Strategies for tackling the most difficult LR questions

Comments

• 3 Likes

  c.janson35 Free Trial Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  August 2015 2398 karma

  In reference to those 3 questions you mentioned, and difficult questions in general, you really have to put in the time up front before moving on to the answer choices to really understand the argument, how it's being made, and why it's not adding up. Focus in on the relationships between the conclusion and the premises and look out for subtle term shifts that may be throwing things off. Also, approach the stimuli with a healthy dose of skepticism, ready to call bs on any slight deviation from logic that you might find. More than anything, don't be passive on the tough questions.
  
  The short answer is to just keep practicing and be aware of the thought processes that caused you to eliminate the right answer and select the wrong answer. There's no trick to tough questions, you just have to approach them with the right mindset and be able to POE the clearly wrong answers.
  
  Good luck!
• 1 Like

  Julia L Alum Member

  August 2015 354 karma

  @c.janson35 this is such great advice. be extremely aware, surgical, and don't let your guard down.
• 1 Like

  StopLawying Alum Member

  August 2015 821 karma

  Maybe try purchasing the LSAT Challenge Packet on the Cambridge website. Many people on TLS say that they have gotten significantly better at these types of questions after going through all the questions.
  It's weird, Cambridge LSAT was supposed to stop selling PDFs after the 15th, but for some reason people have still been able to buy them. Don't know why that's the case. Did LSAT lift the ban or something?
• c.janson35 Free Trial Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  August 2015 2398 karma

  Perfectly said @"Julia L"! Also, I think it's helpful to know when to just move on. I personally have a really short leash for questions that I don't understand. At this point, I know if I have to read a stimulus twice and don't understand in which direction I should be going or how I should be thinking about it, I just move on right away so I don't waste time on it, knowing that I'll (hopefully) have time to return to it at the end.
• Julia L Alum Member

  August 2015 edited August 2015 354 karma

  @StopLawying thanks for the suggestion. And re: PDFs, I was wondering that too!
  
  @c.janson35 yes, the LSAT has taught me a lot about letting it go and cutting losses. Opportunity cost!
• 1 Like

  Pacifico Alum Inactive ⭐

  August 2015 8021 karma

  Unless they jive with you the first time through and you can see the Matrix on the high end curvebreakers, you are going to have to invest a lot more time in them, which means moving on from them quickly and flying through the easy ones. If you can finish an LR section in 30 minutes or less that will give you more than enough time to go back and put in the extra work on such questions. You also cannot overstate how much the fresh look can help you if you skip and return. I often think of it like I do with LG. If I couldn't see the right interpretation the first time, if I leave and come back I will invariably look for a different perspective since my first one was very likely incorrect. To extend the analogy, if I start a grouping game with a chart based on the stimulus but then the rules don't mesh with a chart, then it is much more difficult to overhaul my approach on the spot. Instead, I skip to the next game and come back and then realize it's just a straightforward grouping game where I can define all the slots as containing an element or a slash.
• nicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  August 2015 7965 karma

  @c.janson35 said:
  Focus in on the relationships between the conclusion and the premises and look out for subtle term shifts that may be throwing things off. Also, approach the stimuli with a healthy dose of skepticism, ready to call bs on any slight deviation from logic that you might find. More than anything, don't be passive on the tough questions.
  

  @c.janson35 said:
  There's no trick to tough questions, you just have to approach them with the right mindset and be able to POE the clearly wrong answers.
  

  @c.janson35 said:
  At this point, I know if I have to read a stimulus twice and don't understand in which direction I should be going or how I should be thinking about it, I just move on right away so I don't waste time on it, knowing that I'll (hopefully) have time to return to it at the end.
  

  @Pacifico said:
  You also cannot overstate how much the fresh look can help you if you skip and return.
  

  Just stringing together a mini-hall of fame here. This stuff is pure gold. I feel like @c.janson35 is bringing a fresh perspective/framework to LR in general. I'm excited to come back from break and start implementing it
  
  And @Pacifico 's point cannot be over stated. Know when to walk away ... know when to run. Watch videos of JY doing LR sections. The old circle-n-skip is, IMO, what separates the bosses from the interns, if you know what I mean.
• Julia L Alum Member

  August 2015 354 karma

  thank you much @nicole.hopkins and @Pacifico
• nye8870 Alum ⭐

  August 2015 1749 karma

  @nicole.hopkins said:
  You also cannot overstate how much the fresh look can help you if you skip and return.
  

  I usually skip all the questions 1 thru 20 with plenty of time to return to them :-/
• 1 Like

  Matt1234567 Inactive ⭐

  August 2015 1294 karma

  I also skip the questions that just dont make sense to me after the second read, and then come back to them after I'm done with the rest of the section. I really like using the process of elimination, getting down to the core of the stimulus and start knocking off answers.