LSAT error log

Why keep a wrong-answer journal

Most people review a missed question by reading the explanation, nodding and moving on. That feels productive, but it rarely changes what you do the next time a similar question appears. A wrong-answer journal asks for more: you write down what you missed, which trap caught you and what you will do differently.

After a few weeks the log stops being a list of mistakes and becomes a map. You will see that a handful of habits account for most of your misses, such as choosing answers that go too far or answers that are true but do not matter to the argument. Fixing a habit is far more efficient than relearning a hundred individual questions.

What to log for every miss

Log the miss the same day, while you still remember what you were thinking. Keep each entry short; a sentence is enough. The goal is a record you will actually keep up, not a perfect one.

• The date you missed it, so the retest dates can fill in.
• Where it came from, such as a PrepTest or a drill.
• The section and the question type.
• The trap: the kind of wrong answer you chose.
• Why you picked it: the thought that made the wrong answer look right.
• A rule for next time, written as one sentence you can apply to the next question of that type.

Retest on day 3, day 7 and day 14

Understanding an explanation on the day you read it is not the same as being able to solve the question later. That is why the sheet gives each miss three retest dates, three, seven and fourteen days after the miss. On each date, redo the question from scratch, then enter Y if you got it right or N if you did not.

A retest date turns gold when it is due and dark red when it is a week late, and entering Y or N clears the colour. A question you miss again on a retest is a sign that the rule you wrote needs to be sharper, so rewrite it before the next date comes up.

Reading the Summary sheet

The Summary sheet counts your misses by question type and by trap and shows how many retests are due. Look at it once a week. If one trap keeps rising to the top, spend your next study session on that trap alone instead of doing more mixed practice. Honest counts beat impressions, because the mistakes you remember are often not the ones you make most.

How to get started

Download the file, open it in Excel and read the Start here sheet. Then log the next question you miss. If you are building a study calendar around it, the study schedule builder will lay out the weeks.