Be Choosy about When You Select an Answer Choice!
For tricky questions, LSAT test-takers will sometimes select an answer choice they are unsure about, and then hang out in the question for another 30-60+ seconds, scanning other answer choices. Don’t do this! Each button you press on the LSAT should mean the same thing to you every time you click it. Unless you’re running out of time, answer choice selection should mean relative certainty. Having an answer choice selected unconsciously contorts the way your mind approaches the question: finding the right answer becomes confirming the right answer. That shift harms test-takers when the answer they picked was a “meh maybe.”
The Importance of Active Test-Taking
What do you do when you hit a particularly challenging question or reach an impasse between two answer choices? These moments often induce paralysis. The thousand-yard stare you get when you hit an unwieldy and impenetrable Logical Reasoning stimulus, wondering what the first move should be; the brain freeze that arrives when you realize Logic Game #3 is a miscellaneous mess; the yo-yo-ing back and forth between answer choice B and answer choice E, hoping that you’ll arrive at some moment of clarity where one emerges as the clear winner.
These freezes cost precious time. Let’s say you freeze up on three different Logical Reasoning questions in a section. That might cost you 90 seconds and might mean the difference between answering and guessing the last question on a section.
Training active test-taking strategies can help avoid these pauses. Take Logical Reasoning. Instead of staring at a hard stimulus, return to the basics and remember to be active: find the conclusion, find the premise, pick out referential phrases, maybe even try diagramming the author’s argument out using Lawgic. Yes, these things all take time. But they help channel your stress into steps that move you forward, closer to understanding and closer to a correct answer choice. Don’t spend 30 seconds gazing blankly at the screen. Spend it underlining the premise and highlighting the conclusion. Hunt for “however” and “therefore.” Return to the stimulus if you’re stuck between two answer choices. Keep your cursor and your mind moving, build active test-taking habits, and you can help avoid test-day brain freeze.