Logic and Games

* Lots of statistics related to pay for junior lawyers. [WSJ Law Blog]

*Some legislators support requiring welfare recipients to receive drug tests - until an amendment's added that would require some politicians to *also* submit to drug tests.

[Huffington Post]

* An examination of the problems that arise when jurors Google stuff. [Ars Technica]

* A look at why so many Americans are in prison. [The New Yorker]

* Want to know what Google thinks about you? It's probably pretty spot-on. [Business Insider]

Continue Reading...»

Negation and Necessary Assumption Questions

In this blog post, I discuss a common, and effective, strategy for approaching necessary assumption questions.

I also talk about shortcomings in the way prep companies often teach test-takers to think about necessary assumption questions.

Finally, I give some examples of necessary assumption questions and explain some frequent patterns in each.

A Common and Effective Strategy for Necessary Assumption Questions: The "Negation" / "Denial" test

As the name implies, this "test" requires you to negate each of the answer choices. The correct answer choice, when negated, renders the argument invalid. The argument cannot be valid if the necessary assumption is not true. After all, the necessary assumption is, in fact, necessary for the argument to work

I agree with the consensus that this is a good way to approach necessary assumption questions.


How does this work in practice?

Ask yourself as you read each answer choice, does this *need* to be true for the evidence to require the conclusion?

Well, if it weren't true, what would happen? Would the argument be able to coexist with the negated answer choice?

If it would not be able to, then it is the necessary assumption, so it's our answer.


Again, the correct answer choice needs to be true in order for the argument to work. As the common question stems suggest (examples of those in Difference Between Necessary and Sufficient Assumption Questions), the argument depends upon the assumption being true, requires that it is true, and assumes that it is true.



A Quick Note on Negating Answer Choices

Make sure to translate the answer choice into its logical opposite, not its polar opposite.

Example:

The polar opposite of the statement "All people are standing" is "All people are not standing." In English, that means "No people are standing." It's the other extreme. We don't want this.

The logical opposite of the statement "All people are standing" would be, "It is not the case that all people are standing." In English, that means "Not all people are standing" or "Some people are not standing."



Necessary Assumption Questions Do Not Bring in New Information

The Logical Reasoning Bible (reviewed here) categorizes Must Be True questions as being in the "first family" of questions (questions asking for information we already know to be true based on the stimulus).

However, it categorizes Necessary Assumption questions differently. It places them in the second family of questions (The "Help" Family), which also includes Strengthen questions and Justify (Sufficient Assumption) questions. This is a mistake. Necessary Assumptions don't simply help the argument, and they certainly don't bring new information to the table, as Strengthen questions and Sufficient Assumption questions do.

Necessary Assumptions are things we already know to be true based upon the stimulus.



Necessary Assumption Questions are Really Must Be True Questions in Disguise

In all the LSAT materials I've looked at (and I've looked at quite a few), the authors place Necessary Assumption questions in a separate category from Must Be True questions.

In fact, the negation test described above works precisely because Necessary Assumption questions are Must Be True questions in disguise. I proved it to you above when I plucked key words from Necessary Assumption question stems: "depends upon," "requires," and "assumes." Something required to be true is something that must be true.

We could easily take any Necessary Assumption question, remove its question stem, and replace it with a Must Be True question stem, such as the following:

If all of the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true?

Nothing would change. The Necessary Assumption question's credited response would answer this question as well because the necessary assumption must be true if we assume the argument is valid.



Why Does the LSAT Even Have Necessary Assumption Questions?

Why not just ask Must Be True questions all the time? Why does LSAC even bother with these? What makes them different from Must Be True questions?

-Must Be True questions often involve connecting a few different pieces of information from the stimulus. (See PrepTest 29, Section 4, Question 23, which I explained a bithere under "05/22/2009" - p42 in Next 10, or see PrepTest 33, Section 3, Question 8 - p170 in Next 10.)

-They often involve formal logic and are simply fact sets, rather than arguments (PrepTest 30, Section 2, Question 18 - p59 in Next 10, or see PrepTest 32, Section 1, Question 7 - p120 in Next 10).

In short, they require you to make various types of connections between different pieces of information in the stimulus.

Necessary Assumption questions, on the other hand, ask for a more specific type of information that must be true. They ask for something that must be true in order for the argument itself to be valid.



Examples:

By this point, you're probably foaming at the mouth for some examples of necessary assumption questions, so I've some picked out for you:

Common Necessary Assumption Question Pattern #1
PrepTest 30 (December 1999), Section 2, Questions 15 and 22 (pages 58 and 60 in Next 10, respectively)

In each of these questions, the stimulus' argument makes the claim only one thingneeds to be true for something to occur. For each of these questions, the correct answer dismisses a potential problem that might otherwise prevent the conclusion from logically following.

Common Necessary Assumption Question Pattern #2
PrepTest 37 (June 2002), Section 4, Questions 15 and 19 (pages 312 and 313 in Next 10, respectively)

In each of these questions, the stimulus' argument mentions something new in the conclusion that was never mentioned in the evidence. They also mention something in the evidence that was never mentioned in the conclusion. As such, the new thing in the conclusion needs to be made relevant in some way for its presence in the conclusion to be justified. If it were not relevant to the evidence in any way, the argument would not be valid.

Photo by nathangibbs / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Continue Reading...»

LSAT Diary: Retaking and Improvement

This installment of LSAT Diaries comes from LSAT Blog reader Andy, who improved his LSAT score by 15 points after following one of my LSAT study schedules.

If you want to be in LSAT Diaries, please fill out this survey. (You can be in LSAT Diaries whether you've taken the exam already or not.)

Thanks to Andy for sharing his experience and advice, and please leave your questions for him below in the comments!

Andy's LSAT Diary:

I will admit it. I was one of those slackers that don’t seem to put much effort in studying and still manage to pull through exams without many scrapes or bruises. Seeing how well I did on all the standardized testing in my life, I thought the LSAT would be no different. I worked with a few practice tests a couple weeks before my test date. Although the score range on my practice tests were particularly large, I decided to go through with it. To say the very least, it was not my best performance. After I received my test score in my email, I banged my head on the wall. Twice, to make sure that it hurt.

Following that fiasco, I decided to retake the exam with better preparation. While looking for tests tips online, I came across the LSAT blog. Comparing it with all the other options out there, I decided it was right for me. I followed Steve’s 4-month LSAT study schedule because of my full time job and community service obligations. The first 2 weeks took some adjustment finding time to study, and most of it occurred during my 2-hour commute on public transportation. Transitioning into timed practice tests became a greater difficulty with schedule restraints. Most of the full prep tests happened on the weekend and some on the weekday with nearly daily review.

When test day came, and I was filled with adrenaline. My thought going in is that I had to have studied harder than some of the test takers today. In the end, I scored a 169- 15 points higher than my first official LSAT examination.

I picked up a few things from going through this experience in prepping:

1. Review. Take a break. Review:

For my first initial preptests, I was flabbergasted behind some of the reasoning for the correct answers. On rare occasions, I would spend up to an hour thinking of why B was right over A until I got it. It almost didn’t seem worth it. I revised my strategy for reviewing, circling the questions I really didn’t understand and coming back to them after a nap or a nice run. Mental breaks from problems allowed me to approach the question again from another perspective; whereas without it, I was still stuck in a particular train of thought.

2. Work with a small desk:

I mainly studied on a small, cheap IKEA desk in my room. It was flimsy, bothersome, and pretty similar to my test center conditions. Because I was used to tiny desks normally, I didn’t have to fiddle around like the other test takers around me to adjust on test day.

3. Talk to people:

It can really help to ease the nerves, especially approaching test day. Talking to people before the exam helped, it made me realize we were all nervous people ready to get this over. It also made me realize that quite a number of people were retaking and that it was a-okay.

Photo by bdorfman

Continue Reading...»

Logic and Games

* An assistant dean at Northwestern talks about how law schools are adapting to changes in the legal market. [ABA Journal]

* You might start seeing advertisements for legal services on Groupon soon. Let's hope that isn't you one day. [WSJ Law Blog]

* If it happens, they might have to update this Groupon spoof to include "Better Call Saul"-style ads. [Funny Or Die]

* Time Magazine appears to a different emphasis for its readers outside the U.S. But, then again, who was really looking to them for serious journalism, anyway? [imgur]

* Newt Gingrich look-alike might get his own The Office spin-off. [Buzzfeed]

Continue Reading...»

Necessary and Sufficient Assumptions: Arguments and Contrapositives

I spend a great deal of time talking about the difference between Necessary Assumption and Sufficient Assumption questions in the LSAT's Logical Reasoning section.

Arguments assume a link between the evidence and conclusion presented - this link can often easily be framed as a conditional statement.

Because the contrapositive of this statement is simply a rewording of the argument itself, the contrapositive of that statement is both necessary and sufficient for that argument to work.

As such, it can serve as the correct answer to both Necessary Assumption and Sufficient Assumption questions.

***

Necessary Assumption
Let's start with the fact that the contrapositive of an argument's evidence-conclusion link can serve as a necessary assumption.

I mean that if X -> Y is an argument, then NOT Y -> NOT X is a necessary assumption (an assumption required) for that argument to be valid.

After all, if the contrapositive were negated, then the original statement would not be valid either, and the argument wouldn't be valid. As such, the original statement requires the contrapositive to be true as well.

***

Sufficient Assumption

Additionally, the contrapositive of an argument's evidence-conclusion link can serve as a sufficient assumption.

I mean that if X -> Y is an argument, then NOT Y -> NOT X is an assumption that is sufficient for the argument to be valid. What I mean is that if we're told, as new information, that NOT Y -> NOT X is valid, it must be the case that the argument itself (X -> Y) is also valid. This is because if the contrapositive of a statement is valid, then the original must also be valid, since they're logically equivalent.

This is all a bit abstract, but let's look at it with a couple of examples from real LSAT questions:

Necessary Assumption example:

(Please see PrepTest 36 (December 2001 LSAT), Section 3, Question 16 - page 275 in Next 10)

In this argument, the stimulus tells us (paraphrased):

Because reptiles can't make big behavioral changes when the environmental changes a lot, reptiles aren't capable of engaging in advanced thought

In shorthand, the argument is saying:

NOT capable of big behavior changes with environmental changes -> Not capable of complex thought

The contrapositive of this statement would be something like:

Capable of complex thought -> capable of big behavioral changes with environmental changes

In other words:

If an animal is capable of complex thought, then it must be capable of making big behavioral changes as the environment goes through big changes.

Choice D of this question pretty much says just that.

Again, if an original conditional statement that forms the core of an argument is considered to be true, then it is required that its contrapositive also be true in order for that argument to work.



Sufficient Assumption example:

(Please see PrepTest 36 (December 2001 LSAT), Section 1, Question 26 - page 261 in Next 10)

In this argument, the stimulus tells us (paraphrased):

Because Vermeer used expensive props, it must not be due to a scarcity of props that he kept using the same props over and over.

In shorthand, the argument is saying:

$ props -> NOT due to small # of props that V kept reusing them

The contrapositive of this statement would be something like:

If it were due to a small # of props that V kept reusing them, then NOT $ props.

In other words:

If it were due to a small number of props that Vermeer kept reusing the same ones, then he wouldn't have been using expensive props in the first place.

Choice E of this question pretty much says just that.

Again, if we're told, as new information in an answer choice, that the contrapositive of the argument is guaranteed to be true (or is "assumed"), then the original version of that conditional statement (the one in the argument) must also be true, and the argument is valid.

Photo by mitopencourseware

Continue Reading...»

LSAT Diaries: Struggling with Test Anxiety

Jenny writes, "Thank you for allowing me to participate. It's really helping me to hold myself accountable and really stop and think about my LSAT practice, what I've learned, what's working, what isn't, etc."

Want to be part of LSAT Diaries? Fill out this survey!

Jenny's newest LSAT Diary:

Monday – Overcoming Test Anxiety

As I become more and more familiar with the LSAT, I have to admit, I am feeling less and less nervous about it. However, there certainly have been times where I was actually over-prepared for an exam and still found myself nervous and anxious during the test.

I picked up a brochure on test anxiety at my undergrad, but I was a bit miffed at what I read. Most of the tips listed were “develop good study habits and strategies,” “Manage your time, deal with procrastination, distractions, laziness,” etc.

This upset me. Despite being ADD/ADHD, I do actually manage my time quite well, maybe this is because the working world has forced me to overcome “procrastination and laziness” and my full-time school load often leaves me with little free time so when I do sit down to study I know it must be productive. The brochure left me feeling a little insulted; it was as though my test anxiety was likely as a result of mismanagement of time and laziness! I started to really think about why I get anxious and even developed a list:

1. I am afraid that all of my hard work and preparation will not pay off and I fear I will be left with disappointment in myself.

2. Often, I get in a rhythm when taking tests; I spend equal time thinking about each question, answering it, and moving on. If a question stumps me and I pause, I panic; as though taking slightly longer to answer means I am failing.

3. I take my grades seriously. Knowing that I will be applying to law schools at the end of this year adds pressure, of course. By most standards, my GPA is great (3.75) but for some reason I see this as .25 GPA points away from perfect. Like almost perfect, but not close enough. I think my current 3.75 is the lowest I will ever be happy with, and so I fear that if I bomb a test, I will only further disappoint myself.

4. I am a very competitive person; I get very anxious when I see other test-takers finished and turning in their exams, and feel stupid if I’m one of the last few test-takers to finish. To me, it means everyone else in the room is smarter than me, and for every additional minute it takes me to complete my exam that is how much stupider I am than the other test-takers.
I even apologized to a professor once for being the last one to turn in an exam. It was all essay and I told him that I really did study hard but I was so sorry for being the last one to turn in my exam. And to that he responded, “I’m sure you took the longest because you knew the most.” I got a 100% on the exam, an exam others hardly passed.

5. As for the LSAT specifically, I am nervous because this one test can have devastating consequences. But what I should be telling myself that it has the potential to unlock admittance into great law schools and scholarship money. But then, actually that just leads to more anxiety.

As I began to think about what would make me feel better, I thought of my competitiveness. While I am in a sense competing against all the other students in the room, there is nothing I can do about other people. So instead of feeling competitive with the other test-takers, I should look at the LSAT as my competitor. Every correct question bubbled, I am beating it. Every wrong question bubbled, its beating me. Screw everyone else in the room.

As corny as this sounds, I think self-affirmations work. I am not saying every morning I’m going to get up and tell myself I will score 180, but my own negativity towards this tests ends today. I am putting in the time, and I must believe my investment will reward me. In fact, the LSAT is an opportunity for me to show myself how hard work pays off. I have said I am always fearful that I will bomb a test and feel that my hard work didn’t prove worthwhile, and that has never happened. Not once have I ever failed an exam.

To bring my A-game in June, I will eat fresh fruits and vegetables to help reduce stress, stay away from artificial sweeteners, processed food, junk, etc. I want my brain to work to its full potential. I will also plan ahead and have my “clear plastic quart-size baggy” packed and prepared ahead of time. I will have read all test center rules and leave in plenty of time to arrive early.

If I find myself anxious or tense (I’m sure I will, it is, after all the LSAT), I will take slow deep breaths, try not to think about my fear, tell myself I have prepared and this is my chance to show off my hard work.

As for my progress, I am feeling a little burnt out on the logic games. I have completed all basic linear (balanced and unbalanced), advanced linear (balanced and unbalanced), and the grouping defined balanced games from preptests 1-40. That leaves the grouping defined fixed (unbalanced), the grouping defined moving (balanced and unbalanced), the grouping partially defined and grouping/linear combo/hybrid games left for me to complete.

I find that I’m having fewer “aha!” moments, and I feel some pressure about logical reasoning. Considering there are TWO logical reasoning sections to the LSAT, it makes sense to devote plenty of time to logical reasoning and I don’t want to short myself in my preparation. So for now I’m putting the logic games on the backburner but am promising myself to go back and finish the ones I have yet to complete (though I did get some experience with them through my previous studying). I will sprinkle them in when I need a break from the logical reasoning, etc.

Tuesday – Logical Reasoning – Here We Go!

I did the “Must Be True” questions from PrepTests 1-40. Of the 37 questions I did, I missed 6. Not too shabby for my first shot at the logical reasoning, and I did immediately review why I chose wrong, and often I had narrowed it down to two questions and the correct answer choice was one of them.

I do have A Rulebook for Arguments and will begin reviewing that tomorrow. The book spends a chapter on an overview of argumentation, premises, and conclusions which are really the foundational concepts of logical reasoning. It'll get me ready to focus on specific question types.
I gave myself many months of on-and-off logic games practice. I spent about a month and a half slowly going over through Logic Games question types. Now that I have only a month to go over the Logical Reasoning section, and will do some extra practice with Logical Reasoning questions by question type.

Wednesday – Large White Envelopes

Was it a premonition? A dream? Wishful thinking? No. Oddly enough I received a large white envelope in the mail today from a law school that I am interested in. As I held my mail tightly to my chest, I said to myself “this is what the admissions process will be like in 8-10 months, and all of my acceptances will be in large white envelopes.” But actually, the Animal Law Professor/Expert I mentioned before had the school’s admissions office send me a viewbook. I am very impressed with the school and this really helps motivate me, but the cost of tuition is so high, around $36,000 a year! Yet another reason to master this LSAT, it can pay dividends in scholarship money!

I have begun recognizing a major difference between the Logical Reasoning section and Logic Games is that test-makers actually provide several answer choices that “tempt” you to choose wrongly. This is unlike Logic Games where one answer choice is correct, and once you find it you usually need not read the remaining answer choices (especially in must be true/must be false style questions). Having to read each answer choice certainly does not help with the time constraint. The logical reasoning sections contain 24-26 questions, which means I have one minute and twenty-five seconds to complete each question.

Additionally, when I began going through the “must be true” logical reasoning questions, I found myself spending a lot of time thinking about whether the arguments made would be true in the real world. I think while it is reasonable that I should take into consideration my own sense of what could be true or not, I need to remember that I need only examine whether an argument is true or not, based on the facts given in the question stimuli – not what I may or may not know to be true based on my own independent past experiences (college research, personal experiences, whatever). In other words, does the premise prove the conclusion? I think by not pondering the validity of the premise based on my own thoughts, this will save me some time.

Thursday - LSAT Bum in a Tunnel

I love my study spot in the tunnel, its so useful for dealing with the distraction of having people walk by constantly yet its quiet. So when I say I’m a “bum in a tunnel” I’m using the word “bum” to mean somebody who is excessively devoted to a particular activity or place, not a hobo or homeless person. I’m making great progress. I’ve gone through about 50 of the “must be true” LR questions, and have also returned to the logic games – grouping/undefined/unbalanced (completed about 10 more games).

Friday – More Nightmares!

Last night I had another LSAT nightmare. Well, I assume its LSAT-related but it may not be. Basically, I dreamt that my teeth were falling out and all I could do is just hold out my hand and try to catch them as they flew out of my mouth. I think this is stemmed from the fact that regardless how hard I try, the LSAT is still coming up in 59 days and I can’t stop it, I can’t control it. Anyway, according to the online “dream moods” dictionary, my teeth falling out may mean (among other things) a sense of powerlessness. It seems as the LSAT draws closer and closer, its coming at me faster and faster. I hope I can keep up!

Photo by offshore

Continue Reading...»

Logic and Games

* Good news, everyone! Applications to law school are down 15% so far this cycle. [Above The Law]

* "I regret that we must inform you that Princeton University has no Law School." [Letters of Note]

* Yale Law School professors propose that law schools offer cash to students who want to drop out. [Yale Daily News]

* Great roundup of advice on reforming law school education. [AM Law Daily]

* Supreme Court rules on big privacy case that attaching a GPS tracking device to a car without warrant violates the 4th amendment. [Ars Technica]

Continue Reading...»

Pre-Law Podcasts / Videos

I'd like to point everyone toward a pre-law podcast series (complete with accompanying PowerPoints) on Facebook. You can also access the podcasts on iTunes. They're put together by Rebecca Wood, Prelaw Advisor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Judging by the titles, you can see that they're geared primarily towards beginners, but some of them are relevant to anyone compiling their applications.

There are 10 videos in the series. They are:

1. Should I Go To Law School?

2. What Should I Major In?

3. What Do Law Schools Want?

4. What's Up With the LSAT?

5. What's a Personal Statement?

6. How Do I Get Good Letters?

7. Why a Resume and Addenda?

8. Do I really want to be a lawyer?

9. Is law school a good investment?

10. What should I major in?

***

You can see my big list of law school admission tips for more information.

Continue Reading...»

LSAT Diary: Studying in Singapore

This LSAT Diary is from T, an American who's studying for the LSAT while living in Singapore.

If you want to be in LSAT Diaries, please fill out this survey.

Leave T some encouragement below in the comments!

T's LSAT Diary:

I have been considering law school since my first year of college, but going into my final year after my second summer abroad, I realized that I wanted to take some more time to get experience and see the world. So, after my last year of college, I headed to Singapore on a fellowship to teach for two years.

LSAT Prep – The Beginnings

Last year, I kept postponing my LSAT preparation, which had a lot to do with the fact that I had no idea where to start or what to do. I have several friends that have taken the LSAT, but they all had different approaches or schedules. It was around that time that I found LSAT Blog, and felt I finally had a good plan to follow.

My first attempt at preparation failed because of a family issue I had to deal with, and so I decided to postpone the LSAT. When I finally decided to start again, I had a disappointing discovery - the February exam is not offered in Asia! Although I was ready to start, the timing was not that big of a deal since I am planning on applying for the class of 2011 or 2012.

During all of that time, I focused my efforts on training and preparing for a marathon, which was a great pre-LSAT experience. The mentality for both the marathon and the LSAT is very similar - hard work, dedication, and discipline, followed by one single day of intense pressure, and the ability to see how your time paid off.

LSAT Prep – Finally Started

Although I have a full-time job, activities, and language classes, I do have one thing as a teacher that a lot of people wish they had: school vacations! When my semester ended in March, I decided it was time to get serious, so I took a week off of work, and hit the books. I will probably apply to law school in the early fall (when my top choices start accepting), but there is a chance I will wait another year, depending on my job situation (that means I would start 3-4 years after Undergrad). Even though I might not be applying right away, I decided that this is the best time for me to take the test since I do have days and weeks off between now and then.

For the first four weeks, I completed almost every recommended section and chapter in Steve’s LSAT study plan (save a fair amount of actual LR questions). I have made a few variations in materials and prep methods:

* Week One Practice: I did about half of the games untimed, and the other half timed.

* Week Three Materials: Instead of reading the recommended book on arguments, I watched a series of lectures on Logic from Oxford University. To find these free lectures, go to iTunesU (within the iTunes program, or from an iPod/iPhone), and search ‘Logic’. These video lectures were nice when I wanted to do something productive, but was too tired or lazy to do practice questions. It is easy to get 20 or 30 minutes of formal logic in while eating dinner or even having a beer.

My studying over the course of a week:

Saturday

It took me a while to get moving with my LSAT prep, but after a big cup of coffee, and one episode of CSI, I decided it was time to start.

There were still a few sections I had to finish from the previous three weeks, plus a couple of games to review. I had about 4 games that I wanted to review, so I started with that. To begin, I look at my setup, then the correct answer, and try to figure out what I did wrong.

For the logic games, I am doing fairly well, but sometimes I miss questions or waste time because I leave out a detail. This usually happens in questions that ask for possible orders or combinations, I’ll attack the answers choices with the various rules and Not Laws, and then discover that there are two answers that appear to be possible. For example, let’s say I have narrowed it down to the following (made-up) answer choices:

1. 2 green sedans, 1 red van, 3 yellow sports cars, and 2 blue convertible.

2. 2 green sedans, 1 red van, 2 yellow sports cars, and 1 blue convertible.

Now, my problem is usually something like this – I stare at the answers, check the laws, and cannot find any violations. FINALLY, after either wasting too much time, or getting the answer wrong, I re-read the question and realize that there can only be 6 cars in total. (There are lots of variations of these mistakes, and it is hard to make-up examples!)

This means I am being a bit careless, and not taking enough time to think about the scenario and the various rules. I am confident that this will get better with practice.

After some review, I worked on some unfinished games from PrepTests 29-38.

Sunday

Nothing specific to the LSAT, but I did watch one of the Oxford lectures on Logic. The lesson focused on deductive and inductive logic, valid and invalid arguments, and the strength of arguments.

Monday

I have to come to the office this week, but I don’t actually start teaching for a couple of weeks. I have a few things to do before next lessons start, but I can still give myself a couple of hours each day at work for the LSAT.

Today I read some Logical Reasoning tips on LSAT Blog. I thought about doing a few practice questions, but didn’t want to make it too obvious that I was doing LSAT stuff at work!

Tuesday – Thursday - The problem with distractions

Distractions can be a bitch, especially since they always take up more time than we think. If a colleague comes to speak with me for five minutes, it usually takes an additional 10 minutes for me to get back to work. While that is not a major issue, my distractions from the LSAT tend to be.

Recently, I had to put down the books and focus on preparing for a job interview. It was a bit unexpected (I had not put much effort into the job search since I started getting serious about the LSAT), so I ignored everything but the interview.

After two full days, I completed the interview, but found myself having a hard time pulling the books off the shelf. It reminded me of a line from Dumb and Dumber – “I can’t start and stop again, it stings!” On Thursday, I was sitting at my computer tired and debating whether to work. I decided that I needed some inspiration, and so I came up with a plan.

My first step was to do some reading about my top choices. After all, I was not 100% about wanting to attend law school until I found a couple of very specific programs that got me excited. This excitement eventually turned into motivation, since most of the programs are at top schools.

Next, I sought motivation from another source. Thinking back to my marathon training days, I remembered a couple of awesome inspiration movies that helped me out (I know, it sounds lame, but whatever helps, right?). My movie of choice was Without Limits, which is about the Olympic runner Steve Prefontaine. I was ready to go.

I am skipping actual LSAT stuff for the day, but will get back to it tomorrow.

Sunday

-Morning

I decided to switch things up a bit, but it means I am going to be a bit behind next week. Instead of doing the Logical Reasoning questions, I decided that I would tackle all the remaining Logic Games from 29-38 in chronological order. For me, I think I would rather focus on the questions in the practice tests by section.

-Evening

I had a chat with a good friend that has taken the LSAT twice. I was discussing my goals, and mentioned that it is probably time I take a full test to get an idea of where I am. I think this will help me figure out how much time I need to spend until the June exam. She agreed, but was kind enough to remind me that most people score 3-4 points lower during the actual exam…

Photo by bobaubuchon

Continue Reading...»

Logic and Games

* 2 lawyers argue that law school should be replaced with an undergraduate law major. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Death row inmate's case is screwed up by defense attorneys, Supreme Court is understanding. [Above The Law]

* The Supreme Court rules that Congress can re-copyright public domain works. [Ars Technica; NYTimes]

* News Corp finally settles the whole phone hacking mess. [Reuters]

* A brief political history of coffee. [NPR]

Continue Reading...»

Law School Admissions: LSAT and GPA

How exactly do admissions officers weigh your LSAT score and GPA? Well, it's complicated.

Law School Admissions Index: LSAT and GPA

LSAC's website will help you calculate your chances at various law schools. It uses each law school's "admissions index" (a formula unique to each school weighing LSAT scores and GPAs).

Enter your undergraduate GPA and (presumed) LSAT score. Sort the results by likelihood in descending order to see at which schools you have the highest likelihood of success.

This tool is based on info that each law school submits about its admission index, so it's accurate as far as LSAT and GPA are concerned.

Factors that it doesn't consider are diversity, legacy, personal statement, recommendation letters, disciplinary record, etc. Obviously, LSAT and GPA are the big two, but the others have some impact as well.

Enjoy!

Photo by johnwardell

Continue Reading...»

LSAT Diary: Studying With ADHD and Anxiety

This LSAT Diary is from Jenny, a 25-year-old paralegal. She talks about studying for the LSAT with ADD / ADHD and test anxiety.

One of her tips involves studying in a tunnel.

Why? You'll have to read on to find out.

If you want to be in LSAT Diaries, please fill out this survey.

Leave Jenny some encouragement below in the comments!


Jenny's LSAT Diary:

Monday – Introduction, Issues, Goals, and Study Plan

For starters, allow me to introduce myself. I am a 25-year-old non-traditional full-time college student, I work full-time and am involved with far too many extracurricular commitments (both on and off campus). I never thought I would attend college, and thus never took the SATs and have very little experience with standardized testing.

Aside from my inexperience with standardized testing, I am also a nervous test taker – scratch that – I am an anxiety-driven college student. Anxiety literally drives me to succeed. I am so nervous of not doing well that it actually creates this anxious drive in me to succeed. Why am I so nervous of not succeeding, you ask? Well, because no one in my whole life ever told me that I should find out what makes me happy in life and to follow my dreams.

My parents hate the fact that I am “wasting my time and money on school,” and my mother told me that I will soon find that “college is for the smart, privileged kids.” Additionally, I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder two years ago (when I started my college career, which was five years out of high school).

I am determined to not seek special accommodations during the LSAT for the following reasons:

1) I have spent my entire life attempting to succeed despite my ADD without special accommodations, why start now?

2) I like to believe that my medication puts me at a normal level as any other test taker;

3) I am not convinced that my application won't receive prejudicial consideration if I have this “black mark” on my LSAT score indicating I took the test under substandard conditions.

Two weeks ago when I registered for the LSAT my anxiousness kicked into high gear. I am registered to take the June LSAT – a huge step in my law school application process. I remember I sat idling at the checkout/payment page of the LSAC website, just staring thinking to myself “here we go.” My husband laughed at me, reached across the desk, clicked the “submit” button and said “done.” I could have killed him. I am not ready – but I will be (I hope).

I had planned to begin my study plan on January 1, sort of like a New Year’s resolution. I already have very little free time to myself, and it got passed over for my work on my university’s undergraduate research journal and my research on judicial selection in state courts. I kept telling myself that I had plenty of time to study, and kept putting it off. While the average person may be able to pickup the LSAT materials and strategies in three months, I find that my anxiousness, lack of extra time, and ADD require me to take things slow, and learn things in short increments.

Yet now I find myself approaching this dreadful thing. I have started to master Logic Games. And wow, what a difference! I remember my initial diagnostic test, the first time I had ever seen the analytical reasoning portion of the test. I had no strategy, no approach, nothing. I sat there thinking, how in the world would any one figure this stuff out? I now have an attack method, and currently I am honing those skills.

I am now working my way through each logic game (and timing myself at 8:45). So far, I’m feeling pretty confident, I most often complete each game in the allotted time, and answering correctly 90% of the questions. After I complete all of the logic games, I will work on the Logical Reasoning questions as I am doing the logic games.

Then, for the newest PrepTests, I will take full, timed tests. I am focusing less on the reading comprehension since it was my strongest section on my diagnostic, and I will naturally have practice with it during my full preptests.

My study schedule is as follows:

Monday and Wednesday: 1:30 to 4:30 (6 hours)

Tuesday and Thursday: 4:00 to 6:45 (2:45 hours)

Saturday: 7:00 to 10:00 (3 hours)

Sunday: 7:00 to 10:00 (3 hours)

Total hours per week: 14:45

This schedule works for me in that it is a set time for which I have no reason to be doing anything else. By that, I mean, these times do not conflict with school or work and I have still allowed myself enough time for regular homework duties on Saturday and Sunday (so no excuses).

I have learned that having an LSAT study schedule and sticking to it, which later creates a habit is absolutely essential for any person trying to cope with ADD and ADHD – and the same is true for school, personal, work matters. Consistency is key.

I have received some flak for not enrolling in a prep course. For one, I can’t afford it. For two, none are offered that jive with my unconventional school and work schedules. Third, I tend to learn at my own pace, and find that when I am forced to teach myself something, through trial and error, taking my time, etc. I actually learn better.

Moving on to my study diary:

1:30 – arrive at home after work, make a quick lunch, and start attacking basic linear (unbalanced) logic games (I already completed basic linear balanced games). Before beginning though, I refresh my memory on attack methods.

2:00 – distracted – I find myself answering emails through blackberry – turn blackberry off, try to eliminate distractions, ugh! Get to work!

4:00 – Yessss! My class has been canceled – I can continue on with my studying!

I’m realizing that part of my issue is memorizing when I realize an inference, or if the rules change, what this does, how it shifts the rest of the variable (ie. apartments/trains/whatever). But my diagramming and understanding of the rules is okay, and I’m making all the inferences (ie. connecting all the dots) and marking down the not laws.

I was nailing the balanced linear, and even within the time frame, but having difficulty with finishing the game and questions in the allotted 8:45 timeframe for each game on the unbalanced linear. I suppose the added variations (as is the case with unbalanced games) is slowing me down). Additionally, I seem to be having issues with “must be false” questions – its just so much easier to find the “could be true” and maybe even a little easier to find the “must be true.”

I spent from 2:00 to 7:00 drilling the logic games (under timed conditions) and then scrutinizing my answer choice (when wrong) and retracing my steps of where I may have gone wrong when I chose incorrectly.

Started researching what type of applicants (number-wise) my top choice schools are accepting – which makes me even more nervous.


Tuesday - Bring on the Distractions

Having ADHD means I am very easily distracted. My medication keeps me in-check and allows me to concentrate and focus, or at least get back on task when I am distracted, but it doesn’t always keep me from getting distracted in the first place. The only thing I can really equate it to is in the adorable movie “Up!” when the dog (who talks thanks to his inventive master) is on task until he sees a squirrel – all focus is lost. That’s exactly what I feel like.

Anyway, I was told that proctors walk up and down the room watching for LSAT offenders or cheaters during the exam. I am left-handed. This likely means that my test center (which is an auditorium with flip-up/built-in desks) will likely place me in an aisle seat, therefore proctors will be walking up and down the aisle right next to me.

I thought about quiet places that would simulate similar conditions, immediately I thought of my undergrad’s “Tunnel;” a long, underground hallway that connects our library to a lecture hall. Its very quiet and many people go there to study, but there's constantly a swarm of people walking through it.

So Tuesday I went to the “tunnel” and at first (as predicted) found myself very distracted, I couldn’t help but glance up every time someone passed by, not only did this kill my timing, but it ruined my concentration. It's difficult for me to keep multiple elements or variables in my head at a time, and if for a split second I think of something other than the task at hand, I lose all of that information. So training myself to not look up (and not even notice) when someone walks by is important and I found that my simulated testing conditions were helpful in that training. After an hour or so, I never looked up, or cared if anyone was walking by.

Total study time: 2 ½ hours.


Wednesday - Need 4 Speed!

I am feeling so much more comfortable and confident with the logic games. I feel I have mastered the basic linear (balanced and unbalanced) and can even complete them with time to spare.

A few tricks that I have learned:

“must be true” means sure, other answer choices could be correct, but which variable MUST be in a specific slot and cannot be placed anywhere else. This is obvious, I know, but for some reason it just now clicked with me.

Second, it actually saves time to graph hypotheticals and see what can go where. Often, what CANNOT go in another slot is more important than what can go in a slot. Often, the answer to other questions is within a previous question. If you're given a “which of the following can be a complete and accurate list of x” add it to your hypos if you don’t already have it (though you should have already gotten it) – chances are, that hypothetical will help you answer a later question.

Third, change a negative into a positive. When it says “f and g cannot be first or second” and the only other variable you have is “h” you know “h” must appear first and second. So the negative was what could not go first or second, so flip it to a positive to show you what CAN go first or second.

Overall, today was a great day for many major breakthroughs. I’m feeling better already!


Thursday - Back to the Tunnel

I resorted back to the tunnel for some distraction training – completed all of the advanced linear (balanced and unbalanced) logic games from PT1 to PT40. Feeling good!


Friday - Off Day, but Still Motivating

I intern with a local county judge on Fridays, which is very motivating to me, but it means no time for LSAT study. But I think its actually beneficial to have a day off. I actually find that if I try to cram too much studying into one day, or spend more than a couple hours focused on LSAT studies, I stop learning and only get frustrated. But it's amazing how much better I am each day that I go back to it. As though subconsciously I am getting better even when I’m not working on it, though, this could be from my constant thinking of how every day life is like a logic game. Maybe I’m too obsessed.


Saturday - Nightmares

I had a terrible nightmare last night! I dreamt that I bombed the LSAT and was unsure whether to cancel my score. I just stood there, frozen in the LSAT test center not able to move and not able to decide what to do. Yikes! I did, however spend four hours today, things are really coming along. The more familiar I become, the less anxiety I feel – though I’m sure test day will be full of anxiety!


Sunday - Making Contact

I am deeply interested in Animal Law and through a six degrees of separation sort of way, was introduced to a law professor that teaches Animal Law at my state university. It was so inspiring to hear what opportunities would exist for me in the realm of animal law if I chose to attend that school. The admissions at this university is extremely competitive, so its all the more reason to master this LSAT.

My LSAT ticket is not ready for printing yet through LSAC, but as soon as it is, I’d like to go see the test center to help better visualize what it will be like on test day – I have always found that visualization actually helps calm my nerves.

Photo by lij

Continue Reading...»