When I first started logic games, making inferences looked like some sort of voo doo that I would never quite get. I brute forced games that should have been split, I tried to split games that had way too many possibilities and ran out of time because I was trying to make 6 game boards. I have often forgotten to circle the floater or even think about how it can help answer questions or make inferences. If this sounds like you, I am writing this post primarily for you.

Understanding the power of the floater is helpful for multiple situations:

You are learning logic games and having trouble seeing inferences

You didn’t split the game or the game is open ended

You are looking at a question and don’t see any obvious inferences, so you trying to brute force the answer choices. Understanding the power of the floater will help you be smarter about which answer choices to test.

Here is how the floater (s) can help you:

You have a “ Could be True” question

Sequencing Example: Who could be the 4th person in line? Because your floater should be able to go anywhere, if you see the floater as one of your answer choices, try placing the floater in that 4th position first in a mini diagram and see if it works.

In and Out Game: If you have a true floater, it should be able to go into either the In or Out group. So, if you have a question asking you which variable can go into the In Group and you see your floater showing up as an answer choice, this should be the first answer choice you try.

Grouping: Your floater should be able to go into any group so if you have a question asking you which variable could go into Group C, try your floater first.

You have Must be true question:

Sequencing Example: If you see your floater listed in the answer choices, Eliminate, you know that your floater can go in more positions than just 4th position for example, because there is no rules attached to it.

In and Out Game:

If you have a true floater it should be able to go into either of the groups. If you see your floater in the answer choices, don’t check it.

Grouping Game:

Your floater doesn’t have to be in any specific group, eliminate any answer choice regarding this.

You have a Must be False Question:

Sequencing Example: Who can’t be the 4th person in line?

If you see the floater in one of the answer choices, this should be the last answer choice you try. Remember, your floater should be able to go anywhere so it is highly unlikely the answer to the question, unless it has been eliminated by another rule such a large block or sequencing chain.

In and Out Game:

If you have a floater it should be able to go into either group so if the question is asking who can’t go into the In group, you should skip checking any answer choices involving your floater.

Grouping:

Your floater should be able to go into any group so don’t check any answer choices involving your floater for a question stem that asks you something like who can’t go into Group C?

You have a hypothetical question where your floater has been placed

Sequencing example: If H is 4th, what must be true?

Since H was your floater and has now been placed, do you have any large blocks or variables that can’t go together? Check to see if placing your floater has now limited the block (s) or variables that need to be seperated.

In and Out Game:

You have a limited number of variables so when something has been placed it limits the possibility of other variables. This is particularly true in In and Out Games with limited distribution possibilities. For example, if you have a game where you can have a max of three variable in the In Group, you already had a variable in the In Group and now you have placed your floater into the In Group, you know that your block can’t go into the In Group because you only have one spot left.

As a second example, you have placed your floater into the Out Group which is now full, you now know that all of other variables which haven’t been placed yet are now in the Out Group.

Grouping Game:

If the groups are open ended placing your variable may not help you much but if you have a game with limited distribution and restrictive rules, than the floater may just be the key to the inference the question wants you to make.

For example: You have 3 groups A, B, C Each Group can have a maximum of two variables. You have just placed your floater into Group A, and Group A is now full because another variable had already been placed into it based on another rule. You know that you need to seperate R and S. R has been placed into Group B. This pushes out the inference that S must be placed into Group 3.

You have a hypothetical question involving a large block or variables that need to be seperated

Sequencing example: A question like this may severely limit the possibilities of your floater. This is particularly true when considered in conjunction with other rules of the game like blocks, variables that can’t go together or sequences. For a question like this, create a mini diagram and place your large block or variables. Check out how this impacts other variables in the game. Chances are that your floater is now restricted. While, this won’t always turn out to be the answer choice itself, noticing this can help you find the inference the question is asking you about.

In and Out Game:

If there is a limited number of positions, this makes it harder to separate variables that can’t go together. When you seperate variables that can’t go together or place variables that have to go together, your possibilities to distribute the remaining variables may become severely more limited.

Grouping Game:

If you have placed variables that need to go together or separated variables that can’t go together, your floater likely has more limited distribution possibilities, especially if your groups have limited distribution possibilities.

You have more than one floater:

Your floaters are interchangeable. If C and T are your floaters these are essentially the same answer choice.

If you have any question that you see both your floaters show up as answer choices, you can eliminate both answer choices. There is only one right answer.

Hi guys,

For RC, I'm just wondering whether any 170+ scorers employ a skipping strategy commonly seen in LR, where you do 10 questions in 10 minutes and15 questions in 15 minutes to have 10 minutes left over to do a second pass on 3-5 questions that were skipped on purpose?

I find that this technique really helps me prioritize my time in LR sections and think it may also benefit me in RC. I realize that because of the reading time can vary for each passage on RC, that this technique may have to be a bit different than LR. But I do notice that when I get to the last passage with ~ 10 minutes left, I tend to freak out a bit and it becomes difficult to finish on time.

Thanks!

Whenever I try to take a problem set from the lessons or when I make a custom problem set, it just displays the number 1.

Hi, when I click on Existing Problem Sets the website brings me to the page with all my problem sets. When I click on one, the "Take Problem Set" area only shows the number "1" and that's all instead of showing the questions or the loading interface. This stopped working about 2:40pm est.

I am in PST and scoring in mid 150s-late 150s. Blind Reviewing from early 160s-late 160s. I am looking for a study partner in PST to discuss practice tests/sections on a weekly basis. Message or comment if interested. Thanks.

Trying to do problem sets, says "1" under take problem set and nothing else. Not letting me take it

Hey guys,

I just finished the CC, and my first two timed tests have been above a 170 (first one 173, and second one 176 with BR: 180), which is really encouraging! I'm trying to follow @"Cant Get Right"'s post-CC strategy, which advocates a first phase of just getting comfortable with the material, and then a second phase of timing/execution strategies once you feel comfortable with the material. The thing is, even though I'm breaking 170, I'm still feeling VERY uncomfortable and uncertain about a LOT of questions during the test, and my scores have come as a genuine surprise. I honestly feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants on almost every section, and have a tough time identifying the relevant concepts for each question. It feels like I'm working off of intuition rather than complete understanding.

My question is whether, given this information, I should move on to execution strategies or whether it would be wiser to spend more time trying to understand and re-learn some of the material?

Hi my name is Mark and I've been studying for a little over a year, I've gone through Mike Kim's LSAT Trainer, the Lawschooli LR curriculum, the CC here on 7Sage and I'm working through The Loophole by Ellen Cassidy. My highest BR score has been a 173 / 174 and I generally PT about 167.

I'm looking to mentor (for free) 1 student in the 150's or lower and help "pay it back" to 7Sage for being such an incredible resource. Since I have a very pregnant wife and a toddler I won't be able to video chat, but I hope to message back and forth at least once a day and answer any questions you have or help work through tough problems. Mentoring can be especially helpful in grasping some of the hard yet core concepts in approaching tough RC questions, hard logic games, or just seeing subtle wording or subtle support relationships in LR.

Please let me know if you're interested,

Mark

I am self-studying as much as possible and plan to use a tutor later on. I'm about to get the ultimate course from 7sage but am feeling overwhelmed because I'm not sure how to coordinate my self-studying. Where do people buy drill materials from and how do they use them? What PTs do people use to drill and to use as a PT? I need help figuring out the best study strategy.

Where do I begin? In what order should I be working through all of these? Thank you!

Materials:

Getting 7sage's ultimate course

3 Manhattan Guides I have been working through Manhattan Prep's LR guide because LR is the section I struggle with the most.

LSAT Trainer

As the 2020 admissions cycles comes to an end, I wanted to hopefully provide some inspiration to those preparing to take the LSAT and begin their admissions cycle. I started studying for the LSAT in September 2018 and sat for my first take a year later in September 2019. Like many others, I didn’t score as well as I thought I could’ve or enough to be competitive, so I sat for the next test in October. Thankfully, I scored enough to be competitive and get some scholarship money, although I’ll still need to take loans.

Like you all know, preparing for this exam will eat up your time and demands that you give it serious attention if you want to do well and get into top schools….likely in the process, it’ll mentally fuck you up, but depending on how bad you want, KEEP AT IT! I remember when I initially started studying, I listened to a discussion from one of the Sages about how she scored a 174 or something like that, and the mentality she developed…she said she prepared for the test like a top athlete does, and that really struck a tone with me, considering some of role models are Cristiano Ronaldo, Novak Djokovic, and Lewis Hamilton. What is one of the strong assets of a top athlete? Their incredible mindset and mentality. I cultivated that trait and decided to keep plugging away.

Of all sections of the test, LG was my biggest weakness, but eventually I got to the point where I was consistently scoring 17,18/25, although my strategy is one I wouldn’t necessarily recommend…I focused on 3 games, making sure I’d get almost all of the questions from those 3 games right, that gave me ~15 points right there, and guessed on the remaining, thereby getting on average ~2 more questions correct.

One of the best advice I can offer is that you shouldn’t look for a short cut or a quick fix and spend time figuring out your learning style, doing the BR process, mastering the LG timing through foolproofing, and MAINTAINING A POSITIVE MINDSET. My diagnostic was a 141, and I ended up scoring enough to land me at a T20 school, Boston U with a decent scholarship and possibly NW (waitlisted), still waiting to hear from a few others. It’ll take work, a lot of mental stress, and a high amount of focus, but like others have achieved, it’s possible to do well on this exam…RIDICULOUSLY WELL! You just need to be committed, trust yourself, and keep your eye on the prize. Daily running and hanging with friends every Sunday was massive for me, so I’d advice finding a hobby you enjoy that’ll replenish you and fill you with positive energy, you’ll need it for this exam.

Lastly, just like how you put a lot of effort into preparing for the LSAT, you’ll need to put even more into your apps. This caused the most stress for me tbh. Make sure your app is airtight, write a banging ass personal statement and if possible do all supplementary statements, the more the admissions committee knows about you, the more you stand out from the rest. Try to make it as personal as possible and really think about why you want to attend law school, tie in your interests and things from your life and how that helps you contribute to whatever school you’re applying to. Regardless of how scary this process is, admissions committees are still human, so don’t get in over your head about this. I even wrote about running in one of my statements.

Keep plugging away, believe in yourself and ability, cultivate positivity, joy, and resilience and trust the process. You’ll also be where you want, and remember, just getting into law school is an achievement in of itself, NO CAP! I know it can be intimidating seeing other folks getting into Stanford, Columbia, Yale, etc…but keep things in perspective, and if this is truly what you want to do, you’ll succeed.

Hi!

I'm not sure if others are having the problem, but the course curriculum and videos stopped loading. #help

Thanks,

Jonht B.

Hello, on both the tablet and the computer, I'm getting an error saying just "1" on problem sets.

Here are some links: https://classic.7sage.com/lesson/introduction-to-reading-comprehension-problem-set-9/

the other sets are doing the same thing for me. Please advise, thank you.

Hi everyone! So, I'm a little confused about which admissions cycle in which I'm applying. I will apply this upcoming fall 2020, so next admissions cycle, with the intention of enrolling in law school in fall 2021. Does this mean I will be in the 2020 admissions cycle, or the 2021 admissions cycle? TIA!

The videos for In/Out Grouping Question 1 Game Setup and Questions are missing

Any tips on staying motivated right now? I recently took a few weeks off from studying right before I started working from home. Now that I'm trying to get back into a study routine, it's been really challenging to study after already sitting at my desk for 8 hours during the day. If you have any tips/suggestions, please send them my way!

What I love about 7sage is how you can just post a discussion in need of help and advice, so I deeply thank you 7sage community for all your thoughtfulness.

First, I plan on taking the LSAT in either August or November this year 2020. Some background - I have been studying since March of 2019 and what I mean by studying is picking at Khan Academy and Powerscore here and there. However, real studying is when I got onto 7sage in October of 2019.

I finished CC and now i'm in the practice test phase and I have taken 3 timed PTs (June 2007,PT 2 and PT 3 from the 90s) and scored a 143 on all (obviously not the gifted kind like many). The problem is i'm just stuck at 143 raw score. Blind review has been around 158-161. GPA is a 4.0 close to a 4.1 since I came from a +/- gpa school. Goal score is 160. I am not the fastest reader and I am pretty bad at puzzles, so Reading Comp and Logic Games have been killing me. I am a full-time worker, 5 days a week, 40 hours a week.

Can a student jump from 143-160 in 5 months? Knowledge and performance seems to be the splitting problem as a have a fine BR but my performance raw score is so bad and wont budge. I just cannot read RC fast enough and I can't help but get the wrong answer when Im stuck on the 2 last answers in process of elimination.

Does retaking past PTs under timed conditions help with performance?

Again, thank you 7sage!

Hey guys! I am looking for a couple of individuals who are scoring between 155 and 165 to set aside a time and study together 2-3 hours a day during this time. We can discuss interesting questions or we can just simply do our own thing but keep each other accountable through zoom or google hangout.

A little bit about me:

I've been working full-time and studying part-time for about a year now. I started at 144 and now hitting the upper 150's to low 160's plateau and need to get that extra push for my exam in September.

Anyone interested, please leave a comment especially if you are studying in the PST zone!

Thank you.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/03/29/coronavirus-expect-shelter-in-place-order-extension-this-week-santa-clara-county-official-says/?fbclid=IwAR1PsiEQjaYNrOhOKjWmfaDov4HTWWaa7J8Vav75cd1_FyFS72U9DPFYNcI

This is for my area at least, around where I live

Hello,

I am new to studying for the LSAT. Where is everyone ordering them from? What do I use as "drills" and what to I save for taking as a practice test? Thank you.

I'd like to drill the inference valid argument relationships, specifically the most/some's, because the advanced drill really had me struggling to draw inferences quickly. I've made flashcards but even that isn't enough. Any resources or drills would be appreciated!

Hi, I am looking for someone to study with in Seoul.

I am scoring around mid-high 160 (from 165 to 169), sort of in plateau there and want to break above it.

I live in Mangwon (near Hongdae, Hapjeong, Sinchon).

I work full time and mostly study early in the morning during the week days but could be available for study in the evening. Also am available most of the weekends. Looking for someone to do PTs and BR together on a similar pace.

Planning to sit for the June exam (sort of bombed the Jan one) and aiming for 173-4.

Let me know if anyone's around.

Is there a way to change my settings (for problem sets & exams) to account for my 1.5X extended time?

If I am really struggling with the most advanced weakening questions should I stay on the lesson until I am able to perform better or should I move on to the next lesson in the schedule and come back to weakening questions later.

Thanks

Hey 7sage community I had a quick question, I tried to search the forum for this but was unable to find a solution, but if I have unused physical copies of prep tests that are not included in my current plan will I have to purchase those prep tests though 7sage to view explanation videos, or will I not be able to watch any videos since I haven’t purchased those videos. I understand I’m pretty late into signing up and getting registered but I just want to make sure I take full advantage of 7sage. Thanks in advance.

Should i extend for 3 months new expiration will be 2/2/2021? It is possible i might be able to take the november test. But january for sure. Should i wait for the new system will it be $75 to renew in november?