Hope you had a relaxing time with family and friends these past few weeks! But now it’s 2026!

What are your goals for the new year?

Some of you are starting law school in the fall and acceptances will start to roll in in the coming weeks and months (if they haven’t already!) But for others, you plan to start law school in the fall of 2027 and your LSAT prep is just beginning.  Here is a study guide for your next couple of months, along with some frequently asked questions. 

Common Prep Questions

How long does LSAT prep take?

For many students, LSAT prep takes 6-8 months of serious studying. That could mean planning to take the June test (with August as a backup as needed) or the August test (with September as the 2nd chance test).  Getting your great LSAT score finalized before applications open can give you the time to submit a great application early next cycle.

Whatever your goal, I’d recommend you DON’T sign up for the LSAT until you’re consistently scoring within your goal range.  Law school, applications and studying are expensive enough.  Many times people sign up before they’re ready and end up losing the sign up fee. 

The signup deadline is always 6 weeks before the test date, so once you're at your ideal score regularly, it's the perfect time to sign up. 

How much to study a day

For most people working full time or in school full time, 1-2 hours a day of prep during the week and then more during the weekend is a reasonable amount of time to study.  That should work out to 10-20 hours of prep a week. Of course, if you have more time to study, great!  But don’t burn yourself out - you guys are already juggling a lot of responsibilities!

For many people a slow and steady timeline of studying is more effective (and quicker!!) than to try to cram and crash and burn yourself out. 

6-8 Month Timeline

Master Logical Reasoning

June goal LSAT: Jan -> Feb; August goal LSAT: Jan -> March

I break things down into 14 question types, and I suggest mastering them each in order.  If you focused on a Q-type a week that would be about 3 months of prep for the LR, but of course you can go faster as well!  You should thoroughly know how to identify the question and how to answer it correctly before moving onto the next question type. 

1. Main Conclusion
2. Role / Method of Reasoning
3. Similar Role
4. Must be True
5. Most Strongly Supported
6. Point of Disagreement
7. Flaw
8. Similar Flaw
9. Strengthen
10. Weaken
11. Sufficient Assumption
12. Necessary Assumption
13. Principle
14. Paradox

Master the Reading Comprehension

June goal LSAT: March; August goal LSAT: April - May

Focus on reading for structure.  What is the main point of each paragraph? Don’t bother timing yourself, but you can start with the easier passages (generally passages 1 and 2), and as your accuracy improves start to introduce harder passages (generally passages 3 and 4).

For each answer you get wrong, go and find the correct answer in the passage!  If needed, you can even re-do a hard passage after you’ve taken some time off to forget.  The nuance and details of the passage will make so much more sense on the 2nd time through!

Putting it all together

June LSAT: April; August LSAT: May-June

Practice a section a day.  You don’t have to time it yet, we just care about accuracy.  You should review your wrong answers, and if needed, go back and brush up on how to approach any question types you’re struggling with!

Getting ready for test day!

June LSAT: May; August LSAT: June and July

How long does it take you to take a section with a high level of accuracy?  Now that test day is close, we want to shave a minute or two off your section time a week until you are at test day conditions!  In the weeks leading up to the test your PTs should be as close to possible to the conditions of the real test.

• Same timing as test day (either 35 mins / section, or 53 or 70)
• Similar location
• Study somewhere quiet
• Take it at the same time of day as your real test
• Have similar meals and sleeping conditions as you will for the real test

Good luck with your prep! Let me know how it goes!