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Karl!

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LSAT · Burnt Out and struggling to start studying again!
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Karl!
Yesterday

I rarely did more than an hour a day, but I made that hour count as best I could. Like others have said, if you think it has to be an 8-hour slog, you probably wont do it.

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LSAT · How to get better at answer level 4-5 questions?
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Karl!
4 days ago

It's hard! All I can say is that if you've got it at 50/50, you've missed something. It takes me a long time staring at questions before I can eliminate some 50/50s. I think today one took me 10+ minutes.

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LSAT · How do you improve TIMING?
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Karl!
5 days ago

Hot take incoming: timing issues don't exist. You just don't understand what you're doing so it takes longer than you'd like. If I tried to put on makeup, I'd be slow. I don't have a makeup timing issue; I do not know how to put on makeup. If I knew how to put on makeup, I would not be slow. Speed is downstream of skill.

Yes, perhaps there are edge cases where someone is skilled but extremely anxious or something and knows they have the right answer but keeps re-reading anyway. If you're blind reviewing 180s we can consider that possibility, but almost nobody is doing that.

When you're drilling, disregard how much time it takes. Solve the question. For PTs, they aren't there to make you better, they are there to measure your progress and make you familiar with the time limit. On the actual test, yeah, you can't spend 10 minutes on a single question. I don't think there is any formula for knowing what to do on a real test.

To put this in perspective, if you're scoring in the 150s, you're rushing through and missing 20-30+ questions per test. Why rush through easy questions and get them wrong just so you can also get the hard questions wrong?

I have never considered how much time it took me to answer a question beyond roughly using it to indicate I was missing something and need to refine that skill.

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LSAT · How to get more comfortable with getting questions wrong?
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Karl!
5 days ago

@sol_chan Dis is great. Getting questions wrong simply doesn't matter much and doesn't make you a failure. You can always get better if you devote yourself to it.

Putting what sol_chan said in different words, do not overvalue individual data points. Getting a question wrong is just a data point that shows you have something to learn. Don't allow yourself to make major pronouncements on the back of bad, temporary data.

Just because you miss a question, or you're currently stressed or sad or anxious, does not mean you will always be that way. Remember that what you think and feel changes over time and what is going on in your head right now isn't that important at the end of the day. Make little bits of progress every time and you'll get there.

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General · Running out of Questions?
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Karl!
5 days ago

Maybe. Make them count, take your time answering.

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LSAT · Tips for Weaken Questions?
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Karl!
5 days ago

Do you have any examples? If you can strengthen you should be able to weaken without much trouble. If you're being asked to weaken there is a flaw in the argument, and you're being asked to poke at that flaw and expose it or make it worse.

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LSAT · Help with a couple of things!
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Karl!
Edited 5 days ago

One thing to ask yourself with necessary assumptions is, "necessary for what?" Necessary for the argument to work.

In other words, assume the argument is true. It is the real world, or one possible universe we are imagining.

"Tom is the best person to be thrown off of the bridge."

Assume that argument is true/valid/reality. What must also be true? One possibility might be: "Samantha is not the best person to be thrown off of the bridge." In a universe where Tom is the best, Samantha cannot be the best.

In another sense, if the argument is true/works/valid, the NA is something that must also be true. This is how the "negation test" comes in. If a NA (which must be true for argument to work) is not true, then it calls into question the argument. If Samantha WAS the best person to be thrown off the bridge, then how can Tom be the best to be thrown off the bridge?

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LSAT · HELP: Having *Too Much* Time & Unable to Effectively Double Check Answers
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Karl!
5 days ago

I had the same problem. I still do, but it is less than before. You might need to be a super genius to remove that problem completely.

One tip I have is be kind to your working memory. Stop at the end of every sentence, or every comma, and make note of what you know and do not know.

"Marion will be a suspect only if it is decided that the murderer wore red."

Ok. So if they decide the murderer wore red, Marion COULD be a suspect. Red is necessary, not sufficient to make Marion a suspect. If they do not decide the murderer wore red, Marion is not a suspect. It isn't that the murderer actually wore red, only that it was DECIDED that they wore red. Got it.

^I make notes in my head like that as I go. I find the going quickly is where you clog up your memory and make a bad mental pathway that you fall into even if you try re-reading.

Do you find that you read answer choices and think, "Huh, is this a problem/idea I didn't think of" and then go back and look for evidence in the passage? I do that more frequently now that I am better.

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LSAT · (Please Help!) Large discrepancy between Raw score and Blind Review
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Karl!
Thursday, Feb 05

This is a great problem to have. 177 BR is excellent.

The more that you answer questions, the quicker you will be at solving them. I don't think you need more theory or lessons, you just need to grind away at questions. Keep taking your time and solving them.

It may not be obviously intuitive why slow and solving works when ultimately you have time pressure on the real test. It works because when you go slow, you catch the patterns, flaws, intricacies, the ways in which LSAC wanted you to misinterpret a statement, etc. When you go fast, you never map those out completely.

When people go fast and miss lots of questions, it is kinda like going into a dark room and feeling around for stuff. You might get the thing you're looking for, but making a map to use in the future is really hard.

Going slow and solving the question and breaking down the passage\answer choices is like turning the light on. You can look at the room and see the layout and the structure and say, "I see how they did this. I know why this works, and I know why those don't. Easy pattern." From there you can take that on to the next question. Over time, you can figure things out quickly and know exactly what you're doing.

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Admissions · 4.0 MAX GPA Scale
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Karl!
Wednesday, Feb 04

@Sunnieqw22 You're welcome! With a good LSAT, 3.8 is absolutely competitive at most schools.

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LSAT · SCORING LOW ON PT
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Karl!
Wednesday, Feb 04

You should probably not take the test rather than putting an LSAT in the 130s-140s on your record. There is no reason to take the LSAT and score 130 anything, it can only hurt you. Study a bit everyday and don't sign up for tests until you're ready for them.

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Admissions · Personal Statement
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Karl!
Wednesday, Feb 04

Your topic should be something that enables you to portray yourself the way that you want to be seen. If you just write about a thing, even if you find it interesting, if it doesn't make you come out looking awesome, it doesn't matter.

You have to be the star of your essay whichever direction you go.

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Admissions · 4.0 MAX GPA Scale
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Karl!
Edited Wednesday, Feb 04

Anything below 4.0 will hurt you, but that doesn't mean law school is impossible with a 3.8. What is done is done, now it is time to crush the LSAT and write great essays.

One thing though, do not draw attention to your GPA. Most schools do not have A+. Your situation is entirely normal and admissions already know about it. There are people who could only get As who got 4.0s. It'll come off as making excuses while telling them something they already know.

I've had someone who was able to get a B turned into an A on their transcript by asking, but I do not know how much that can be replicated. They had a good excuse: professor had violated school policy and given them a 0 for a medical absence they should not have.

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Admissions · GPA concerns
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Karl!
Wednesday, Feb 04

Well, can't do anything about it now. Law schools accept splitters all the time; don't let it discourage you if this is what you want. 160 is a great place to be, especially one month in.

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Tutoring Marketplace · Perfect 180 Scorer | LSAT Tutoring & Admissions $80/hr (Packages Available)
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Karl!
Wednesday, Feb 04

@AlexandriaDeMattia https://7sage.com/discussion/56374/from-137-diagnostic-to-180-official-lsat-tutor

I endorse. The LSAT requires developing skills, and that requires focus, persistence, and forgiveness. Give it an hour a day and remember the questions are solvable.

I think one of the biggest hurdles with the LSAT is that it requires you to read in a way that you have not been taught to read. Most of school, casual reading, etc. is intended for you to sit back and absorb without much critical thinking. Then you repeat it back and get an A, or have an emotional reaction to what you hear and that is that.

The LSAT demands you pull yourself out of the words, see how things fit (or don't) together, and be critical of what is being said. If you skim over something, in most other situations you can shrug and just keep reading. The next sentences will probably explain the previous one. On the LSAT, if you get sloppy and go too quick, you fill your memory up with fragments and misunderstandings and they compound. Kinda like making a mistake early on in a math problem, then carrying over that mistake until you get the wrong answer. Then you have to go back and look through the entire equation and find out where you went wrong, and that is REALLY HARD.

His take it slow, don't stress, but do the work advice is perfect.

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Tutoring Marketplace · From 137 Diagnostic to 180 Official – LSAT Tutor
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Karl!
Tuesday, Feb 03

@StevanBlauert You're welcome! I gave you a shout out on my new post. Reduce stress, remember you're developing a skill and not memorizing things, slow down and digest/predict/understand as you go, and give it a good hour or two every day are perfect IMO. Just like you say with running a marathon, going and getting big biceps is 5-10 minutes of pullups and curls 2-3x per week for a few years, not 12 hour per day for 3 months.

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Hey y'all, I'm Karl. I will be attending law school this year to focus on constitutional law, academia, and entrepreneurship.

I teach in-person LSAT classes at local universities and tutor students one-on-one. My focus is on teaching students to be at ease reading slowly, summarizing as they go, and engaging with the content. I diagnose weak points and give you plans to fix them. You will build good habits for approaching questions, getting "unstuck" when caught in a 50/50, and contextualizing your results to become more effective. The skills you learn will carry over into your law school journey and career as a lawyer.

The LSAT is only one part of the admissions process. I help with essays, C&F statements, addenda, interview preparation, school targeting, and more. I am here to help you get results that will change your life, not just go over questions for an hour. I want you to succeed, and that means being warm and supportive along the way.

Remember, underneath the LSAT's dense language there are simple structures you can learn, but you have to put in the effort. StevenBlauert's post is GREAT. Check it out. It really is that easy.

If you are interested, DM me, leave me a message here, or send me an email at Karl@RedwoodLSAT.com. We will arrange a free consultation!

Package discounts on LSAT tutoring and admissions assistance are available:

10 hours @ $700 ($70/hr)

20 hours @ $1200 ($60/hr)

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Tutoring Marketplace · From 137 Diagnostic to 180 Official – LSAT Tutor
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Karl!
Monday, Feb 02

This is great advice. I might literally tell people to go look at this if they want to know what I think about the LSAT!

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