The 7Sage Podcast

The 7Sage LSAT Podcast

The 7Sage Podcast is your guide to every stage of the legal journey. Each week, the 7Sage team is joined by admissions experts, current law students, and practicing attorneys to cover LSAT strategy, law school admissions, surviving 1L and beyond, and what it actually looks like to build a career in law. Whether you're staring down your first PT or studying for the bar, you'll find something here.

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20 episodes
Updated July 27

Episodes20

Newest first

July 27 · 1 hr 5 min
LawHub's Tester Changes Again, and How to Crack Conditional Logic
There's a change to the LSAT testing interface that most other platforms haven't adjusted for yet, and if you're drilling anywhere but 7Sage or Law Hub itself, you're training on an easier version of the test than you'll get on test day. Kevin breaks down exactly what's different, down to the highlighter tool and how answer choices behave now. Then Harvard quietly dropped one word from their essay prompt, and the panel spends way too much time (and way too much fun) trying to figure out why. Later, Miranda joins as our Student of the Day. She's gone from a 139 diagnostic to 159, and she's stuck on two things: conditional reasoning and how to write about her accomplishments without sounding like she's bragging. The panel walks through both, plus how to build a personal statement that actually shows growth instead of just listing it.
July 20 · 56 min
Why AI Essays Don't Get Into Harvard
A stack of applicants with 174-plus LSAT scores, all rejected from Harvard. The common thread? Most of them wrote their essays with AI. In a new format, the team digs into what actually separates a strong application from a competent one. The team hears from Jo, a Canadian applicant in the high 170s aiming for a 177 with her sights on Stanford and Toronto, and provides her with advice on how to make her application its strongest. Plus, you'll hear why AI raises the bar instead of clearing it for you, how admissions officers catch an essay the moment it stops sounding human, and why the perfectionism that wins on test day can sink your personal statement.
July 13 · 52 min
Zero Offers to Full-Ride at Berkeley Law School
Jehieli went from a 148 to a 176 on the LSAT, had her score held, was waitlisted at Yale, and negotiated a full-tuition offer from Berkeley Law, all as a DACA recipient ineligible for federal aid. In this episode of the 7Sage Podcast, she walks through her three-cycle admissions journey: choking on a practice test, breaking into the 170s, a Sotomayor sighting at Trader Joe's, and the reconsideration letter that turned a $0 aid offer into a full ride.
July 6 · 58 min
This Risky Essay Got Him Into a T14 Law School
Bailey and Ethan start in the 7Sage forum: whether it's ever too late to start law school, how to think about the October LSAT timeline, why studying less can actually raise your score, and the real answer to "should I cancel my 158?" They also unpack a quiet red flag that sinks strong applications, including why quitting your job to study can backfire even with a 174. Then they talk to Jacob, an unrecruited walk-on goalkeeper headed to Michigan Law. He breaks down his LSAT score cluster, his 3.93 GPA, and the essay almost everyone would tell him not to write: a perspective statement on Israel and Palestine, written less than two years after October 7th. Jacob explains why he wrote it anyway, how he handled the topic, and why the risk paid off, plus how a soccer story about a five-foot-nine walk-on keeper became a pitch for a career in sports and NIL law.
June 29 · 45 min
The Wedding That Got Her Into Notre Dame Law
At a friend's wedding reception, Ariel struck up a conversation with the groom's brother-in-law about his first semester at Notre Dame Law. That one conversation ended up shaping the most praised Why Notre Dame essay the 7Sage admissions team had seen. But the road there was rough. She signed up for the LSAT before she was ready, studied for four months, and improved exactly two points over her diagnostic. Then she took it again and scored worse. A year in Taiwan later, she scrapped every bad habit, rebuilt her process around real blind review and a wrong answer journal, and walked into test day at 172. In this episode she breaks down the exact shift that moved her score, why her first personal statement draft sounded fake, and how she chose Notre Dame over Georgetown. If you have ever wondered whether a rough start means law school is off the table, this one is for you.
June 17 · 1 hr 13 min
How Patience Got Her Into Michigan Law | The 7Sage Podcast
Leah was 35 and a decade into a political career when she decided to go to law school. This episode follows her whole journey, from that first decision to a 173, a T14 acceptance, and a major scholarship at Michigan. Ethan Madore traces the long runway she gave herself to study, the wrong answer journal that finally made things click, and the two disaster test days she pushed through anyway (a flooded house, a security check stuck on loop). They get into why her strong GPA from 2013 changed her score math, how she and the 7Sage team built a personal statement that made her make sense on paper, and the waitlist visit to Ann Arbor that turned into an offer. Plus how she handled scholarship negotiation without overplaying her hand. If you are a non-traditional applicant, or wondering whether waiting a cycle is worth it, this one is for you.
June 10 · 50 min
Admissions Isn't Fair (& What You Can Do About It)
Is law school admissions actually fair? Ethan, coordinator of 7Sage's admissions program, sits down with writing consultant and Yale Law grad Pauline to grade every part of the application against a four-part test of fairness. They rank the LSAT, GPA, resume, and essays one by one, and the results aren't pretty. Along the way: what Ethan found when he researched the backgrounds of 59 current Yale Law students, why your GPA might say more about your school's grading policy than about you, the two types of people who end up at top law schools, and the real reason "just be yourself" is both the best and worst advice in admissions. Whether you're applying this cycle or just starting to think about law school, this conversation will change how you read your own application.
June 4 · 58 min
129 LSAT to Penn Law: 5 Tests, 5 Essays, and a Shed in Nepal
Vivienne started with a 129 diagnostic, took the LSAT five times, wrote every optional essay Penn offered, and got the call from the dean of admissions. In this episode, she breaks down what actually moved the needle: study groups, JY's explanations, morning gym sessions before work, and a whiteboard full of scores she refused to forget. Plus her unforgettable personal statement, navigating a public interest narrative while working corporate, and what it means to leave everything on the field. Start your own LSAT journey at 7sage.com. Create a free account and take a practice test today!
May 26 · 59 min
New Features with J.Y. Ping & Kevin Lin; Aseman's Journey to 179; Admissions Q&A
This week we go deep on what's new at 7Sage and what's keeping admissions officers up at night. J.Y. and Kevin join to break down two big releases: the AI Coach, which surfaces tutor-level feedback on your timing, pacing, and study plan inside your subscription, and 7Sage's redesigned digital tester built to match the new August LSAT interface. If you're prepping for August or later and still using the old tester, you're handicapping yourself. Then tutor Aseman shares her LSAT journey: a 159 diagnostic, a brutal 168 plateau, and how she broke through to a 179. We talk about why progress isn't linear, what it feels like to stop letting a score define your identity, and how she's thinking about Canadian vs. US applications this cycle. In the admissions segment, Ethan tackles listener questions on one of the most competitive cycles in recent memory. Why did application numbers spike, what does "why law" actually need to do in your personal statement, how to divide labor between the personal statement and the diversity statement, what reapplicants need to know about whether schools reread old files, and whether a strong upward GPA trend can rescue a below-median cumulative.
May 21 · 38 min
Special Episode: Everything Changing About the LSAT (New Updates from LSAC) with Kyle McEntee
The LSAT is getting a major overhaul in August 2026, and Kyle McEntee from LSAC came on to walk us through all of it: the new in-person testing requirement, distance exemptions, the first-come-first-served scheduling window, and what the test capacity question means for you. Kyle also gets into why the LSAT looks the way it does and what it's actually measuring, why "test optional" lost steam almost as fast as it gained it, and the story behind Law School Transparency, the org he founded back when schools were quietly claiming 95% employment rates. Plus his take on why he doesn't care whether you go to law school, as long as you're saying yes (or no) for the right reasons.
May 18 · 1 hr 9 min
What Admissions Officers Really Want, Plus Jake's Road to Texas Law
Three segments this week. Alex tackles a listener who scored 150 on their first timed PT after six months of studying, with hard truths about blind diagnostics, anxiety, and why waiting only makes it worse. Bailey talks with Jake, a 7Sage tutor wrapping up 1L at Texas Law, about diagramming struggles, working through ADHD, the overlap between LSAT skills and law school thinking, and the advice he'd give his pre-law school self. Then Bailey and Ethan get into admissions: whether a graduate degree is a hook or a debt, what yield protection actually means and why schools deny applicants who'd "just" treat them as a safety, and how to write a personal statement that signals what admissions officers really want to see.
May 11 · 1 hr 1 min
Sydney's Path from 155 to T14; Admissions Q&A with Ethan Madore
Three segments this week. First, Alex and Bailey break down how to translate the densest, most convoluted answer choices on the LSAT into something you can actually evaluate. Then Bailey sits down one-on-one with Sydney, now a 2L at Duke Law, to hear how she climbed from a 155 diagnostic to a 179 and what changed in her prep along the way. We close with Ethan Madore, Director of 7Sage Admissions Consulting, joining Alex and Bailey to answer admissions questions from the 7Sage community.
May 4 · 34 min
Phoebe's Journey to 173: How a Screenwriter Cracked the LSAT
Phoebe wasn't planning on law school. She was working in entertainment in LA when a friend half-jokingly suggested they study for the LSAT together. She took a diagnostic, scored a 163, and was hooked. Four months later, she sat for the real thing and walked away with a 173. In this episode, she breaks down how a screenwriter's brain took to the LSAT, the study habits that actually moved her score, why she resisted the wrong answer journal at first (and why that was a mistake), and how to find the "LSAT thought" even if it doesn't come naturally. Plus: how AI's collision with copyright law pulled her toward law school in the first place.
April 27 · 33 min
Sean's Path from 153 to 173
Alex sits down with Sean, one of 7Sage's tutors, to walk through his LSAT journey from a 153 diagnostic to a 173 official score. Sean talks about discovering the LSAT through a Christmas gift prep book, splitting his studying across two stints separated by a semester abroad in Spain, and what it was like to score below his practice tests on his first official exam. He and Alex dig into managing LSAT prep alongside a full college courseload, why a longer timeline took the pressure off, and how he broke through the high 160s plateau by drilling full LR and RC sections every day. Sean closes with his philosophy as a tutor and his single most concrete piece of advice: do five flaw questions a day.
April 14 · 51 min
What Your Law School Won't Tell You About Loans
Getting into law school is one thing. Figuring out how to pay for it is another. In this episode, Alex sits down with Leah Young, Student Success Resource Lead at Juno, a company that negotiates private student loan rates on behalf of borrowers to help them get the best deal possible. Leah brings 18 years of financial aid experience, including time as a law school admissions and financial aid director, so she knows this world from both sides of the desk. They cover where to start once you have your acceptance letter, the key differences between federal and private loans, what's changed in the last year, and why avoiding the whole thing only makes it worse. Plus, Leah explains how Juno helps students find the best possible private loan rates at no cost to you. If student loans have been the thing you've been putting off thinking about, this is your sign to stop. Get PrepTests, drills, lessons, and an automatic study scheduler at 7sage.com Resources mentioned in this episode: Credit Guide for Students | Maximize Private Loan Access | Juno https://joinjuno.com/guides/credit JD Loan & Budget Planner https://juno.us/jdcalc Law Resources Hub https://joinjuno.com/resources/law
April 6 · 30 min
The Truth About Diagramming
Alex and Bailey are joined by Kevin Lin, 7Sage's senior content creator, to tackle one of the most debated topics in LSAT prep: conditional logic and diagramming. Is diagramming a must? A waste of time? Somewhere in between? Bailey shares what it was like to resist diagramming through most of her own LSAT journey and what she wishes she'd known sooner. Kevin breaks down why even students who "get" basic conditionals can get tripped up by the harder stuff on test day. And all three push back on the idea that 7Sage is all diagrams, all the time. Whether you're just starting out and feeling overwhelmed by sufficient and necessary conditions, or you're deep in your prep and wondering if your current approach is holding you back, this episode will help you figure out where diagramming fits in your studies.
April 3 · 7 min
Why Did My PT Score Drop 11 Points? | The Short Cut
You've been grinding through your LSAT prep and finally start seeing scores in the mid-to-high 170s, only to fall back to the high 160s on your next practice test. Sound familiar? In this episode, Alex and Bailey break down a question from a student dealing with exactly that kind of score variance. They discuss what's behind those frustrating swings, how tension and underconfidence can quietly tank a score, whether a partly fresh PT can inflate your results, and what you can actually do to build consistency when you're trying to break out of a plateau. If you've been stuck in a score range and can't figure out why your best performances aren't sticking, this one's for you.
April 2 · 5 min
"What Should I be Doing Right Before Test Day?" | The Short Cut
Feeling burned out right before test day? In this episode, Alex and Bailey tackle a question from Sharon, who's been studying for six months and has hit her target score on multiple practice tests but is battling mental fatigue with the April LSAT just days away. The hosts share practical advice on what to do (and what not to do) in the final stretch, including how to structure light study sessions, when to stop taking full practice tests, and why this last week is more about protecting your score than improving it. Bailey also shares a candid look back at her own LSAT journey and the lessons she learned the hard way across four attempts.
April 1 · 4 min
Hitting Target Time on RC Passages | The Short Cut
Just finished the LSAT core curriculum and frustrated that your Reading Comprehension timing isn't where you want it yet? Alex tackles a question from Zach, who's been drilling for a few weeks but can't hit the 8:45-per-passage average. Alex's honest answer: it's going to take time, and that's completely normal. No gimmicks, no shortcuts, just the reassurance that consistent daily practice is the only thing that actually works. If you've ever felt behind on your LSAT prep timeline, this one's for you.
March 30 · 7 min
How to Stop LSAT Perfectionism (and Improve Faster) | The Short Cut
Perfectionism can be your biggest enemy on the LSAT. In this episode, Alex tackles a question from listener Mia about how to handle frustration and discouragement when missing questions during study sessions. Alex shares a personal story from his own LSAT experience and explains why the perfectionist mindset, while it may have served you in other areas of life, can actively hurt your score. The key mindset shift: a wrong answer isn't a setback, it's one of the most valuable learning opportunities in your prep. Tune in for practical perspective on how to build resilience, stay focused on the bigger picture, and turn every mistake into forward momentum on your path to law school.