LSAT Blind Review: How to Do It and Log Your Errors

LSAT blind review is how you turn a practice test into a study plan. You take the test timed, then redo the questions you weren't sure about with no clock and no answer key. A practice test is only as useful as the review after it, so give the review a system.

1What LSAT blind review is, and how to spot when you need it

Blind review means re-solving before you check. You go back to every question you marked as unsure, work it again untimed, and settle on an answer without opening the key. Only after that do you look at what the test says.

Use it after every practice test. A score tells you how many you missed. It doesn't tell you why. Blind review separates the misses caused by speed from the misses caused by skill, and it catches lucky guesses that hide a gap.

A question belongs in your blind review pile if you weren't sure of it, even if you think you got it right. Mark it during the test. A question you were sure about and got right can stay closed.

2The method: the five-step practice cycle

Do these in order, every time.

1. Take it timed. Mark every question you weren't sure of.
2. Blind review. Redo the marked questions untimed. No answer key.
3. Score both. Write down your timed score and your blind-review score.
4. Log each miss. For every miss, record the question type, the trap, why you picked it, and a fix rule.
5. Re-drill. Practice the question families you miss most.

The blind review steps

Step 2 has four steps of its own:

1. Redo each marked question untimed.
2. Write why your answer is right.
3. Write why each other choice is wrong.
4. Only then open the key.

Writing it down is the point. If all you can say is "it felt right," you haven't reviewed anything.

How to read the two scores

Once you have both scores, compare them.

The comparison tells you what to practice next. A speed problem needs process work and timing practice. A skill problem sends you back to learn the question type before you drill it again.

The error log

Every miss goes in the error log. One row per miss, all in one place. The Question column is just where the question sits in your own practice test (section and number):

A paper notebook works. So does a spreadsheet. Pick one and keep every test in it.

3Worked example 1: the answer that sounded certain

This question is made up for this guide. It is not from a real test.

Take a necessary assumption question about a fictional town library. The argument: more families borrowed books from the Ridgemont library last year, so the library should stay open longer on Sundays.

In the timed section you hesitate between two choices and pick (D): "All Ridgemont families who borrowed books last year would visit on Sunday if the library were open longer." You mark the question and move on.

Blind review. You redo it untimed and write why your answer is right: "The argument needs families to actually show up." Then you write why each other choice is wrong. When you reach (D), the sentence stalls. The argument never says all families. It only needs some of them to come on Sundays. Negate (D): "Not all of those families would visit on Sunday." The argument still stands, so (D) isn't necessary. You write "(D) goes too far" in the margin. Now you open the key, and (D) was wrong.

Log it.

You didn't write "careless." You named the trap and wrote a fix rule you can use next time. For the method behind this question type, see LSAT necessary assumption.

4Worked example 2: the lucky guess

Another invented one. This time it's a reading comprehension passage about a fictional lighthouse restoration project. One inference question leaves you stuck between (B) and (C). You pick (C), mark it, and move on.

You get it right on the timed test. A student who only reviews misses would close the book here.

Blind review. You redo it untimed and try to write why (C) is right. You get as far as "it seemed like the one that was true," and stop. You try to point to the lines in the passage and can't. (C) is true in real life, and that is why you picked it. It happened to be the answer the test wanted, but your reasoning was the Extra fact trap, and next time it could cost you a point.

You reread the passage, find the two sentences that support (C), and write them down. Then you check why (B) fails.

Treat it like a miss and log it.

A lucky guess is a miss waiting to happen. The log is where you catch it.

5Traps that look right

Name the trap, then skip it fast. These three are easy to fall into.

Peeking. Checking answers before blind review ruins the test. Once you've seen the key, you can't tell whether you would have gotten the question right. Blind review only works if you decide first.

Only the misses. Lucky guesses that were right need review too. If you study only what you got wrong, you skip the questions you got right for the wrong reason. Example 2 shows how that happens.

"Careless." That's not a cause. Name the trap you fell for. "Careless" tells you nothing about what to fix. "Too strong" or "Extra fact" does, and it points straight to a fix rule.

6Your checklist

Before you call a practice test done, check each of these:

• Unsure questions were marked during the test.
• Blind review is done before the key.
• Every miss is logged with a fix rule.

Your two scores tell you whether a miss is a speed problem or a skill problem. For the speed side, read LSAT timing strategy. If a flaw question keeps showing up in your log, LSAT flaw questions covers that family.

If you'd rather build the habit with a group, see the group courses.