Video summary

What It Takes to Score 175 | Thinking LSAT, Ep. 443

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas / lessons

1) What it takes to score in the 170s (and aim for 175)

The discussion frames “170s” performance as depending on three factors:

  1. Mastery of the English language

    • Not just knowing vocabulary, but reading with enough precision to navigate unfamiliar words and understand how phrases and sentences work together.
    • Students often make mistakes because they focus on one word instead of the context and meaning of the whole answer choice and the question.
    • Practical approach:
      • Read and re-read until sentences are fully unpacked.
      • Write/annotate mentally or in notes to enforce comprehension.
      • Refuse to just “keep reading” when something is confusing.

  2. Reasoning skills

    • Emphasized as “common sense” reasoning, but requires patience and close reading (not emotion/gut).
    • Key mindset for top scoring:
      • Get every question right one at a time, especially early in sections.
      • Scoring guidance discussed:
        • 175+ typically requires near-perfection, e.g., very few mistakes in the first ~10–20 questions.
        • You may not need to finish every question, but you can’t rack up multiple errors early.
    • No need for heavy formal logic skills:
      • No diagramming and no contrapositive knowledge required.
      • Correct reasoning comes from understanding limits of rules and applying them carefully (examples: state/town rule; “tee box” rule in golf).

  3. Willingness to work hard effectively

    • Not “hundreds of tests,” but deep review:
      • Do fewer questions/tests, then thoroughly analyze mistakes and figure out why wrong answers happened.
      • Repeat this cycle over time using the large set of practice tests.
    • “Effective work” includes humility:
      • Don’t argue with answer keys.
      • Learn from corrections and accept that the test makes sense even when confusing.

2) April 2024 LSAT: whether to register

General decision rule

  • Check recent practice test scores (not hopes).
  • Use LSAT Demon’s scholarship estimator:
    • Go to lsatdemon.com/scholarships
    • Enter expected scores and GPA to see whether you can reach schools at an acceptable price (including “free or almost free” options).

Advice on timing and cost

  • Avoid registering too far in advance if you’re not ready; it can cause:
    • taking the test underprepared, or
    • paying to change the test date (unnecessary if you wait and register closer to the deadline).

How close is close enough?

  • Within a few points of your target: consider registering.
  • ~15 points away: likely don’t register.
  • Middle-ground principle:
    • It can be worth registering if money isn’t life-changing and you’re willing to walk away if scores don’t pan out.
    • Be aware of potential lost costs if you later need to reschedule/withdraw.

3) LSAT test cycle timing (admin schedules)

Known announced dates in 2024 (per the episode)

  • April 2024: registration deadline Feb 29, 2024 (leap day)
  • June 2024: registration deadline Apr 23, 2024

They discuss uncertainty about fall dates, but predict:

  • there will likely be an August test, followed by at least two and likely three more later in 2024 to total roughly 8 administrations (pattern historically changes year to year).

Why they think LSAC delays announcements

  • They may be reacting to how many students register for each administration and coordinating with law schools/application cycles.

4) Email from “Anonymous”: should they take April given slow progress?

Context provided by Anonymous

  • Logic games is their “best section.”
  • Scores over time: 162, 161, 159, 163 (oldest to most recent).
  • Diagnostic starting point on Demon ~1 year earlier: 157
  • Goal: solid mid/high 170s
  • Asking if a big jump (to mid/high 170s) is feasible in ~1 month, and what schedule to use (they claim no work obligations).

Main conclusions from Ben and Nathan

  • A small improvement over a year raises doubt about achieving a ~10+ point jump in one month.
  • Even if games are strong:
    • Once games expire (end of testing cycle after August), high scores still require strong Logical Reasoning (LR) and Reading Comprehension (RC).
  • Their recommended next step isn’t generic more practice or tutoring immediately; it’s:
    • come to class / participate / ask questions, and identify what’s missing.
  • They emphasize the “quantity trap”:
    • Doing lots of questions without forcing deeper understanding doesn’t produce progress.
    • Progress comes from making yourself explain and debug mistakes, not just accumulate reps.

5) Email from “Logan”: speculation about changing Logical Reasoning in August

Claim discussed

  • People believe “experimental LR” is more formal, with diagramming potentially helpful, and more “must be true” questions.

Response / interpretation

  • They agree some experimental LR in the past looked like a hybrid between LR and games.
  • But they caution:
    • don’t start diagramming conditional reasoning in LR.
    • instead, you may see more benefit from “worlds” thinking (in-head scenarios), though they don’t advise diagramming.
  • On “must be true”:
    • They argue LR is already heavily must-be-true/fact-based in practice:
      • reading comp is mostly must-be-true,
      • LR has many must-be-true-related question types (must be true, supported, flaw/necessary assumption style, conclusion/role-of-argument questions),
      • even strengthen/weaken often requires identifying what must be true for the argument to work.
    • Students struggle with must-be-true because they aren’t trained for close factual reading; education style leads to speculation instead.

6) “What does it take to score 175?” recap (explicit checklist)

The episode’s core “175” recipe is:

  • English mastery (elite reading comprehension)
    • Navigate unfamiliar vocabulary via context/definitions.
    • Understand how words combine into phrases/sentences/arguments.
    • Don’t pick answers based on isolated words.
  • Reasoning discipline (patience + accuracy)
    • No formal logic diagramming needed.
    • Slow down, read carefully, and avoid gut/emotion.
    • Aim for extremely low early mistakes (near-perfection in first part of sections).
  • Work hard effectively
    • Use practice tests for targeted review:
      • fewer problems/tests + deep mistake analysis
      • repeat over time
    • Build humility:
      • accept corrections; don’t argue with answer keys.

7) FAFSA update (financial aid timing and “aid vs loans” framing)

Reported update

  • Department of Education delayed FAFSA release.
  • FAFSA expected beginning/middle of March, about 5 months behind normal.

Their emphasis

  • “Financial aid” can include grants (free) and loans (not free, with interest).
  • They strongly prefer distinguishing:
    • scholarships/grants vs loans
  • For law school:
    • FAFSA is framed as mainly relevant for loans, not scholarships.

Implications

  • Loan processing and financial aid offers may be delayed.
  • Students should be prepared for first-month expense uncertainty if relying on loans.

They also discuss how law school “tuition discounting” works:

  • Many students don’t pay full sticker tuition, because schools subtract scholarships/grants, while debt-funded living and loan costs still matter.

8) Listener questions on scholarships / tuition / debt

“Spencer” on scholarship matrices

  • Some schools appear to assign scholarship amounts based on discrete LSAT/GPA brackets.
  • Example: Wake Forest shows large scholarship jumps between LSAT points in certain GPA bands.
  • This is discussed as:
    • more transparent and predictable,
    • potentially “more fair” than arbitrary individualized bargaining,
    • but still not a substitute for a simpler tuition model.

“Anonymous” on transferring down due to debt

  • Story:
    • improved LSAT from 138 to 161, but took on significant debt by choosing a higher-ranked school without securing enough scholarship relative to living costs.
  • Advice given:
    • If debt is crippling and grades are only so-so, consider transfer down (to reduce cost).
    • Dropping out is presented as an option if it’s economically rational and the specific job goals don’t require the ranking they thought.
    • Check employment outcomes by contacting alumni with current experience for the job type desired.
  • Rule-of-thumb:
    • Don’t keep paying more “full cost” when it’s likely leading to worse outcomes.

9) “Tips from a departing Demon” and word of the week

Departing tips (Rick)

  • ditch timelines you’ve created mentally
  • study at least 1 hour, 6–7 days/week
  • trust the process
  • practice mindfulness/meditation/spiritual fulfillment
  • have a life outside the test/work

Word of the week: “milk toast”

  • Defined as timid/feeble (noun) or feeble/insipid/bland (adjective), described as “boring” in context.

Speaker(s) / sources featured

  • Nathan Fox (co-founder; host of Thinking LSAT podcast)
  • Ben Olson (co-founder; co-host)
  • Anonymous (listener email about April LSAT registration / logic games and score progress)
  • Logan (listener email about changes to LSAT Logical Reasoning)
  • Kate (listener who provided the “milk toast” word of the week)
  • Spencer (listener email about LSAT/GPA scholarship matrices; Wake Forest example)
  • Rick (credited in “Tips from a departing Demon” segment)
  • Department of Education (FAFSA delay source)
  • LSAT Demon / Thinking LSAT / LSAT Demon Scholarship Estimator (platform/tool referenced)
  • LawHub article about the FAFSA delay update (source referenced)
  • Freakonomics podcast study mentioned (source referenced)

Original video