StudyDuo
An LSAT study buddy helps most after the timer stops: in blind review, where you both redo flagged questions without the answer key and defend each choice out loud. Take timed sections alone. Find a buddy on the 7Sage forum's Study Groups board, in a pre-law society or on StudyDuo.
The LSAT as of November 2026
Through June 2027, the LSAT has four 35-minute multiple-choice sections. Two are scored Logical Reasoning (LR), one is scored Reading Comprehension (RC), and one is an unscored section of either type, with a 10-minute break after the second (LSAC). The logic games are gone: Analytical Reasoning was last given in June 2024 (LSAC).
Scores run from 120 to 180 and count correct answers only, with no deduction for wrong ones (LSAT scoring). LSAT Argumentative Writing is separate: 15 minutes of prewriting analysis and 35 of writing. It isn't scored, but LSAC won't release your score to law schools until an approved essay is on file (LSAC).
Since the August 2026 test, most people must test in person at a Prometric center. Remote testing is an exception for some medical accommodations and for people more than 180 miles or three hours from a center (LSAC). The remaining 2026-27 windows are January 13 to 16, February 12 and 13, April 8 to 10 and June 9 to 12, 2027 (LSAC dates). Registration for January closes on December 1, and scores come out 18 days after each window ends.
The format changes in August 2027. Unscored questions move inside the three scored sections, and RC comes first (LSAC, October 2026):
| Through June 2027 | From August 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sections | Four: two LR, one RC, one unscored | Three: RC first, then two LR |
| Reading Comprehension | 35 minutes | 52 minutes: 6 passages, 40 questions, 27 scored |
| Each Logical Reasoning section | 35 minutes | 45 minutes: 32 questions, 25 scored |
| Breaks | One, 10 minutes | Two, 10 minutes each |
The scored questions stay the same, 27 in RC and 50 in LR, and LSAC's LawHub gets practice material in the new format in February 2027. If you test in 2027, pick a buddy whose date falls on the same side of that change.
Where to find an LSAT study buddy
- The 7Sage forum. The prep company 7Sage runs a discussion forum with a Study Groups board. In November 2026, new posts there included city groups in Atlanta, the D.C. area and Edmonton and a search for partners in GMT+7. One Discord group was running Logical Reasoning every weekday evening (7Sage Study Groups). Put your test date, time zone and practice-test average in your post.
- A pre-law society. LSAC surveyed 15,483 people who tested in 2024-25 (LSAC Knowledge Report). Their most common source of advice about applying to law school was peers or friends (44%), and 20% had no one to rely on. A pre-law society is where those peers are.
- StudyDuo. Find Partners lists LSAT among its interests and searches by country and city too. For the defend step you need to talk: a 1:1 session is video with sound for two people, each with a verified photo. Do the timed sections in Focus Room, where mics stay off.
Match on score as well as date. Near the middle of the scale, a few points cover a lot of test takers (LSAC percentiles):
| Score | Share of scores below it, 2023 to 2026 testing years |
|---|---|
| 145 | 21.5% |
| 150 | 36.6% |
| 155 | 54.0% |
| 160 | 71.1% |
| 165 | 85.2% |
| 170 | 94.5% |
| 175 | 98.7% |
Going from 155 to 160 moves you past 17% of test takers. Pick a buddy whose practice average is within about five points of yours, so you both get stuck on the same questions.
Why explaining your reasoning works
Blind review with a partner rests on self-explanation: saying in your own words why each step follows. In 1989, Michelene Chi's team found that physics students who learned well from worked examples generated many more of these explanations than students who learned poorly (Cognitive Science). In a 1994 follow-up, 14 eighth graders prompted to explain each line of a text on the circulatory system gained more than 10 who read it twice (Cognitive Science).
A 2018 meta-analysis by Kiran Bisra and colleagues pooled 69 effect sizes from 64 reports, with 5,917 participants (Educational Psychology Review). Prompting people to self-explain improved learning by g = 0.55 on average. The size depended on what the comparison group got:
| Comparison group | Effect |
|---|---|
| No extra explanation | |
| A mix of comparisons | |
| A ready-made explanation | |
| Another study strategy |
Source: Bisra et al., 2018 (69 effect sizes, 5,917 participants)
The third row is the one for LSAT prep: explaining an answer yourself beat being handed an explanation. Reading the explanation first skips the part that does the work.
The closest test to Logical Reasoning comes from mathematics. Hodds, Alcock and Inglis worked with 76 math undergraduates at Loughborough University (Journal for Research in Mathematics Education). Half got about 20 minutes of self-explanation training and half a control activity, and then everyone studied a proof. The training taught them to trace the logical relationships between lines, and the trained group scored higher on proof comprehension (d = 0.95). In a third experiment, a 15-minute version done in a lecture still helped on a later test.
A blind review session for two
Blind review is a routine taught by the prep company 7Sage, whose LSAT Grader records both your timed and your blind-review answers (7Sage). With an LSAT study buddy, it becomes a session in five steps:
- Timed, alone. Take the same section under real timing: 35 minutes now, or 45 for LR and 52 for RC if you're preparing for August 2027 or later. Circle every question you aren't sure of, and don't check anything.
- Blind review, alone. Redo the circled questions with no clock. For each, write one line on why your answer is right and one on why your strongest rival choice is wrong. You may change answers.
- Defend, together. Take every question either of you circled. Whoever circled it explains first; the other argues for a different choice, even one they think is wrong, until the reasoning holds or breaks.
- Check, together. Open the key only now. Log three numbers: the timed score, the blind-review score, and the questions you got right for the wrong reason.
- Read the gap. If blind review fixes most misses, you lose points to time, so the next session is timed drills. If it doesn't, you lose them to reasoning, so the next session is more of step 3.
Keep step 1 solo even on video: nobody talks until the section ends.
What else to do together
- Name the argument out loud. For LR, one of you reads the stimulus and the other names the conclusion and its support before anyone reads the question. It's the same tracing of logical links that the proof training practiced.
- Compare passage maps. For RC, each writes a three-line map (the main point, what each paragraph does, the author's view) before the questions. Where your maps differ, review those questions first.
- Swap practice essays. LSAC asks you to take a position on a debatable issue and engage with three or four perspectives on it, and law schools see the essay. A reader can tell you whether you did both.
When to work alone instead
- Review turns into a lesson. If you spend sessions explaining what a necessary condition is rather than defending answers, book that lesson separately and keep blind review for blind review.
- Answers get checked early. Once anyone peeks at the key before step 4, the session tests memory of the key, not reasoning.
- Your formats split. If one of you moves to the August 2027 test, RC timing and order no longer match. LR blind review still works.
An LSAT study buddy is worth keeping while you both still circle questions you can argue about. More on running a pair, from quizzing to teaching each other, is in How to Study With a Partner. For the exam that comes after law school, see how to run a bar exam group.
FAQ
Can we do blind review on video?
Yes. Share the question on screen, keep the key closed until you've both argued, and turn mics on only for the defend step.
How often should we meet?
Once or twice a week works, since every session needs a fresh section and your own untimed review before you meet.
Does blind review work for Reading Comprehension?
Yes, but review a whole passage at a time. The questions on one passage depend on the same reading of the author's argument, so settle that reading before arguing about single questions.
What if my buddy scores much higher than I do?
Switch roles so the stronger one asks more and explains less: their questions still make you justify each answer. If the gap stays large, keep the timed sections together and find a closer match for review.
