What separates high LSAT scorers from low LSAT scorers? We get this question more often than almost any other, in many different forms: "do high scorers always start out that way?", "what are the secret strategies you used to get your 170+ score?", "what book should I buy to get a 17X?"

If there was a simple answer to this question, the LSAT prep industry wouldn't exist. However, it can be distilled down into four primary factors, each of which I'll explore in this article:

1. Their Natural Ability

2. Their LSAT Approach

3. They Study Hard

4. They Study Smart

Natural Ability

I want to make one thing very clear off the bat: this section is not first because it is the most important differentiator between high and low scorers. In fact, it is far and away the least important variable of the four discussed. I put it as the first category because it can be uncomfortable to discuss, and for your sake and mine, I think we should get it out of the way early.

So here's the lowdown on the role that natural aptitude plays on the LSAT: like any other skill, different parts of the LSAT can be easier for some people than for others right off the bat.

I only got 3 questions (out of 23) right on the first Logic Games section I ever took. For whatever reason, Logic Games just didn't mesh with the way my brain approached problem-solving. For the first 3 months of my prep, I was consistently running out of time and missing 15+ questions per section. However, I got better, and by the time my 4th month of studying rolled around, I was consistently missing under 10 questions per LG section.

To some people, even that's not particularly impressive. After all, after 3 months and hundreds of Logic Games, I had just gotten to the point that some people start out at. However, I kept working on it for the next 3 months. By the time I took my official LSAT, I hadn't missed a single question on the Logic Games section in weeks, getting a final score of 177.

The lesson here about natural ability is that while people often have very different starting points (people's first timed diagnostic scores can range from the mid 120s to the high 160s), the primary effect your starting point has is not on the final score you're capable of getting, but on how long your journey will be. It took me longer than most to get to -0 on Logic Games, but with some extra work, I got there just the same.

Remember, the LSAT is not an IQ test. It is a test of your ability to quickly and accurately perform the kinds of mental tasks you'll be doing as a practicing lawyer. It is incredibly learnable - moreso than pretty much any other standardized test out there.

LSAT Approach

Simply put, there is a right and wrong way to approach LSAT questions. Those who use the right strategies score better, and those who use the wrong ones score worse. Duh. This effect is more pronounced with different sections. Logic Games and Logical Reasoning depend very heavily on your approach, Reading Comprehension less so (although it very much still matters for all 3).

Some people prep by just taking Prep Tests all day until they "figure it out". Don't do this - even if you're Albert Einstein. Sure, with enough repetition you might stumble upon the right approach, but there's no reason to reinvent the wheel. There are literally millions of pages out there of research and writing about the LSAT (check out our other blog posts for the very best of it ;) ) done by people who have mastered this test and taught hundreds of others how to do it. You may save a bit of money trying it on your own, but you'll end up wasting hundreds of hours.

Study Hard

243. That's how many hours I put into studying for the LSAT. I took over 40 prep tests in that time. If you asked me to pick a single word that separates 170+ scorers from everyone else, it would be "repetition". You need to put in the hours to see results. As a rule of thumb, most people need between two and three hundred hours of drilling to achieve their maximum LSAT potential.

I'll distinguish between the two kinds of people who pull this off:

Group 1: The Kindergarten-JD High Achievers

These are the people that have maintained a 4.0 from elementary school through college. They are endlessly goal-oriented, almost to a fault - once they pick a task, they don't take their eyes off of it until they've conquered it. They probably made a Quizlet to learn shapes in preschool. If this is you, congratulations - as long as you have the right LSAT approach and give yourself enough time to study, you should have no problem with reaching your maximum LSAT potential.

Group 2: Everyone else

Unfortunately, not everyone can be a 12-term class president from 1st through 12th grade. For most people, myself included, studying for the LSAT will probably not come easily or naturally. It takes a lot of work (see next section) to do well on the LSAT. More importantly, it takes a lot of consistent work - you need to do it every day.

I'll be the first to admit that studying for the LSAT sucked sometimes. Especially at school, there are dozens of far more exciting things going on at any given time than sitting in the library in front of your laptop. All you need to do to overcome this is to ignore distractions, work hard, and grind and sweat until you get that 180.

Just kidding. As James Clear perfectly outlines in his bestselling book Atomic Habits (if you haven't read this book yet, you should!), willpower alone is unreliable. You'll be able to "just force yourself" to study maybe once or twice, but expecting to be able to do that every day for months is totally unrealistic. Procrastination is not a personal failure - it's a failure to design an effective study environment.

Think about it: if you've never been the kind of person who can do all their work without procrastination and study enough to get an A on every test you take, why would you suddenly develop that ability when you have to still do all that on top of studying for the hardest test of your life?

Nothing will change if you don't. As a lifetime procrastinator, I learned very early on in my LSAT journey that I could never trust my future self. Instead of counting on yourself to make the right choice later on, use your current state of mind to design an environment for your future self that will make studying a natural, easy choice, instead of one that requires immense willpower. Maybe wake up a bit earlier on Thursdays to study in the morning and allow yourself to go out guilt-free. Maybe leave your phone in another room while you study.

I could write a whole separate article about this topic (and probably will), but just remember that if you're finding yourself having to force yourself to get even an hour of prep in, or skipping it altogether, there are strategies and steps you can take now to change the entire course of your LSAT journey. Atomic Habits is a great place to start - if you're looking for some additional help with creating a plan for your specific situation (and getting some more information about specific accountability strategies), please don't hesitate to reach out to us at contact@apollotestprep.com.

Last but not least: Study Smart

In a perfect world, we'd have an unlimited amount of time to study and an unlimited number of prep tests to take. Unfortunately, most people don't want to spend years studying, and there are only about 90 publicly available prep tests for you to take. This means that we have to make every hour and every prep test count. Just taking prep tests is a great start, but unless you're actively reviewing and analyzing your thought process, you're leaving 80% of the learning you could get from each question on the table.

I've never met a 170+ scorer who didn't have some system for reviewing their work. At the simplest level, this means taking every test two times - once timed and once untimed, to give yourself a chance to review your own thought processes. We have all of our students start a journal for this purpose. It allows them to go back over every question they had doubts about slowly and methodically, making sure they're following the exact steps they should be following. Especially for students that are stuck at a plateau, the results can be staggering.

Regardless of how you're studying, always have a plan. At the beginning of each month, come up with a list of skills you want to improve, then create weekly and daily plans for achieving them. Usually, this process is made easier by following a self-study course or a book, which can provide this structure for you.

At the end of the day, just remember that, as Voltaire said, the perfect is the enemy of the good. Your review process doesn't have to be perfect for you to take your first prep test. You don't need to buy the same expensive books that got your friend's friend a score of 17X before you look at a single LSAT question. Yes, both of those things could certainly help, but you shouldn't be putting off your studies in pursuit of perfection. Plan ahead, but don't turn your planning into procrastination. Start simple, then expand and develop your study habits as you learn more about the LSAT and yourself.

Takeaway

Remember: most high scorers start out as low scorers. If you take away one thing from this article, it's that with the right approach to the LSAT, the right approach to studying, and many hours of repetition, anyone can master the LSAT. I know that a single article isn't long enough to spell out every strategy you should use to get your dream score. However, I hope these four points serve as guideposts for you as you create or adjust your LSAT study plans. Please don't hesitate to come back to it as many times as you need. As always, I'm always available at contact@apollotestprep.com to answer any questions that come up.