All my new LSAT work is at LSAT Hacks.
Here are the main resources:
The articles on LSAT prep 180 are still valid. They’re what I thought when I made this site back in 2011. They may actually have some unique value, since I was still learning and so these posts are closer to the mindset of a student.
I’ve got a new LSAT website. LSAT Hacks has free explanations for LSAT preptest 68 and LSAT preptest 69. I plan to keep adding free explanations to the site.
I’ve also got pdf versions of the explanations. You can get full explanations for LSATs 29-38, and 66-68 as downloadable pdfs, which you can use offline or print.
For labor day weekend only, they’re 46% off. You can get explanations for 1300 LSAT questions for $37!
I won’t really be updating LSAT Prep 180, but you should go check out LSAT Hacks!
Master LSAT logic games by repeating them
I started working for 7Sage LSAT. I’ll write more about them in a future post. One of the reasons I was so excited to work for them is that they share my philosophy on logic games.
As an LSAT tutor, I got much better at logic games by doing them over and over again with different students. Every time I went through a game again, I would learn something new, and eventually I mastered all the games in LSATs 29-38, the book we were using at the time.
Once you master some games, you’ll learn the patterns that underlie all logic games, and you’ll be able to handle new games much easier.
7Sage has put this all into a handy video.
You can find the Free LSAT Logic Games Explanations at 7Sage’s website.
I would make a slight note to this video. You don’t want to be working purely from memory. You want to be learning how to find your way through a game. Ultimately, you will memorize a game’s answers, but the goal is memorizing the process of how to find those answers.
If you repeat a game and still have EVERYTHING memorized, then it’s better to wait a bit before repeating. If you’re stuck on a game, check out the explanations:
Update: Practice makes perfect. You can find lists of Most Strongly Supported and Must Be True questions here: http://lsathacks.com/guide/logical-reasoning/questions-by-type/
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People often confuse LSAT “Must be True” questions and “Most Strongly Supported” questions. Some companies even teach that they are the same thing.
The questions are pretty similar. But they are not the same, and knowing the difference can you solve some of the tough questions.
First, what they have in common:
So what the heck is the difference? It’s all in the strength of the deduction.
Do you ever find you don’t have enough time to do LSAT reading comprehension or logical reasoning sections?
You’re probably reading too slow…but you can learn to read faster.
My students who score 167+ generally have 5-7 minutes left over at the end of each section. They’re never rushed, and they can double-check hard questions afterwards.
Learning to read faster is a critical life skill. Law school has a lot of reading. And most jobs (including law) require you to read mounds of documents.
The US Congress is debating a bill that risks damaging the internet. I’m doing my tiny part to try and stop it.
Check out Wikipedia to read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Update: Now I sell explanations for many LSATs here.
Did you write the October 2011 LSAT? Are you thinking of writing again in December?
I’m sure you looked over your copy of the test, and tried to figure out where you went wrong. But you may not always understand why you were wrong. Sometimes you aren’t even sure why you were right!
There’s a better way. There are clear reasons why every answer choice is either right or wrong.If you invest a bit of time into understanding why the right answers are right, you’ll do much better on all future tests.
Luckily for you, I’ve written explanations for the entire exam. LSAT Blog published LSAT 64 about a week ago, and I got my hands on a copy. I worked through it as fast as I can, because I know there are lots of people trying to figure out how to do better in December.
Learn How To Increase Your LSAT Score
For $3.99, you’ll get complete explanations for every section. Use them with your copy of test 64 and you’ll learn why every answer is right or wrong. You’ll also get diagrams for every logic game.
There’s not much time left before the December LSAT, but these explanations will give you an edge. Study where you went wrong on LSAT 64, and you’ll learn how to improve your score a month from now.
Interested? They’re only $3.99. Here’s what to do:
How to Get the Explanations (Test 64 sold separately)
1. Click the buy now button below.
2. You’ll go to the payment page. Once it loads, you can pay using paypal.
3. Once you pay, you’ll get taken to the download page. You’ll instantly get a pdf copy of the explanations for test 64. They’re yours to keep and to print, and they come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
Want to score better in December? Just click the button below.
Note: You’ll need your own copy of test 64 for these to be useful.
I tutor people for the LSAT. Often, my advice on a specific question boils down to this (I don’t say it this way)
“Did you read all of the words and understand them?”
“No?”
“Well, see that word? It changes the meaning completely”
Student: Oh! There’s a “not” there. …now I get it.
Most people studying for the LSAT will find themselves in this situation. I’m in this situation sometimes, when I don’t understand a question (it happens, now and then). It’s not your fault: the people who write the LSAT are very clever. They write questions in such a way that makes it easy to miss words or misunderstand otherwise simple concepts.
If you’re stuck between two answers, there’s clearly something you don’t understand. Wrong answers are never “sort of right” (trust me on that one).
Most likely, you missed a word, or misunderstood a word. So when you’re stuck on the LSAT, tell yourself this:
“I’m smart, but clearly I’ve missed something. One of these is right, and one of these is wrong. I had better look over everything again, and forget the assumptions I have at the moment. Clearly they’re wrong or incomplete. But if I look at this with fresh eyes, I may be able to see what I missed.”
Don’t actually say that, it will take too long. But cultivate that attitude. It’s the attitude I have when I’m stuck, and it’s why I don’t stay stuck. There are reasons I do well on the LSAT, and that’s one of them.
Imagine two people studying for the LSAT. Here’s what they’re thinking while they’re doing the questions.
Person 1: *I hate the LSAT! Why is this so hard?*
Person 2: *Hmm, I wonder how this works. I don’t understand. But maybe if I tried this…*
Who do you think will do better?
Yes, the LSAT is hard. But if they made it easy, then everyone would get a high score and you still couldn’t get into Harvard. Worrying about how hard the LSAT is will not get you a better LSAT score.
Curiosity, however, will help you to improve. Approach the problems as fun puzzles to be solved. This may sound like the hardest thing in the world, but it works.
People who approach the LSAT as a problem to be solved don’t get tired when they write the test. You know that feeling you get on the fourth section, when you feel you can’t go any further?
Well, I don’t. And I never did. Even when I first started, even when I didn’t understand logic games, I looked at them as a challenge to be solved. That attitude took me a long way.
It’s not just me. My students who view the test as a challenge report that they don’t feel tired, either. How often do you get tired doing something fun but challenging?
If you’re not already there, change won’t come overnight. But work on seeing the LSAT as a fun challenge that will make you a better thinker once you master it. I promise you’ll do better as a result.
Update: If you liked this article, I now have a free five part email course with more info about getting a good LSAT score: http://lsathacks.com/email-course/
I’ve written explanations for LSAT preptests 29-38. They’re available for sale on LSAT Blog. For each question I’ve:
I know it’s hard to decide if something if useful without seeing it first. So I’ve posted a sample. The explanations for the first half of preptest 29 are available for free.
If you think the entire set will be useful, buy them on LSAT Blog.