How do you write the LSAT?

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• 1 Like

  Pride Only Hurts Alum Member

  July 2019 2186 karma

  I just try to be aware of when I read an LR stimulus that I know I didn’t understand. If that happens I skip. If I read an RC question and have no idea where to find it in the passage I skip it. If I’m ever spinning my wheels I mark and skip.
• 1 Like

  gabes900-1 Member

  July 2019 855 karma

  Hi @Lolo1996 , my strategy per section follows:

  LR: Try to read questions and answer them in under 1min. If I can't answer them within 1min, on first go, I skip then come back after I have answered all the questions I can in this light. Once I have done this, I try to answer the questions that I think I can get points on and taper down as much as I can. Personally, I think this strategy is favorable to those who are trying to increase their speed and accuracy in LR. This also requires one to be somewhat reckless in pace, resulting in answering more questions based on 70-80% confidence. I remember listening to @"Cant Get Right"'s AMA Webinar and he mentioned something about once you get to 80% confidence try to circle and move on since the last 20% confidence on a single question can eat up more time than the initial 80% confidence. So, I try to remember this and implement it regularly. So far it has been beneficial to my performance in LR for time and accuracy.

  LG: I go through each game in order and attempt to make setup/inferences up front. If this is successful, without any difficulty, I then attempt each local/additional premise question after I answer the acceptable situation question. From here, I then do all the general questions if I couldn't do them instantaneously at first glance. I try to do simple, 1-2 star difficulty, sequencing or in/out games at reckless paces, 3-4mins, so that I can attempt the harder 4-5 star games with a buffer zone just in case I go over the target times for those games. Thanks to the digital LSAT allowing timers now and actively doing the foolproof method recently, I tend to know when a game is harder and how the target times for most games in higher difficulty ratings range from 9-12mins. So, that is how I can somewhat tell what kind of time target harder games have during a first attempt at the games during a PT: exposure and timers. I find this overall LG strategy has been beneficial in terms of time and accuracy as well. LG was my worst section on my diagnostic. I think I got almost every single question wrong on that test. However, it is now my favorite and my times/efficiency on this section have improved immensely from this approach.

  RC: I find that there is no real formulaic approach to RC for me. I kind of just go with what I get. I stick to the 3.5mins on passage and 3.5 to 4.5mins on questions for each passage, no matter the difficulty or subject matter. What I get right, I get right. What I miss, I miss. I tend to do pretty well consistently on RC, but this is the strategy I use. Science passages, in terms of subject matter, are the hardest passages for me due to my disinterest in science for as long as I can remember. But I still approach them with the same time and strategies as the other passages. I do this because sometimes the LSAC writers will give you an easy science passage, hard art passage, hard law passage and easy history passage. Then the writers will completely switch up the difficulty by subject matter on the next PT I take. For my question strategy, I try to answer within a minute. If I understand the question from memory, I answer it with 70-80% confidence based on trusting my understanding of my initial read through for that passage. If I am not certain, I won't re-read the passage and will skip the question to attempt at the end of that allotted 8-8.5 mins per passage. If I still can't answer the questions I skipped then, I will skip them entirely until the end of the section and/or accept my fate of getting those questions wrong. This keeps me engaged and focused on the remaining questions and passages. I find this overall strategy in RC passages and questions to help with time and accuracy as well.

  But this is all just my 2 cents. Best of luck studying and doing timed work. Its the best feeling when you can do things timed after the CC and understand them.