Suggestions and/or Encouragement Please..........

Comments

• miriaml7 Live Member

  January 2020 edited February 2020 1025 karma

  Hey! I'm actually in the same situation right now. My game plan is to go back through the CC and get reacquainted with each of the question types. If you want to work together to hold each other accountable feel free to DM me. We got this!!
• ilovethelsat Member

  February 2020 348 karma

  I'm by no means an expert on this, but one thing I've noticed about LR question types is that the best approach is to have an intuitive/holistic understanding of what the question is asking you to do. I think a lot of people get caught up in the whole robotic process of labeling a question and then following a set of very specific steps, and that can be problematic because not all questions fit neatly into a certain label. So when they encounter a question that isn't the "perfect MBT" or the "perfect Strengthen," etc., they freak out. Obviously, labeling question types is immensely helpful in determining how to read the stimulus, what to look for, which answer choice gets the job done, etc., so you should still definitely do that, but the question stems are all pretty straightforward, even if they don't fit neatly into a box. So just read the question stem, intuitively understand what it's asking you to do, and then do the thing that it's asking you to do. For example, a question stem might ask you "Which of the following exhibits both of the logical flaws exhibited in the argument above?" This is a parallel flaw, but even if that label doesn't immediately come to mind, think about what the question stem is asking of you. It's asking of you to select an argument from the answer choices that makes the same two types of mistakes that the argument in the stimulus makes. So then go to the stimulus, identify the two flaws (identify conclusion, identify premises, identify context, etc.), and then look for those two flaws in the answer choices. And as for deciphering between the answer choices, remember that there is no BEST ANSWER. There is only ONE answer, and the four others are totally wrong. They are 100% wrong, not just a little wrong. The third thing I'll say is that this could also just be largely due to nerves, in which case, what has really helped me is when reading the stimulus and panicking, I will take 5 or so seconds to look up, breathe, close my eyes, and then re-read the stimulus. You need to find a quick and efficient/consistent way of calming yourself down as you go through the section. Couple that with an effective skipping strategy. If you get lost on a question, SKIP IT. Coming back to it with a fresh perspective at the end will be LIFE-CHANGING, trust me.
• JusticeLaw Member

  February 2020 194 karma

  This is wonderful. Thank you very much.

  With all due respect. Except for a few exceptions, the Logic Games are a piece of cake compared to the Logical Reasoning Section.

  I'll keep trying.
• lexxx745 Alum Member Sage ⭐

  February 2020 3190 karma

  Keep understanding spending great time during BR to know everything
  eventually your intuition will be refined and youll get it. As far as nerves, well things outside the LSAT might help. When im feeling pent up i like to go work out makes a huge difference.

  Some people can study 10 hours a day grind and its a piece of cake for them. For us mere mortals we gotta take our mind off the LSAT to really keep it fresh
• Markmark Alum Member

  February 2020 976 karma

  Take a break, read "The Mindful Athlete." Def worth a read for me
• Sami Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 7Sage Tutor

  February 2020 edited February 2020 10806 karma

  @JusticeLaw said:
  I am able to recognize premise, conclusions and the approach to classify the inference family LR. However, when I see the questions I freak out and get totally lost. All the answer choices look alike.

  The best way would be to start out by doing write ups. After you are done reading a stimulus, hide it from you and write down the core argument from your memory. Core argument includes the core premise and conclusion. Then grade your core argument: was it as simple as possible and did it include all the essential elements? If it included anything not essential, remove it from your core argument. Re-write your core argument till it is satisfactory. After that write down the analysis -how do the premise support and fall short of supporting the conclusion?

  After this write down your approach in answer to the question type. For example in flaw questions you would be asking two questions: is it descriptively accurate and then would it be a flaw to do this? Then as you go through the each answer choice write down how each answer choice fares in answering these two questions. For example: answer choice "A" may not have even occurred in the stimulus so is descriptively inaccurate. But answer choice "B" occurs in the stimulus but is not a flaw to do so, etc.

  As your mind gets better at thinking in this manner you can start doing it without writing and see if your mind sticks to the form. This is analogous to driving a car. You don't want to drive a car on highway at 70 mph without learning first how to drive it correctly at 5 mph. As your mind learns how to drive it correctly, you can increase your speed slowly. Similarly on LSAT, we need to teach our brain what to think about and what to focus on first. As your brain gets more comfortable, you can slowly increase the pressure by decreasing the time limit.