LSAT study plan for 5 hours a week
A 16-week plan for 5 hours a week. Slow, steady, and enough. About 80 hours total, estimate.
Plan tools: the study plan generator builds a custom schedule, and the free diagnostic finds your starting point.
Who this plan is for
This plan is for you if you work full time or carry a full course load. The schedule is two 1.5-hour weekday sessions plus one 2-hour weekend session. Small sessions done consistently beat big sessions done rarely.
The plan, week by week
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Weeks 1-2: set up
- Take the free diagnostic. Log misses by type.
- Learn argument structure: conclusion versus premises.
- One lesson per session. Do not rush the basics.
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Weeks 3-6: fundamentals
- Conditional logic: if/then and the contrapositive, on paper.
- Main point and necessary assumption questions, untimed.
- One concept per week. Drill 10 questions per session.
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Weeks 7-10: type coverage
- LR types, two per week: strengthen, weaken, inference, flaw.
- RC passage method: one-line summaries per paragraph.
- Keep drills short. Ten focused questions beat thirty tired ones.
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Weeks 11-13: mixed work
- Mixed sets of 10 LR questions, untimed at first, then loosely timed.
- One RC passage per session with its questions.
- Review every miss the same day.
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Weeks 14-15: timed sections
- One timed section per week. Review it the next session.
- Keep drilling your worst type between timed sections.
- Do not add hours. Add focus.
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Week 16: taper
- Light review only. Re-read your miss log.
- Rest the day before the test.
Rules for this plan
- Never do zero in a week. A 30-minute session keeps the streak alive.
- Put sessions on your calendar like meetings. Protect them.
- Review counts as study. A session of pure review is a full session.
- Do not compare your pace to someone studying 20 hours a week.
- Weekends are for the longest session. Guard that block.
Start with a real baseline
Every plan here starts with the free diagnostic. Know your starting score before you spend a single study day.
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- 20-hours-a-week plan - an 8-week plan for 20 study hours per week.
- RC-focused plan - a 10-week plan that puts Reading Comprehension first.
- LR-focused plan - a 10-week plan that puts Logical Reasoning first.
- balanced plan - a 10-week plan for even scores with no clear weak section.
- 5-point retake plan - an 8-week plan to gain about 5 points on a retake.
- 10-point retake plan - a 12-week plan to gain about 10 points on a retake.
- final month plan - a 30-day plan for the last month before the test.
- final week plan - a 7-day taper for the week before the test.
- summer intensive - an 8-week full-time summer LSAT plan.
- winter break intensive - a 4-week winter break LSAT plan.
- first week guide - a 7-day starter guide for your first week of LSAT prep.
Last updated October 12, 2026