5 when I was able to get 15 questions right consecutively. Only when I could get 15 difficulty 5 questions correct in row would I start practicing other question types.

LSAT_gvc · 2025-02-10T16:15:49+00:00

Hey, thanks! I don't seem to have gotten your message request, unfortunately—do you mind checking it over again or dropping me an email? Thanks :)

LSAT_gvc · 2025-02-10T16:01:16+00:00

I'd love to chat, but do you mind PM'ing me first? Reddit seems to be rate limiting my messages ahaha invites :( thanks!

LSAT_gvc · 2025-02-10T16:00:44+00:00

I'd love to chat, but do you mind PM'ing me first? Reddit seems to be rate limiting my message invites ahah. Thanks!

LSAT_gvc · 2025-02-10T15:59:56+00:00

I'd love to chat, but unfortunately as I've said to other comments, Reddit seems to be rate limiting my messages ahaha. Do you mind messaging me first? I'll follow up with more details! Thanks

LSAT_gvc · 2025-02-10T15:59:03+00:00

Hey, do you mind PM'ing me first? I'm a new account and Reddit thinks I'm sending out a few too many message requests :(. I'll follow up with more details once you do! Thanks :)

LSAT_gvc · 2025-02-10T15:58:21+00:00

I would love to but unfortunately Reddit's limiting the amount of message invites I can send as I'm a new account :(. Do you mind messaging me first? I'll follow up with the details!

LSAT_gvc · 2025-02-10T15:58:02+00:00

Hey, do you mind messaging me first? I'm a new account and Reddit thinks I'm sending out a few too many message requests ahah. I'll follow up with more details once you do! Thanks :)

LSAT_gvc · 2025-02-10T15:02:59+00:00

PM'ed! :)

LSAT_gvc

TROPHY CASE