170+ SCORERS, HELP! My official scores never match my PTs...
TLDR: I'm looking for some sort of tutoring program/advice/strategy that can help me get my official exam scores to match the PT scores I'm seeing.
For context, I started studying in March of this year and my diagnostic with no practice at all was a 163. I felt confident that a 163 was a good starting point if not already a pretty sound score, so I started drilling and studying using LSAT Lab and Loophole. It was all self-studying, but I saw success as I taught myself the basics and raised my PTs to a 168 before I took the June exam. As I sat for it, though, I had a huge issue with timing (realized I was behind, read faster, understood less, re-read, took more time, endless feedback loop, etc...) and walked out feeling miserable. When I got my score back, it was a 163, and I hated that it felt like the studying had made no difference, but I blamed it on the timing issue and vowed to get better at pacing myself.
From June to October, the LSAT consumed me--it was all I thought about, talked about, breathed, ate, drank, etc. I got up into the 170s and then went as high as a 176 two weeks before the October exam. I was riding a high and feeling like my studying was really paying off. I walked out of the test feeling fine (neutral in the way you feel when you don't wanna jinx things, but definitely better than I had in June since this time I'd managed my time a lot better). I thought feeling neutral was better than feeling overtly bad, so I was sure it'd translate to at least a slightly better score. So imagine the gut punch when I opened my October results and there it was...once again..the dreaded 163...
It seems like I can't escape that number, even though in my PTs and in my drilling the scores are sooooo much better. So now I'm here seeking advice from other tortured souls. Has anyone had a similar experience? What did you do? I know it's not really possible to fluke into a 176--clearly I understand the test well enough to get there. But how do I get my real scores to reflect what I know is in me to accomplish? How do I break the curse of the 163? If you used a tutoring service or a study program that helped you really break that barrier and perform your best on test day, can you drop it below? Any advice or suggestions are also welcome. Help! Thank you!
Posted Nov 14, 2025, 6:58 PM UTC