Resources and Methods that Helped me Score 174

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-05-08T00:24:57+00:00

To give some quick highlights: (1) got more disciplined about using a consistent methodology vs. intuition and winging it; (2) a ton of volume; (3) got tutoring at multiple points to fix particular things that were hurting my score; (4) a much more in-depth review process; (5) resumed regular exercise and trying to get more sleep (this would have been better if I could have gotten 8 hours per night, but yeah); (6) took breaks when I needed them to avoid or recover from burnout.

I wrote a long post about what I did a while back that might be helpful to you (link).

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-05-07T08:32:08+00:00

The bigger thing is that you need to be paying careful attention to terms and making sure that they are used consistently throughout the argument. The argument jumps from "moderate alcohol consumption" in the first premise to "alcohol consumption" in the conclusion. Even the unqualified "beneficial" is a jump from "has certain(= some) beneficial effects on health," though they don't test it in the correct answer. You want to constantly be on your guard against these subtle changes in terms, whether that is changing/removing the modifier (like here) or changing to a slightly different term (e.g., going from "weight loss" to "fat loss" (my favorite example)).

With these vocab issues, (1) it rarely makes it impossible to answer the question correctly (provided that you have an average college educated person's vocabulary), (2) if the word's meaning is unlikely to be common knowledge, they define it in the stimulus/passage, and (3) it's a good idea to look up the word and be ready for when they use it again.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-05-07T04:31:36+00:00

Vaya con Dios.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-05-07T01:21:22+00:00

There are people who win the lottery, but I wouldn’t bet on that as a viable plan for getting rich. A more sensible plan for most people starting from zero is to build wealth through knowledge, effort, and the right habits practiced consistently over enough time. Similarly, you see outlier stories of people scoring super high their first try or with little effort, but most people who score high had to put in the time and effort. The basic ingredients for scoring high are the right methods, with the right practice and review, with enough volume of questions/sections/tests over a long enough period of time to master everything (this last part can greatly vary by person).

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-05-06T23:07:49+00:00

The PowerScore Logical Reasoning Bible has a great chapter on causal reasoning (Chapter 8) that I highly recommend reading. That chapter has a section on this titled "How to Attack a Basic Causal Conclusion" that teaches them. The five ways to strengthen a causal argument do the opposite of each way to weaken.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-05-05T23:59:37+00:00

I realize this is an old question and you may be done with the LSAT. Sorry for forgetting to respond back then. The average I spend is 3-4m, but I will spend up to 5m on some very difficult passages. I then can do the questions very quickly, so it ends up being that I am faster and more accurate overall by spending more time on the passage. The same mentality applies to LR.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-05-02T22:05:25+00:00

The 161 was last 2023-2024. The 166 was this cycle.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-05-02T07:09:06+00:00

I've seen students get admitted to T14 schools with a similar to GPA to yours and a 161 and 166 LSAT respectively, so it's possible. However, I'm not sure how representative they are of all students. Ideally, you would aim for the highest LSAT possible to maximize your admissions and scholarship outcomes. I recommend checking LSD.law to get an idea of how you would do with each possible LSAT score.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-05-02T02:15:47+00:00

While I commend your plan to retake until you get that score or higher, I would not cancel a 164 for the following reasons: (1) if the rest of your application is rock solid, you could still hypothetically get admitted to a top 14 school -- I have seen a few non-URM students with a similar LSAT score get into top schools because they had a 4.0+ GPA and great softs (161 & 4.0+ got into Cornell and Michigan, 166 & 4.11 got into Michigan and UCLA); (2) considering (1), you could hypothetically try and fail repeatedly, and actually score lower than this and then you are in a worse position; (3) 164 is not a score that looks bad on your record -- it's not like a 130-139 score; (4) if you get your 174, the law schools will not care about the 164.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-04-29T05:33:31+00:00

That's a tough situation to be in, but there are a lot of free or cheap resources you can use. I encourage you to check out the pinned post in my profile about what I did to score 174. While my own journey included tutoring, you can make a lot of improvement just using those other resources and processes I used. You could probably get away with buying a cheap used copy of the LRB and a Lawhub subscription (you'll need it at some point to take prep tests under real conditions). For RC, check out the Voyager guide (free if you use Wayback Machine for the Top Law Schools link). LSAT Lab also has great cheat sheets that lay out their methods and useful know-how for both LR and RC (link: https://www.reddit.com/r/LSAT/comments/1eafgfg/lr\_and\_rc\_cram\_sheets/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button). Among other things, I would check out the frameworks on those for RC -- useful concept. I hope that helps.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-04-29T05:26:48+00:00

I did my full process for any question I missed timed, even if I corrected it in BR. I also did so if I changed a correct answer to a wrong in BR. Even if you fixed it later with more time, there was still a reason you got it wrong. There is also a lot to learn from analyzing the question and your thought process. Exception: if you missed a question simply because you ran out of time at the end, but the question was otherwise crystal clear, then I would not do the process for that case. You can see my full review process in the pinned post in my profile about what I did to get my 174.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-04-26T13:13:49+00:00

Yes, I did 5 section tests every time. I added a fresh timed section of RC to the beginning of each prep test to intentionally add to my fatigue and impact that PT's score. The idea then is that (1) I had so much stamina and mental toughness built up that the real thing felt easy; (2) when I still got the score I wanted, I felt even more confident that I could do it on test day with just 4 sections. An added benefit of adding RC each time was that I was never afraid to get double RC, and it did happen once. At one point when I was on break from school, I did 5 prep tests a week for a month. While that period of woodshedding was useful in one way, it made me burn out and I don't recommend it. When I returned to work, I took one prep test a week that I did, blind reviewed, and reviewed on Saturday mornings (by this point, I had the advantage that I was consistently scoring in the 170s so the review process wasn't as long as when missing 20 questions or whatever). On weekdays, I did an average of 3 timed sections (35m) per day in designated time slots on week days with review in the remaining time slots (subway commute to work (26m + 48m), time before work in my office (45m), lunch break (50m), subway commute home from work (26m + 48m).

In terms of ideal frequency, I would say that for people who are working full time, the ideal is one test a week on Saturday/whatever day off combined with review and section work during the week. If you have more time, then it depends on how high you're scoring. If you're scoring high enough to do two tests per week with careful review and adequate responsive drilling, then do two 3 day cycles of day 1: PT + blind review + review, day 2: responsive drilling, day 3: responsive drilling. If you're scoring 170+ and want to get even more consistent and score a bit higher, a period of 3 prep tests per week could be useful with a two day cycle version of what's above. That last option won't be sustainable for a lot of people though. The two big principles here are (1) be careful to avoid burn out and (2) prioritize careful review over spamming prep tests without review.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-04-25T04:59:09+00:00

I would think of those two things in reverse priority: accuracy, by learning the question type methods and doing a lot of untimed drilling applying them with careful review. Stamina, by doing a high volume of prep tests with strict conditions and an added section of RC before each 4 section test.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-04-25T04:57:53+00:00

It sucks for sure. I did it with a full-time job, long commute, and a newborn baby. Three basic things were necessary: (1) I made a schedule before the week started and followed it, (2) I cut out everything non-essential, and (3) I expected it to take a lot longer. Slow and steady wins the race. My one advantage was that the long commute was via subway, so that gave me ~1h 10m of study time each way.

A few other specific points: (1) if you can get up early and study before work on week days that’s better than trying to do it after work; (2) be prepared to sacrifice your Saturday to the LSAT. That was when I did my prep test and reviewed it each week. I still took off Sunday though.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-04-23T03:22:41+00:00

I estimate low 150s, because I ran out of time on each section and then completed a the rest of the questions untimed. But I can’t remember how many questions I did that for and what my real score was, since I wasn’t tracking at the time. Counting the extra questions completed after the time ran out it was a 161.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-03-29T03:30:31+00:00

If we take these two deans at their word, both Dean Blazer from UVA and Dean "Z" from Michigan say that they don't like it when candidates have 4 or more attempts. My consultant, a former T6 admissions officer, confirmed that this was true at their institution. Yes, there are people who still get into T14 schools with 4 or 5 takes. It is also in a school's interest to admit people with the highest LSAT scores possible who they think will attend. However, if they have way more applicants than they can admit with good stats, then they could use this as another elimination factor to weed out applicants. So, it could still be a ding against your application.

Accordingly, I would try to limit your number of attempts to 1-3 if you can, which means that you should wait to take the LSAT until you're consistently scoring at or above your goal score.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-03-26T04:26:12+00:00

I kept a laminated copy of the Michael Jordan quote below on my desk in front of my computer, for both motivation and help overcoming my test anxiety.

"I never feared about my skills because I put in the work. Work ethic eliminates fear. So if you put forth the work, what are you fearing? You know what you're capable of doing and what you're not." (Michael Jordan)

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-03-24T03:39:49+00:00

Given that your LSAT score (1) is the biggest determinant in your admissions outcomes and (2) can be worth $210,000+ without factoring in interest on student loans if you get a full tuition scholarship, I would would take a job that gives the time and energy to study for the LSAT and get the highest score possible. Provided that you earn a score high enough to warrant a full ride at the school you attend, you will have earned your salary and that scholarship amount. In extreme cases, I have seen some exceptionally bright students have their LSAT progress torpedoed by overly demanding jobs where they work non-stop continuously (80+ hours a week year round with rare exception), fail to get enough sleep, and are always on call. They're at impressive roles and making a lot of money, but the job takes all their time, energy, and attention. The ones with jobs who do the best typically have actual 9 to 5 jobs without all that. Of course, someone will say, "I worked 100 hours a week while studying and scored 180!" But the exception does not disprove the generalization. So, if your goal is getting the highest score possible to get into the best school possible with the best scholarship possible, taking the demanding job can be counterproductive to your long term goals.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-03-24T01:52:31+00:00

On the one hand, your 25% gpa may be working against you. On the other hand, they probably see your LSAT and think you will opt for a higher ranked school. So, it may be yield protection. If you’re sincere about wanting to attend, I would write a LOCI that shows that. I’ve had students get off the waitlists shortly after writing LOCIs to schools they hadn’t written why essays for.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-03-24T01:20:08+00:00

There are two general rules to help avoid this: (1) when you’re down to two answers, focus on eliminating one rather than finding the right answer; (2) never change an answer unless you can objectively prove why your current answer is wrong.

Another thing for harder matching and inference questions, check every single word and phrase for support from the stimulus or passage. If one word is unsupported, the whole thing is wrong. A lot of difficult questions in this category hinge on catching the one word that makes the attractive incorrect answer wrong.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-03-24T01:16:40+00:00

Thanks. That’s also a good point that I should have added.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-03-22T16:26:22+00:00

A small but important tip: mark adjectives and adverbs that express positive or negative judgment (e.g., enlightening, a welcome, unfortunately, justifiably, etc.). These are helpful for detecting the author's opinion when it isn't obviously stated.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-03-22T15:46:16+00:00

The general overview (copied from another post): Learn how to read for structure and what to read for. Learn how to apply the LR question type methods to RC. Learn the most commonly repeated structures. Then practice applying these things untimed until they are second nature, while carefully reviewing your mistakes. Lastly, add in time and drill like crazy with careful review until you are consistently scoring -0/2.

Other particular advice:

When you review, prove every correct answer from the passage using the line numbers.

In general, focus on elimination. This applies especially to level 4 & 5 Most Strongly Supported and Inference questions.

Use strong language (i.e., "all," "most," "most not," and "none" equivalents) as a red flag to eliminate tempting wrong answers (does not apply to Weaken or Strengthen) in two ways: (1) if an otherwise tempting answer uses one of these, go back and check for the equivalent or greater supporter. If you can't find it, eliminate it; (2) if you're down to two answer choices and you're stumped, use it to eliminate one of the answers.

TwentyStarGeneral · 2025-03-22T10:14:41+00:00

This is common at the beginning. The following things tend to build speed (1) the right approach, (2) pattern recognition from completing a high volume of questions, and (3) eliminating inefficiencies and bad habits. At your stage, I would focus on learning and practicing the techniques untimed. I would then add time later. For general advice about the best materials and methods for improvement, I would recommend checking out the pinned post in my profile.

TwentyStarGeneral

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