6-Week Study Plan for the LSAT

Did you realize that there are less than six weeks left until the next LSAT? If you are planning to take this test, you should definitely start thinking about a study plan if you haven’t done so already. Six weeks is a bit on the shorter side as far as study plans go, but it’s doable provided you can devote at least 15-20 hours/week towards LSAT prep. Be realistic – if you are a full-time student or work full time, chances are you cannot spend every waking hour doing Logic Games or Logical Reasoning questions. Nor should you have to; although the number of hours you spend training is surely important, what matters even more is how you train.

Here’s what you should be doing, assuming that (1) you aren’t taking a prep course; and (2) you have no prior exposure to the test.

To Do Now (or Yesterday)

1. Register to take the LSAT, if you haven’t already done so.
2. Acquire the Prep Plus Subscription from LSAC to start taking practice tests, ideally released no earlier than 2009. Having a hard time figuring out which tests are which? Check out our Comprehensive Law Services LSAT Publication Identifier List.
3. Take a practice test under real test-taking conditions. It’s important to have, “experimental” section to the test you’re taking. Our Testing and Analytics Package gives you the ability to do this with ease. Not only will that help you become familiar with the LSAT format and content, but it will also provide you with a baseline against which to measure your progress.
4. Purchase the following publications, which we believe are the best self-study LSAT prep guides you will find on the market today: The PowerScore LSAT Bibles

Week 1

Based on your practice test results, begin reading the LSAT Bible (Logic Games, Logical Reasoning, or Reading Comprehension) that covers the section you did worst on. Go to the Study Plans section on our free Self Study Site and begin working on the critical chapters. Do not take any practice tests yet. At the same time, begin reading the Bible that covers your second worst section. If you performed equally on all sections, start with the Logical Reasoning Bible, followed by the Logic games Bible, and end with the Reading Comprehension Bible.

Week 2

1. Continue reading the LSAT Bibles.
2. Take two full practice tests (ideally a newer test), making sure you take them under timed conditions.
3. Create a Word document or a spreadsheet in which you will list every question you miss on a practice test. Thoroughly review each test and enter any mistakes you make in your Word document or spreadsheet. Identify the type of question it was, and explain, in a few sentences, what made you choose the wrong answer. An entry should look like something like this: December 2006, LR 1, Q1: Main Point. The correct answer is (D), I chose (A). Chose the opposite answer due to competing viewpoints. In the future, pay attention to competing viewpoints in Main Point questions.

Week 3

1. Based on your performance in Week 2, consider purchasing the Workbooks that accompany the Bibles. The Workbooks are designed to test and reinforce the concepts and strategies in the Bibles. It’s (almost) like having a tutor design a set plan for hundreds of difficult questions and games.
2. Take three full practice tests, from four to five years ago.
3. Thoroughly review each test and enter any mistakes you make in your Word document or spreadsheet.

Week 4

1. Take two full practice tests, from three to four years ago.
2. Thoroughly review each test and enter any mistakes you make in your Word document or spreadsheet.
3. Examine all the mistakes you’ve made up to this point. Do you see any patterns? Are you missing a lot of questions with conditional reasoning stimuli? Numbers and percentages? How about Undefined Grouping Games? Or Science passages? Keeping track of where you constantly trip up will help you streamline your studies.
4. If you are a few points shy of your target scores in Logic Games or Logical Reasoning, consider investing in either the Advanced LSAT Logic Games Course, or the Advanced LSAT Logical Reasoning Course. Each course is offered on-demand, and is designed to help you destroy the toughest games or LR questions. It can easily make the difference between a good score, and a great one.

Week 5

1. Complete the Advanced-level course from Week 4, if you decided to take one.
2. Take three full practice tests, from one to two years ago.
3. Thoroughly review each test and enter any mistakes you make in your Word document or spreadsheet.
4. If you notice persistent patterns of mistakes that you cannot fix with the self-study guides, consider purchasing a few hours of LSAT tutoring. A tutor should not only be able to explain what you are doing wrong, but also help you fix the problem. Tutoring is not cheap, but the benefit usually far outweighs the cost, given the enormous value in salary potential of even a 3 or 4-point increase in your LSAT score.

Week 6

1. Take two full practice tests, make sure it’s a more recent exam.
2. Thoroughly review each test and enter any mistakes you make in your Word document or spreadsheet.
3. In the 3-4 days before the exam, review your Word document or spreadsheet and re-do every question in it, paying particular attention to the flawed logic that led you to choose an incorrect answer the first time around.
4. The day before the test, relax! Do something that makes you happy and don’t worry about the LSAT.

The Day of the Test

1. Eat a wholesome breakfast.
2. Do a few logic games to get your brain revved up.
3. Get to the testing center early.
4. Destroy the LSAT!