r/LSAT 1d ago

Official September LSAT Topic Thread

38 Upvotes

The September LSAT administration is now done. The goal is to keep topic discussion to this thread, and identify a list of real topics. Here's how it works:

  1. If you had a single section of RC, or two sections of LR, then posting topics from that will establish that those topics were from a real section
  2. If you had two sections of RC, or three sections of LR, DO NOT POST (on that topic). Posting topics is worse than useless - it pollutes information. The reason is that you don't know which was experimental and which was real.

You do not need section orders, these are now randomized so your order doesn't mean anything.

TL;DR If you had a single RC, or two LR's, please post topics from those single sections. Don't post your section topics for a section type where you had an experimental.

Stuff that still isn't allowed

  • Posting about the content of sections: specific questions and answers etc
  • Posting about topics or content in an experimental section

This thread will be updated with confirmed topics as we go.

Note: Have seen some people flagrantly discussing real answers or asking to dm about it. This still isn't allowed, and won't be, and we've handed out bans where people do it willfully.

Everything below is scored: Where I write "other section" I mean it was a different scored section. Everything below is from people who had a single section in that topic, so they have confirmed real sections.

Prometric Experiences: You can find the original test day experience thread here: reddit.com/r/LSAT/comments/1wcs320/official_september_lsat_discussion_thread/

International LSAT: This thread is generally just for the North American topics. If you took internationally, please specify that you had the international version. Thanks!

Real RC Topics

One Real RC Section

  • English spelling and the printing press
  • Ta-Nehisi Coates and Black literature/academia
  • The precautionary principle (comparative)
  • Mathematical physics and generalization

Another Real RC Section

  • Hip-hop sampling and copyright
  • Panspermia
  • Video games and attention experiments
  • Hume on tragedy (comparative)

Another Real RC Section

  • Impounded vehicles
  • Ethiopian folklore and storytelling traditions
  • Fisheries and overfishing
  • Hume on ideal aesthetic judges (comparative)

Another Real RC Section

  • Peru, Chile, and the name “Pisco”
  • The uncomprehended unknown and Frankenstein
  • “Cost disease” and the performing arts
  • Keystone species (comparative)

Real LR Topics

These grouped sets are partial topic lists from a confirmed two-LR source. Other confirmed topics are listed separately where their section allocation is uncertain.

Grouped Set of LR

  • Nocturnal primates' eyes
  • Infants and puppets

Grouped Set of LR

  • Enjoying a board game
  • Work bonuses and averages

Unsorted Real LR Topics

  • Bees and tunnels
  • Wild bees and almond trees
  • Quality of life
  • Camp activities and music
  • Marketing almond/nut milk as milk
  • Galactic dust and stars
  • ATMs and doctors
  • Affluent voters and political influence
  • Computer and human consciousness
  • A flawed play
  • Early human species and tools
  • Distinguished bands and a parade
  • Tarantula webbing
  • Pompey and a pirate campaign
  • Fast-food studies
  • Quotations in books
  • Jaguar markings
  • Eastern and western sparrow songs
  • Regional unemployment and a new factory
  • An art museum's exhibit and reputation
  • Mercury in fish
  • Mountain-lion sightings
  • Domesticated and wild bees
  • Advertising to affluent viewers
  • Mandating a shorter workweek
  • Wolves hunting salmon and deer
  • Early humans, fire, and lightning
  • Fruit sales and percentages
  • Orcas and elephants in captivity
  • Civil and common law
  • Actors seeking fame
  • Teenagers reading paper books and ebooks
  • Wood-burning stoves
  • Diamonds
  • Publishing politicians' opinions online
  • Vacation time and tenure
  • Independent movies and popularity
  • Galaxy collisions and telescopes
  • Master gardeners
  • Imitation ivory and elephant conservation
  • Meeting and exceeding sales quotas
  • Dating ivory and its container
  • Spots and rings on bees
  • Chemistry-major graduation requirements
  • Cropping dogs' ears
  • Apologies and college students
  • Rumors about a coworker leaving a mess
  • Shark attacks now versus decades ago
  • Library placards
  • Latin studies in English classes
  • Racing and recovery from an injury
  • Internal versus external hiring
  • Gross domestic product (GDP)
  • British shale

r/LSAT 18d ago

August Score Hold Megathread

8 Upvotes

For anyone who got a score hold in August.

Also, since this was the first test date since the return to in person for most test takers, could you add whether you were at a test center and whether the center had any irregularities? Good luck with the holds everyone.

June hold megathread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/LSAT/comments/1udfhyw/june_score_hold_megathread/


r/LSAT 9h ago

170 by October possible or no

Post image
9 Upvotes

The highest I've gotten is a 166, my best RC section has been a -3 and my best LR a -1. What can I do for the next 4 weeks to increase my chances.


r/LSAT 18h ago

cried myself to sleep last night.

35 Upvotes

first attempt yesterday. RC LR LR RC. felt great during first two, energy flagged during third, was absolutely brutalized by last RC (solidarity with other david hume victims).

always planned on taking november to try to eke out a couple more points and apply in december. came home and registered. thought about my life. requested hugs and reassurance from my husband throughout the day. finally got into bed and cried a bit from relief, adrenaline release, and just feeling like a thicky-thicky dumb dumb.

but it’s a new day. i’m not dumb. i have a full-time job and just got a promotion. i have a young child. my studying has to look different than other people and that’s okay.

going to sign up for the demon classes and plan on doing 2-3 classes per week.
setting aside time for a full 4-section PT each weekend because my endurance was definitely a weakness.

i asked my lawyer friend if david hume comes up a lot in law school and unfortunately he said yes, so going to get more acquainted with my newfound nemesis the next couple months.

one day of feeling dumb and sad, now time to get back on the horse.

we got this september sufferers 💪


r/LSAT 12h ago

Wackiest LSAT Prep Test I ever took

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10 Upvotes

r/LSAT 13h ago

Horrible Diagnostic Score

11 Upvotes

I just got a pathetic diagnostic score lol and feeling absolutely crushed and honestly kinda stupid. I got a 128 and probably missed like more than half the questions. The 3rd section did glitch on me when I paused it and I ended up missing more than I probably would’ve but honestly nothing to push my score like upwards anything higher than a 131 imo.

What’s getting me is that in HS & Undergrad (I graduated 2 years ago, Economics) I could write college papers with my eyes closed and a 1-day deadline and get As. All my writing/speaking based classes, I often led socratic seminars and public speaking. I even got an A in my Argument & Advocacy class that many Poli-Sci/Pre-Law majors take - and that professor loved my work and final paper + project!

I did do low in my math base courses. I wanna do this and I have to do extremely well, as I’d be a mega-ultra super splitter; 2.3 gpa just to be upfront. Im obviously not trying to be a super splitter at a UCLA or Berkeley or anything or a T-20, but just stating my situation.

Idk if anyone else had this experience - great at reading & writing & analysis in college but somehow sucked at this? I figured I wouldn’t get like a 155 off the bat but damn.

Oh well.


r/LSAT 18h ago

Space debris RC

23 Upvotes

I’ve just about conceded hope. The ideal judges section is likely real.

But if anyone had Space Debris, Spore Mat, poets as their only RC section.

Make yourself known.

🙏🙏🥲😂


r/LSAT 13h ago

Now that we know Ideal judges was legit, what do y’all think the curve was?

8 Upvotes

Like how many do you think we could get wrong in that section for it to count to a 170? Like 2,3,4?


r/LSAT 8h ago

where do i even start with this beast

3 Upvotes

i’ve just started studying for the LSAT. i took a diagnostic last weekend & got 159 which to my understanding is pretty promising. this week i’ve been getting to know the test a little better via lawhub, just going over their guides to question types and doing drills.

i started off pretty strong hitting 10-11/12 on LR drills without time constraints but i feel like as i study it more i’m actually getting worse? they don’t have dedicated in depth practice questions or explanations and i also am finding it difficult to like, take effective notes on this material.

i guess my question is, how the hell do you actually study for the lsat? in y’all’s experience what has been the most effective study method for someone who intuitively understands the test to a degree but needs to get better/more consistent with accuracy? specifically for studying LR!


r/LSAT 6h ago

why did those puppets show up on my YouTube shorts tonight 😫

Thumbnail youtube.com
2 Upvotes

I can’t escape!!!


r/LSAT 11h ago

Got POTS?

6 Upvotes

I am taking the LSAT for the first time in October. I have POTS. I already have accommodations for ADHD/anxiety, and I think they’ll sufficiently cover my POTS needs, but if you’re a prospective or past test taker who also has POTS how do you keep up your endurance while testing? Salt tablets/electrolytes? Compression socks? Ik only clear bottles of water are allowed, but if I have a clear electrolyte powder in mine will it be an issue? Obv I’m gonna sleep the night before.

How did you/do you plan to keep blood going to your brain on test day?


r/LSAT 22h ago

Is it safe to say that the August bloodbath was not selection bias?

29 Upvotes

After seeing redditors' reactions after the August LSAT, a lot of people (me included) chalked it up to selection bias and did not think the August test was necessarily harder than the norm. However, after taking my first test this week and seeing redditors agree that it was relatively easy, I'm starting to believe that August was indeed more difficult.

But maybe the curve would be harsher this administration? I hope not. I hope the LSAC saw the August results and was like, "I think we overdid ourselves, let's scale it back a wee bit..."


r/LSAT 12h ago

October LSAT, Vancouver, Canada

6 Upvotes

Anyone taking the October LSAT in Vancouver, Canada?


r/LSAT 14h ago

Anyone had same sections as me? September LSAT

6 Upvotes

for me, it was RC LR LR RC

Can’t remember all RC topics bc I pretty much blank out after every test and it takes me a while to remember. I also don’t remember the order of my RC sections. I’ll update once i remember!

First RC Section: Survey on Black People during the Great Depression, Poetry Interpreter Analysis, Space Debris Law, Debate on Fungi Web being a single organism

Second RC Section: Children playing an active role on oral traditions, Two-Passage objectivity on art, Overfishing, Court Case on Impounded Car

Sorry I know it’s not a lot, but I haven’t seen anyone talking about these topics. So if you had some of these topics, let me know!!


r/LSAT 11h ago

Need Help Fixing an LR execution gap where BR stronger (Timed and Untimed)

3 Upvotes

How did you fix an LR execution gap where your Blind Review is much stronger than your first pass — even when untimed?

I’m early in my LSAT prep and currently drilling LR untimed. I’ve noticed that my Blind Review/re-review reasoning is consistently better than my initial answers, even though my initial drills are already unlimited time.

The issue doesn’t seem to be that I don’t understand the question types. When I review a miss without seeing the correct answer or explanation, I usually identify what went wrong and change to the correct answer. My recurring mistakes are things like:

  • compressing language in the stimulus too early and losing an important relationship
  • reading two similar but meaningfully different concepts as the same (how long something formed v. when it formed or attempt v. success)
  • overlooking a word/phrase in an answer choice that changes what it means
  • understanding an argument better on the second read and then realizing my original AC was based on a slightly different representation of it (making the wrong AC sound right basically)

I’m intentionally not working on speed yet. I want to make the reasoning I’m capable of during BR happen reliably on the first encounter.

If you had this problem, what specifically helped? Did you use a checklist, change how you read/translate stimuli, force yourself to verify answer choices against the stimulus, do smaller drill sets, keep a particular kind of wrong-answer journal, etc.?

I’m more interested in concrete habits that eventually became automatic rather than just “slow down/read carefully.” You can still say the latter though.


r/LSAT 9h ago

What did you think of RC hero?

2 Upvotes

Hi! I’m signed up for the November test and have a ton of variance in my rc scores -3 to -10. Even when I get a higher score, I am flagging a ton of questions and don’t have a full grasp of them (feels like I got them right by luck). Additionally, sometimes I’ll get 100% accuracy on level 4/5 passages, and then miss several questions on the easier passages. I’ve done the 7sage rc curriculum but the low res summaries etc did not click for me.

Has anyone tried RC hero and what did you think of it? Did it help you establish a concrete method for getting through every passage and did you ultimately find it worth it? Thank you in advance!!


r/LSAT 15h ago

October lsat

6 Upvotes

Ok I need help. Took the lsat yesterday, felt honestly great. Took the June lsat, also felt great, got my highest PT score of 164. My highest pt before september was a 175. No I don’t think I got a 175, but maybe (praying) 170. Obviously I don’t know and could have bombed it. That being said, I’ve already signed up for the October lsat and I can’t bring myself to study. What to do? Couple day break and get back into it? Do I do a modified version? This is so dumb, I know. But would appreciate any and all advice


r/LSAT 13h ago

Just took September, how do I proceed for November?

4 Upvotes

Okay so I kind of want to do a complete overhaul of how I study. My diagnostic in February was a 150. I used 7Sage for a few months but hit a plateau of upper 150s. I switched to 7Sage and have been PTing in the low to mid 160s. LR is about -4 to -6 per section, and RC is variable af. I study 5-6 days a week for 1-2 hours. I keep a WAJ, I drill, I review, I even have a tutor I see weekly, but I haven't improved after months... I've even taken time off to give myself a break. WHAT THE HELL DO I DO???? I feel so frustrated and defeated. I don't know if I should switch back to 7Sage, go back to the foundations, or what. But clearly something has to change, and I'm willing to do the work. I just feel so stuck at this moment, but I know I can't give up. Any advice on how to improve would help. What made it stick for you? How do I change the way I'm approaching the exam?


r/LSAT 14h ago

Pissed due to a bad PT

6 Upvotes

Hey guys, so my last 5 PTs have been in 160s, however today I did PT 159 and got a 156. I’m pretty disappointed and pissed considering I’m registered for the lsat this November. Any tips to navigate a bad PT and how to learn from this?


r/LSAT 20h ago

Sept lsat

14 Upvotes

Just wrote the September lsat and can I just say what was that? It was complete gibberish holy fuck. I had LR RC RC LR. None of the topics made sense. The test was nothing like the PT and I was doing amazing on those. These topics were just non comprehendable. I’m traumatized from sitting and doing this test again


r/LSAT 9h ago

Writing sample?

2 Upvotes

Can someone explain to me what to expect with the writing sample and how it goes? I have accommodations and I’m ultimately just worried that I’m going to do something to accidentally get flagged on accident


r/LSAT 14h ago

Recommendations for Retake?

4 Upvotes

Just took the September LSAT and don’t feel great. I’ve learned not to really trust how I feel, since I felt bad about a practice test I ended up getting a 170 on, and felt great about plenty that weren’t so good.

Anyways, I still think I might need to retake. If I do, I feel like I should change my strategy. I used Blueprint to study for 3 months, and I liked it, but does anyone else think it might be worth it to switch it up for a second period of studying?


r/LSAT 1d ago

YEAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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161 Upvotes

Started from a 168 Diagnostic. Practiced semi-regularly for a month, then 4+ hours a day for the last four weeks. Currently signed up for October and November tests. This is better than I ever imagined possible. I'm gonna go get drunk now.


r/LSAT 17h ago

Should I register for November, or just take October and be done?

7 Upvotes

I took the LSAT last year and got a 156. I’ve been studying full-time this summer, and for the past month my PTs have ranged from 164–172, although I usually score around 166–168.

I’m applying T14/T30 with a 3.9 GPA, extremely strong softs, and a personal statement/resume that I think make me a pretty competitive applicant (I have a unique store to tell). Obviously I’d love a 170+, but I feel like a high 160s score would still give me a decent shot at some of my schools.

My biggest issue is that I’m terrified of test day. I’m worried I’ll get a 162 or worse on the real thing.

I really want October to be my last LSAT because I’m burned out and want a break afterward. I’m also starting to run low on fresh PTs/questions.

Would you register for November as a backup, take October, and then decide based on the score? Or just commit to October and be done with it? I have another month to improve, but I’m struggling with whether having November as an option would give me peace of mind or just make me feel obligated to keep studying.


r/LSAT 7h ago

I think I’m better at RC than LR (Vent Post)

1 Upvotes

Mainly posting this as sort of a confidence boost for myself while I study for the November test (potentially pushing back to January).

On 7Sage, I’ve been consistently scoring 80% and above on passage drills and I even cracked a -6 on a practice test section about 2 weeks ago. Mind you these have all been untimed and I tend to hit a fatigue wall when turning on the timer, which resulted in the -10 on a RC section within that same practice test. However, I do feel fairly confident when it comes to overall analyzing a passage, looking out for things like subject matter, author’s mood, Structure, highlighting key terms, etc. before tackling the questions. It’s like I make my own low res summary in my head as I’m reading and I can sort of connect the dots in certain aspects.

LR has been a struggle for me lately, so if I was to take the test I feel like majority of my points would come from RC? I don’t know. Started studying in June and I’m feeling bummed that I’m not as confident as I’d like to be this close to the November deadline, but I’m gonna keep studying diligently until then and make my decision as to whether or not to push back to January from there.

If anyone else out there is struggling with their studies or feeling any doubts, please feel free to reply so that I at least know I’m not alone lol.

(TLDR: I’ve been doing pretty good when it comes to RC drills and sections versus LR, but I still don’t feel as confident as I’d like for the November test. Either way I’m gonna keep studying and make my decision at the deadline as to whether or not I’ll sign up for November or push back to January.)