Win Free LSAT Books: A Contest

Want free LSAT books? Of course you do.

I'm running a contest on the blog for the next week.

It's simple - you email me an LSAT-style analysis of a news article, online video, etc. You can find examples in my blog posts that analyze logic in real life.

If yours is one of the best 5 submissions, you'll win a free LSAT book, or two, or three.

The prizes:

One 1st place winner will receive a free copy of each of the 3 More GROUPED books: More GROUPED by Game Type, More GROUPED by Question Type, and More GROUPED by Passage Type (value: $160).

One 2nd place winner will receive 2 of the 3 More GROUPED books listed above (value: $85-$120).

Three 3rd place winners will receive a copy of More GROUPED by Game Type or GROUPED by Game Type (value: $35-$40).

Infinite 4th place winners can win eternal Internet fame by having their submissions published on the blog.

The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, August 31, 11:59PM Eastern Time.

Please email them to me in the body of the email, not as attachments.

Good luck, and I look forward to reading your submissions!


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I've included below some suggestions of news articles that you might analyze. However, feel free to submit an analysis of any publicly-accessible article or video you find online.

Again, you can find examples in my blog posts that analyze logic in real life.


Articles

People argue just to win, scholars assert

That morning smoke is probably going to kill you

Law schools' women problem

Do Cellphones Cause Brain Cancer?

Justice is served, but more so after lunch: how food-breaks sway the decisions of judges

Study: Women Post More Facebook Photos to Raise Self-Esteem

Facebook Use Linked To Lower Grades In College

Freedom to surf: workers more productive if allowed to use the internet for leisure

Organic food is no healthier, study finds

Becoming vegetarian 'can harm the environment'

Want a Higher G.P.A.? Go to a Private College

Why Liberals and Atheists Are More Intelligent

Firm Body, No Workout Required?

For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics

Standardized Test Scores: Voodoo Statistics

The Debate Is Still On: The Mysterious Downfall of the Neanderthals


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By submitting an entry, you are granting me the right to edit and publish your submission on the blog.

(When publishing submissions, I'm happy to use your first name only, initials, a pseudonym, or to keep it completely anonymous - your choice.)

Photo by aresauburnphotos

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Being an LSAT Testmaker | Interview

Last week, I interviewed Stephen Harris, former LSAT question-writer and author of Mastering Logic Games. (Yes, he's written hundreds of the questions that appear in your books of LSAT PrepTests.)

Many of you submitted great questions for Dr. Harris after that interview, and he was kind enough to conduct a second interview with me.

Our discussion follows.

1. You mentioned in our last interview that you worked on a freelance basis and that ACT/LSAC only bought the items (questions) they liked. What were you paid per item accepted, and, once you got the hang of things, how many items would you typically write for every accepted item (e.g. 1 out of 5)?

The LSAT format changed in the early 1990s, and I started writing items late in 1992. At first the pay rate was $75 for each accepted LR item, but it went up to $85 per item at some point, and that’s what it was when I stopped writing LSAT items in fall of 1997. I imagine that it has gone up a bit, but I will say that, compared to most other item writing gigs, that’s a pretty high rate even today.

An LR item writing assignment consisted of 10 items of various types – two weakeners, one assumption, etc. I probably averaged somewhere around 8.7 accepted items per assignment. Most writers I knew who averaged much fewer, say 6 or so out of 10, didn’t write many items, or didn’t write for long.


2. How is the item-writing process different today than when you worked as an item-writer? Does LSAC still use freelancers, or is it in-house?

I haven’t worked on the LSAT in a long time, but as far as I know it’s pretty much the same as it was back then. In fact, relying on contract item writers is now probably the industry norm. Since about 2000, the testing industry has exploded, and lots of folks who worked on the LSAT went to other places to oversee freelance item writers for other tests. I’m pretty sure that most tests work on the freelance model to a large degree. The GRE may be an exception; ETS may produce that one primarily in-house.


3. In our last interview, you mentioned that LSAC sent you to a training workshop where they gave you a guide covering all Logical Reasoning item types, and a list of what not-to-do. Can you elaborate on what each contained? What sort of feedback did LSAC offer on improving submitted items?

LSAC’s item writing guide was quite helpful. It made some general points about content, style, item stems, etc., and then they worked through exemplars of each item type. I seem to remember pointers for constructing good distractors, tips for disguising correct answers, etc. You quickly internalize most of it, so I don’t remember much about the details. But I remember thinking that somebody put a lot of work into it, and that it was helpful.

After each assignment was reviewed by my editor I had a phone call with him, and he would give me good, detailed feedback on all the items. I was given a clear reason why any rejected item was found unsuitable, and the accepted items that could have used some extra polish were discussed with me as well. It was in everybody’s interest to make the process as efficient as possible. I will say that, given my experience working on other tests, the LSAT was especially good in the feedback department.


4. What's the formal process by which an LSAT question goes from being an item-writer's draft of a question to becoming part of an actual scored exam?

Here’s how the process works, as best I understand it: first, an item writer sends the items to the testing company, which I believe for the LSAT is still ACT. Editors pick the ones they like, make whatever changes they think are appropriate, and then send the items to LSAC. The items receive another level of editing/review and then are placed on experimental test sections. The tests are administered and statistics are gathered. Then some of the items (the “good” ones) go to real test forms, while others go back for more editing and then another shot on an experimental section. [Ed. Read my series on the test-equating process.]


5. How are Reading Comprehension passages chosen?

I’m not exactly sure how RC passages are chosen for the LSAT; it’s probably pretty idiosyncratic. I am sure that writing assignments specify the general type of passage – natural science, humanities, etc., but after that it’s probably up to the writer. In each released LSAT test, you’ll find references to the articles that the RC passages are based on, so that will give you an idea of the kinds of sources that are used.


6. Are Logical Reasoning passages based on actual scholarship? A lot of them seem like real arguments.

One of the points that I do remember from the LR writer’s guide is that, to the extent the stimulus makes factual claims, they should be true, or at least reflect the current state of research in a field. So yes, many stimuli are based on real scholarship. But a stimulus might discuss a hypothetical vaccine, for example, that is not based on anything factual. So while it is the case that many LR items are based on actual scholarship, many are not. Often the basis for an item is a reasoning style, or a type of error, and then the item writer is simply looking for a topic to cloak the idea in. This is at least in part because item writing assignments specify the items that the writer needs to come up with by task, rather than by topic.


7. Would you agree that Logic Games have generally become easier over the years? Why don't we see pattern games anymore, and why do "rare" game-types show up so sporadically?

Well, I will say that preparing for logic games has gotten easier over the years, and I think this is really the phenomenon that your reader is remarking on. More specifically, if one were to grab your basic, pretty smart off-the-street person who wanted to go to law school and give her an AR section from an old test, and then a new one, she’d do about the same, on average. [Ed. Analytical Reasoning = Logic Games].

But, for someone who is actually studying to take the LSAT, there are definite differences. As your reader points out, the range of games seems to have shrunk significantly; virtually all recent games are instances of just a few types. But these games aren’t intrinsically easier than the less frequently seen games, in my opinion. Rather, the point is that one who prepares today has a smaller “strike zone” than test takers in the past, to use a baseball metaphor, and that mastery of a few game types is more likely to translate into success today than it used to.


8. Do you see the LSAT's emphasis moving in any particular direction now or in the future? Do you see LSAC making any major changes in any section, like the addition of Comparative Reading in June 2007?

I’m not sure where the LSAT is headed. I do know that they considered making it a computer-based test at one point, and that they were toying with the idea of items that were auditory - played through headphones - rather than written. For whatever reason, perhaps the cost of using testing centers, they decided to stick with the paper-and-pencil test. A safe assumption: the LSAT won’t change much, or quickly at least, unless people start complaining about it (even more than they do now).


9. Do you believe the LSAT to be a test of innate skill or something people can learn to master?

This is an interesting question. On any reasonable sense of “innate,” the LSAT does not test innate skills; they are all cultural skills. Sure, certain abilities tend to make one better or worse suited for possessing these skills; a good short-term memory, for instance, is undoubtedly helpful on the AR section. But all of the skills tested on the LSAT are cultural and acquirable, not innate. One interesting point that the question presupposes, but that I think is especially important, is that the LSAT is a test of skills, “know-how” rather than “know-that.” The LSAT is a lot more like tying your shoes, or playing a game of cards, than recalling chemistry facts - with each item, getting the correct answer is a matter of what you do, not what you know.

Now for some people certain skills come “naturally,” we like to say. Some folks are just really good at throwing a ball, others have a knack for long division. The rest of us, after some effort, can eventually learn the skill in question.

When it comes to the LSAT, some people are undoubtedly “naturals,” but pretty much anybody who wants to can master the relevant skills. It just involves a different, more reflective procedure for some of us than for others. Specifically, for us “learners” the key is to take a complex task that a natural LSAT test-taker performs intuitively, and to break it into its components so that we can learn the task piece-by-piece, until with practice and repetition the complex task becomes second nature, like tying our shoes. I’ve tried this approach with hundreds of LSAT students, and several shoe-tying kids, with great results all around.


10. Do you think certain groups of people are at a greater disadvantage preparing for/taking the test than others, particularly those of lower socioeconomic status?

Well, this is a complicated issue, and “disadvantage” is a funny word. There is no question that LSAT scores are correlated with family income, which I guess means socio-economic status. There are thousands of individual exceptions to this trend, but as generalizations go it’s pretty reliable. So, yeah, when it comes to taking the LSAT low socio-economic status probably puts one at a disadvantage, statistically speaking. But this is hardly unique to the LSAT, first of all.

Second, this doesn’t mean that the test is biased against those of low socio-economic status, any more than soccer and chess are biased against people who don’t grow up playing them. All of the skills necessary for the LSAT are acquirable by any literate person comfortable with English, although (regardless of one’s income level) the less familiar one is with these skills to begin with, the more work it will typically require to master them. But this is no different from most other aspects of life, and way “fairer” than some.

Consider, for example, how relevant height is to being good at basketball. And height is something that a person has virtually no control over. By contrast, test takers have much more control over whether they possess the key attributes conducive to success on the LSAT, and any initial disadvantage faced by a particular individual is surmountable, through study of the relevant skills.

One thing I’m pretty sure of: LSAC goes out of its way to make sure that the LSAT lacks cultural bias. Items are screened by representatives of several groups to ensure this. When I wrote items there was even a guy whose job it was to make sure that the test didn’t discriminate against Canadians.


11. Aside from completing lots of LSAT PrepTests and getting your book, of course, what are your general LSAT prep recommendations?

This is an open-ended question but I’ll mention a few points that I think are really important.

i. When you study, focus on a particular skill per study session. The more focused the better – not LR, but assumption items, for example; or not working through complete AR sections, but just setting up a bunch of different grouping games one after another, without worrying about solving the items at that time.

ii. The process of elimination is very important; obviously for AR, but in a different, more procedural way for LR and RC. With these latter two, it is almost always a good approach to try to eliminate three answer choices first, and then to go back and select the correct one from the remaining two.

On a related note: with LR and RC, the point of studying items is not just to identify the correct answers, but especially to understand the reasons why the others are incorrect, and to learn the general “distractor” strategies that will help you become more efficient in identifying these in the future. Repetition is key – look at the same items over and over. It is much better to be extremely familiar with several hundred items than to have a passing familiarity with a few thousand.

iii. After you’ve taken a few practice tests, the value of taking additional test plummets, from an improvement perspective. The key to improvement is working on individual skills in isolation, not mindlessly plowing through a hundred items at a time, hoping to have done better this time than the last. Obviously, one wants to take enough practice tests to be comfortable on test day. But taking tests is not generally an efficient use of study time.

iv. Practice with real LSAT items. They are cheap, and there is no substitute for the real thing.

Photo by lwr

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LSAT Blog Testimonials

Many of you have written to me with your experiences and results after using LSAT Blog, my day-by-day study plans, and other prep materials available through the blog.

I've collected many of your results within this blog post.

Have a great experience with the LSAT and law school admissions after using LSAT Blog? Please email me!

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"I just wanted to drop you a line thanking you for your study plan and blog. I started out at a 164 last August; on the December 2010 LSAT, I scored a 179. I didn't take a class-- just took test after test after test using your schedule. I'm currently teaching an LSAT class...and am thrilled to get to talk about the LSAT every week. You really inspired me to view the LSAT as a fun challenge instead of a hurdle, which made a huge difference on test day. As I'm compiling my law school applications, I'm so thankful to have that score and I wanted to thank you for helping me get there." - Carolyn H.


"I stumbled across LSAT Blog, read through absolutely everything on the site that I could, and decided that his three month study plan was the best for me. Of all of the information that I found on various blogs and message boards, nothing seemed as comprehensive and structured as Steve's LSAT study plans. I cleared off my large desk calendar and wrote down everything that I needed to do, day by day, over the three-month course. I was about a week and a half behind when I got started, so the day by day breakdown allowed me to condense Steve's schedule a bit, and stay on track. Having a day by day guide kept my studying structured, and forced me to face when I was falling behind, and catch up." - Brad (LSAT Diaries)


"I wanted to thank you for all of your advice and encouragement. I ended up getting a 178 on the September LSAT. Maybe I could have gotten that 180 with more sleep the night before (for all of my confidence the week and day before, the night before I suddenly just couldn't get to sleep from the stress), but I can't complain too much, very glad it's over and ended well. :) ...I ended up putting down a deposit at Columbia Law School. I still recommend your blog highly to all of my friends who are prepping for the LSAT. Keep up the great work, and thanks again for being there with lucid and free recommendations during the stressful days of LSAT prep!" - Andy P.


"I found that on my second attempt using a day-by-day LSAT study schedule was the most important thing. For the previous exam I had simply given myself tasks that were to be completed by the end of the week. With procrastination kicking in here and there, this method often left me behind on my work...I have seen many speak of a “20 point ceiling”, about how, when it comes to the LSAT you “either have it or you don’t”, but this just isn’t so—and my experience can attest to that." - Dan (LSAT Diaries)


"I just wanted to thank you for setting up such an amazing site. I never thought I'd be able to kick this test's ass without taking a course, but your site proved me wrong! I started studying for the October LSAT 5 weeks ago. My score has gone from 150 to 168 with room for even more improvement. You made me love logic games and helped my LSAT confidence immensely. Thank you!" - Maggie W.


"I started Steve’s 5-month study schedule and within a matter of weeks I was feeling comfortable with linear games...I scored a 158 on my first timed practice test and scored a 172 (99th percentile) on the October 2010 LSAT. Putting time and effort into the LSAT will pay off; I was just accepted to my dream school, University of Virginia School of Law." - JT (LSAT Diaries)


"I wanted to thank you for the incredible job that you've done with LSAT Blog. I'm happy to say that I will be attending Harvard Law School this fall, and I attribute a great deal of my success to your website...I started on the 4-month study plan, picked up your book recommendations, put in the requisite hours, and as a result managed to increase my diagnostic score by 12 points. Thanks again for all your hard work. I've recommended your blog to everyone who's asked." - Jim L.


"I was excited because beginning Steve’s 5-month LSAT study plan meant I was taking the first steps towards a new career that I hoped would be more rewarding, interesting, (and lucrative, let’s be honest) than my current job...after a fretful three weeks of waiting, I was rewarded with a simple email that arrived a whole day early – "Your February 2011 LSAT score is 174." More beautiful words were never written." - Rebecca (LSAT Diaries)


"Thanks to your 3-month study schedule, I was able to improve my LSAT score from 161 to 172! I am now having my boyfriend do the same study schedule before the June LSAT...I really appreciate all of your help - the daily study schedule was just what I needed." - Katie V.


"Balancing work duties with LSAT studies was very challenging. But with hard work and the right resources, I comfortably cleared 170. I will attend Yale Law School this fall. In my preparation, I benefited from LSAT Blog. Steve has an intimate understanding of the infrastructure of the test. Reading his posts, I came to understand the content and “the texture” of the LSAT." - Samson (LSAT Diaries)


"I increased my score over 20 points through self-study and owe a good deal of the credit to you and your blog. Through the blog I found your day-by-day study schedules and that was all the difference in the world. I am so grateful to you because your suggestions, methods and ideologies allowed me to recognize that my score could be improved." - Monique A.


"I’m sure Kaplan works for some people, but it definitely didn’t for me. I switched to the blog's LSAT study schedules and found that style much more to my liking. Again, it’s all down to personal preference (God, how often do you hear that cop-out during LSAT preparation), but if you’re struggling with what plan to use for your study, consider using the schedules to guide you." - Rob (LSAT Diaries)


"Just wanted to let you know that your schedule helped me organize my time and give me the general sense of direction that I needed desperately...The end result was a 177 looking at me on LSAC today. Thanks again. I'm glad I purchased the schedule!" - Jeff Z.


"I ordered all of the books and prep tests the blog recommended and I started the 3 month study schedule...In the end, I scored a 177, 7 points higher than my average for the PrepTests I had taken. At first I was surprised that I had made such a high score, but in hindsight I realize that I had done a huge amount of preparation." - Jay (LSAT Diaries)


"What you're doing is a complete service to the community, and I'm so grateful that you allowed me to really excel on the LSAT without spending a crazy amount of money or going without a plan. I got a 174 on the June 2011 LSAT." - Ellen C.


"The day I found this blog, I had an epiphany, like when golden angels open up a magic door and they're singing all heavenly and show you the way and you’re like “F*** yeah! Let’s do this!”, except instead of angels and doors and curse words, it was the ability to study by yourself and save that small fortune to save for a new car." - Dave (LSAT Diaries)


"[T]hank you for all of your help...Even though I ended up not having as much time as I would have liked, your 2-month day by day study plan worked really well for me and I have already recommended it to my friends...[E]ven though I had the worst week ever leading up to the test, I still felt confident because I knew exactly what to expect when I walked into the testing center. From being prepared for the extra strain of the experimental section to not wearing a hoodie into the test, your blog was exactly what I needed, and I am very thankful that I came across it. Wish the guy hyperventilating next to me in Section 3 had the same "LSAT Blog" chill pill I did..." - Allison A.


"I got my LSAT score yesterday and was thrilled to find out that I got a 175. I really want to thank you for all the information you put on your blog and for offering the 3-month-study schedule that I followed...There's not enough I can say to thank you." - Lisa (LSAT Diaries)


"I found your explanations very accessible, and I learned a lot of useful techniques. I am happy to announce that I retook the LSAT in October 2010, where I achieved a score of 170. I am even happier to announce that I was recently admitted to Columbia, Berkeley and Michigan. I will be attending Columbia in the fall. Thank you for your assistance!" - Eric H.


"After my first distance tutoring session with Steve over the phone, I felt better and began scoring in the 167 – 169 range...A miserable few weeks later, I got my score back; 170. I was thrilled to have set a goal and reached it, and felt a little more secure for law school. I give much credit to Steve for his guidance and advice." - Peter (LSAT Diaries)


"I find your blog just so helpful and informational - you are absolutely wonderful for providing so much valuable info and sharing your knowledge for free! I think your blog is probably the only thing that keeps me from going haywire with the LSAT and the applications approaching so soon." - Ji Yoon C.


"Right about the time I was contemplating selling out my will to live, I found the LSAT Blog. I bought the 4-month LSAT study schedule and the rest is history. I've gone from 159 to 168." - Jessica (LSAT Diaries)


"Just wanted to give you a small update. I was offered a spot at UVA Law. I'll be deferring a year and working at a small law firm as a legal secretary and doing research for the Innocence Project. I'm extremely excited, and wanted to offer my thanks once again for all of your help!" - Jacquelyn R.


"What Steve helped me to do was to sharpen my skills so that I could slash right through many games (many in only 5-6 minutes), giving me the extra time I would need in the case of an especially ugly game might appear. He also taught me how to quickly identify the limited placement options that are essential to cracking certain tough games, and also how to know when creating full templates of possibilities is your best bet. It’s probably hard for you to imagine how a tutoring session via telephone would be feasible (before trying it, I certainly did), but it works very well. And the time I spent working with Steve to sharpen my skills was well worth the investment: when I approached my fourth game...I had 18 minutes remaining to complete it." - J (LSAT Diaries)


"I'll be going to Berkeley Law School next year. I'm super-excited. Thanks again for all your help with the LSAT!" - Jesse F.


"With the help of Steve’s study schedules, my scores and ability in Logic Games is improving dramatically. For example, I started with an overall score in the low 160’s and am now already scoring 170+." - Jeysa (LSAT Diaries)


"I wanted to let you know that I ended up getting in to the University of Michigan Law School from the waitlist in July. Thanks for your help!" - Joe G.


"Steve’s blog was a great tool for staying on track, if the worst happens and I have to retake the test, I’ll definitely be adopting one of his LSAT study schedules (probably the 6-month one) as a means to keep me on track. I’ve read the blog obsessively and it’s helped me feel like I know the test. The LSAT and I are frenemies, and I’m a pretty competitive person – I like to win." - Katherine (LSAT Diaries)


"Thanks again for having such an amazing blog. I feel sorry for the kids writing their LSATs who haven't come across LSAT Blog." - Omer A.


"I purchased Steve’s 3-Month Day-By-Day LSAT Study Schedule. I have to say, I was conflicted about the purchase. Despite being a military officer, I hate being told how to do something, including studying. However, because LSAT Blog has always outdone the best commercial study guides in terms of efficiency and practicality, I decided to fork over the dough...Definitely worth the purchase; thorough and well-structured, particularly for the majority of us who have the most difficulty with Logic Games. For each day, Steve includes links to his pertinent blog posts according to what is to be studied; this helps mitigate the time you would otherwise spend hunting down each individual post that pertains to that day’s subject." - Derek (LSAT Diaries)


"I simply wanted to share with you how much more comfortable I felt going into this exam – more so than I have either of the other times I sat…your plans, tips and encouragement truly made me feel better prepared. I simply wanted to thank you!" - Billie R.


"I think you are by far the most helpful source of information available to potential test-takers; please, keep up the great work. We really do appreciate what you do." - Ryan S.


"I just wanted to thank you for all you have done with your blog. I'll be taking some other standardized tests like the GMAT soon, and I wish there was an informative blog like yours to point me in the right direction. I've recommended your blog to so many of my friends, and they are also thankful." - Neel M.


"Keep up the blog. It's been the best resource on this test I've found." - Ian S.


"I found your blog a couple of weeks ago and have been checking almost daily since then. Just wanted to say thanks a million for all your help. It really is great to have someone like you online who knows what he's talking about. You're a big help. I've actually showed your blog to people who hadn't seen it before, and they regret not having followed your instructions earlier. I'm sure you hear it a lot. Nevertheless, kudos to you, sir." - Abdulaziz A.

Continue Reading...»

Logic and Games, Legal Edition

* Have any of you considered the field of bicycle law? [NYTimes]

* What if law schools opened their own law firms? [National Law Journal]

* The perverse incentives associated with the billable hours model. [Ideas et cetera]

* A proposal to deregulate the practice of law from the Brookings Institution. [WSJ]

* An editorial with recommendations to address inequities in the legal system. [NYTimes]

* A great example of why precision is important when drafting legal language. [Ars Technica]

* Applying for jobs like everyone else these days? Consider taking a page from Hunter S. Thompson's playbook. [The Future Buzz]

Continue Reading...»

Former LSAT Question-Writer Interview

I recently interviewed Stephen Harris, former LSAT question-writer and author of Mastering Logic Games. (Yes, he's written hundreds of the questions that appear in your books of LSAT PrepTests.)

Our discussion follows.

(Update: Also check out my second interview with him.)

1. What inspired you to become a writer of LSAT questions (an "item-writer"), and what's the process by which one gets that job?

Good question. It’s not exactly the kind of thing you lie in bed at night, hoping someday to grow up to be. When one with a philosophy doctorate looks for a job, there is a publication called “Jobs for Philosophers” that contains job listings, mostly for academic posts, but with a few listings for non-teaching positions. Testing companies list job openings there, and I applied for one. I ended up with a teaching position, but when I was later contacted about writing LSAT items as a freelancer, I agreed.

What makes writing LSAT items so rewarding, compared to writing items for other exams, is that the skills tested, especially in logical reasoning, are so relevant - what makes this argument stronger; what flaw does this argument commit, etc. These skills are among the set of important tools necessary for success not only in law school, but also as a responsible citizen.


2. Which specific LSAT questions, passages, and games did you write? Any tough Logic Games or Logical Reasoning questions?

I wrote several hundred logical reasoning items over the years, but the way the LSAC item review process is set up makes it very difficult to identify your items later on. Basically, there are two levels of review between the item writer and the test form, and adjustments can be made all along the way, so it’s hard to look back at tests and say “yeah, I wrote that one.” Not to mention that it may be several years before your item even makes it to a test form. One thing I definitely learned from working with the LSAC folks is that they go out of their way to ensure that the items that appear on the test are fair and consistent.


3. What sort of guidance / parameters were you given by ACT / LSAC when it came to constructing each item-type?

LSAC did a great job of training item writers. I was sent to a three-day workshop that covered the nut-and-bolts of item writing for logical reasoning, including critiques of practice items I had written. Additionally, item writers received a detailed guide that covers all of the item types, as well as a “don’t do this” list. And editors offered lots of feedback if you got something wrong to help you hit the mark the next time. ACT and LSAC only bought the items that they liked, so there was plenty of incentive all around to get it right.


4. How did you and other item-writers come up with the topics for each section of the exam? Is there some kind of pre-approved list? What's up with all the questions about dinosaur extinction?

This is a challenge for any item writer. I don’t remember a list of approved topics, but it was made clear from the beginning that certain topics were undesirable; in particular, any that are likely to elicit a strong emotional response from test takers. Hence the dinosaur items. When I’m writing items, I simply try to pay attention, often to what I’m reading, but sometimes just to the bugs in the garden. Actually, Google and Wikipedia make item writing in general much easier, although I had stopped writing LSAT items by the time they came around.


5. How long did it take you, on average, to write each type of LSAT question? Everyone seems to hate Parallel Reasoning questions, but which Logical Reasoning question-type is the most difficult to create?

That reminds me of a lawyer joke – “it’s tough to tell what counts as billable time.” Seriously, if you have an idea for an item then writing it takes an hour or two, with editing. Otherwise, you can spend a lot of time staring at a blank screen before fingers hit keyboard. I found that it was hard to average one LSAT item a day when I was writing items as fast as I could. And some items are definitely harder to write than others. Parallel reasoning/flaw items are the toughest, because you need six topics per item – one for the stimulus, and one for each answer choice as well. You develop an appreciation for folks who have to be creative on a daily basis – cartoonists, comics, etc.


6. What do you think is the most difficult Logic Game, and the most difficult Logical Reasoning question, out of all the released LSAT PrepTests?

One of my favorite LR items is the rattlesnake item, number 22 in section 2 of PrepTest 30. It really tests one’s ability to distinguish necessary assumptions from sufficient assumptions. The game that I think is hardest is the bus game - PrepTest 36, Game 3. This is a complicated game that can easily overwhelm a test taker who is unprepared.


7. I've noticed that certain Logic Games are virtual copies of each other. (Especially #3 and #7 in this list.) Does this stem from the item-writers being lazy and reusing old content, LSAC rewarding those who studied a lot, a combination, some other explanation...?

Yes - I especially like to compare PrepTest 13, Game 3 to PrepTest 32, Game 1. Not only the setups, but also the formulations of the first rules are strikingly parallel in these two games. (Even the numbers are near anagrams – coincidence?) I can only speculate as to why this happens, other than to pick up on your point that on a standardized test things are, well, standardized. There really is no question as to whether or not the same things are tested over and over – they are. The only question is whether you’ll be able to see how the items on your test are similar to previous items. As your list indicates, sometimes the similarity can be pretty close.


8. Have you ever heard of folks at LSAC reading online message boards and laughing at the stressed-out test-takers who post there?

I have never heard of LSAC folks basking in the misery of prospective law students. My experience with these people is that they are pretty sympathetic with the test taker and her plight. A guy I worked under at LSAC, for instance, had a hard time getting into grad school because he refused to take the GRE since “it didn’t measure anything important.” This is the kind of guy you want building your standardized test. One thing I have learned from studying thousands of LSAT items is that, first appearances notwithstanding, there is a benevolent intelligence at work behind the LSAT. The test taker just needs to tap into it.

Photo by the.sprouts

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Mastering LSAT Logic Games Ebook PDF

Stephen Harris, a former writer of actual LSAT questions, has just written a new LSAT prep book called Mastering Logic Games, and it's now available for instant PDF download.

(I've also just conducted an interview with him - and a second interview with him - about what it was like to be a writer of actual LSAT questions. As you can imagine, holding this position has given him a tremendous amount of insight into solving the questions, as he understands them in a way that few others do.)

Stephen's concise 73-page guide covers how to approach each major type of Logic Game as well as the questions associated with each Logic Game.

Here's the table of contents ("Analytical Reasoning" is LSAC's official name for "Logic Games"):

Introduction and Overview
-Analytical Reasoning stimuli
-Analytical Reasoning items

Setting up Games
-Identifying the type of Game
-Choosing a Framework
-Writing the Rules
-Consequences of Rules

Common Logic Game Types
-Simple Sequencing
-Sequencing with Matching
-Simple Grouping
-Common Grouping Notations
-Two Groups with Conditional Rules
-Contrapositives
-Combining Conditional Rules
-Elements of Different Types
-Overlapping categories

Sequencing groups of elements
-Multiple groups with some elements sequenced
-Sequencing categories/groups and elements
-Setting up games, conclusion

Solving items
-The could be true (CBT) family
-CBT item solving strategies
-The must be true (MBT) family
-MBT item solving strategies
-Using possible arrangements of elements

Rarer Item Types
-Fixed elements/possible arrangements
-Earliest/Latest
-Complete & Accurate list

Sample games
-Car model safety
-Theatre company tasks

Conclusion

***

At the moment, Mastering Logic Games is only $24.97.

Enjoy!

***

Please note:

-This guide does not require you to have any additional PrepTests in order to benefit from its advice. While it's essential to have actual LSAT PrepTests for your own studying, this guide does not make reference to specific PrepTest questions, so you can benefit from it even if you haven't gotten your PrepTests yet.

-This is a PDF available for instant download after submitting payment via PayPal.

-If you're already registered with PayPal, the instant download link will be sent to your PayPal email address. Otherwise, it'll be sent to whichever email address you submit.

-These are PDFs available for instant download after submitting payment via PayPal. You can use Adobe Reader to open the files.

-If you're already registered with PayPal, the instant download link will be sent to your PayPal email address. Otherwise, it'll be sent to whichever email address you submit.

-Due to the nature of digital downloads, LSAT Blog cannot offer any refunds. All sales are final.

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LSAT Diary: Studying with LSAT Blog and Steve

This installment of LSAT Diaries comes from Peter, a recent college graduate who prepared for the LSAT using my day-by-day LSAT study plan, as well as a bit of my tutoring. He ended up with a 170!

In this LSAT Diary, he talks about using the blog and my help as he prepared.

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

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

Peter's LSAT Diary:

The LSAT has been an albatross around my neck since I was a freshman in college. After a poor academic showing in high school, I decided on law school and worked very hard to achieve an excellent undergraduate GPA. I faced a dilemma; with the test two-to-three years away, I knew from the beginning the amount of material available to study would be limited, and if I started too early, I would run out. I did have an advantage, however, because I could plan well and maximize my efforts. I took a diagnostic test (the preptest with the awful carwash game [Ed. PrepTest 30, Game 2]) and scored a cold 160. At this point I didn’t know anything about percentiles, curves, or the schools I wanted to attend – I just knew I needed to put forth the best effort I could.

At one point in my senior year I was planning on taking the October LSAT, after accompanying my fiancée on a study abroad trip over the summer. This, as it turns out, was a mistake. I got very little studying done, but fortunately, what I did get through was from a Kaplan book, instead of wasting actual LSAC material before I was ready. When I took another diagnostic and dropped to 158, I knew I had to put the test off and make a real plan.

Eventually, while browsing for study guides on the internet, I found Steve Schwartz and the LSAT Blog. Jubilant, I downloaded the guides, bought all the books Steve recommended, dumped the ones I’d been using, and planned on registering for June. When I did finalize a schedule, I bought the detailed seven-month daily study guide. After researching schools, my goal was to earn a 170. I was in graduate school at the time, with a part time job, but I had enough time to study seriously. I think slicing the first few preptests up by question type was a great idea. I cruised through logic games (worst section on diagnostics), doing pretty well untimed. I got through logical reasoning, decently. I breezed through reading comprehension, my strongest section by far. By the point that I took SuperPrep exams A, B and C, I was feeling confident, and scored 164, 165, and 166, respectively. Better, but no cigar.

I began taking full length practice tests (I laid-out for all of them, but unfortunately this was before Steve released his LSAT preptests with explanations). (I am not financially well-off, but if you are going to go to law school (which entails large debt loads), the best investment you can make to go to the best school you can is to purchase the best prep materials you can.) My scores began creeping up, until a sudden drop precipitated worry. After my first distance tutoring session with Steve over the phone, I felt better and began scoring in the 167 – 169 range.

Things were looking up, until about two weeks before the test I reached a second trough of low scores. I’d read you should plateau at your goal score two weeks before the test. I had one more session with Steve and buckled down, taking a preptest a day. My last four of five tests, taken at the test site, were 168, so I thought I finally settled. I felt incredibly nervous the night before; I went to sleep early, ate yogurt for breakfast (courtesy of my fiancée), and stressed out at the center, warming up on recent preptests.

I took the long walk, and felt my heart in my throat until we started filling out the basic test information forms. I had practiced so much; this was just like one more lap around a track. I felt completely confident through the test, nothing untoward happened throughout. A miserable few weeks later, I got my score back; 170. I was thrilled to have set a goal and reached it, and felt a little more secure for law school. I give much credit to Steve for his guidance and advice, and my fiancée for all sorts of support, but to do well also takes a willingness to work hard and stick to a rigorous schedule. Study your wrong questions, work hard, and good luck in October.

Photo by deerleap

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Logic and Games

* A lawyer/author's awesome tips on writing the law school personal statement. [LSAT Blog]

* Law school grads sue New York Law School and Villanova for falsely reporting employment and salary info. [ABA Journal]

* Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Louboutin fight in court over who gets to sell red-soled shoes. [NYMag]

* Aspiring New York Jet Chris Stewart balances his lawyering dreams with his football dreams. [WSJ]

* Neither Bert nor Ernie possesses a sexual orientation. They're Muppets, damnit! [Sesame Street Facebook Page response to Change.org petition]

* Abercrombie and Fitch offers to pay "The Situation" to stop wearing its clothes. [WSJ]

* 15 words with no English equivalent. [Mental Floss]

Continue Reading...»

LSAT Logic Games Explanations for PrepTests 29-38

LSAT Blog's Logic Games Explanations for PrepTests 29-38 is now available for instant PDF download.

Yes, that's right - detailed, step-by-step explanations for all 40 Logic Games in LSAT PrepTests 29-38 (October 1999 - October 2002) are now available.

(You can get the games themselves in The Next 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests, sold separately.)

These explanations include complete setups with diagrams for each game, along with explanations for how to solve every single question of each game. Not only do these explanations demonstrate the most efficient method to quickly arrive at the correct answers, but they also explain why each wrong answer choice is wrong.

I've written all the explanations for Logic Games in PrepTests 29-33, and fellow LSAT tutor Graeme has written the explanations for Logic Games in PrepTests 34-38.

(You can already see examples of my Logic Games explanations on the blog.)

***

At the moment, LSAT Blog's Logic Games Explanations for PrepTests 29-38 is only $29.97. That's less than $3 per exam explained and less than 75 cents per game explained, and you get one 224-page PDF with all the explanations.

Enjoy!

***

Please note:

-In order to benefit from this, you must separately get the games contained within LSAT PrepTests 29-38 (The Next 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests book) - the LSAT exams from October 1999 - October 2002. This download does not include the actual LSAT Logic Games from PrepTests 29-38.

-This is a PDF available for instant download after submitting payment via PayPal.

-If you're already registered with PayPal, the instant download link will be sent to your PayPal email address. Otherwise, it'll be sent to whichever email address you submit.

-These are PDFs available for instant download after submitting payment via PayPal. You can use Adobe Reader to open the files.

-If you're already registered with PayPal, the instant download link will be sent to your PayPal email address. Otherwise, it'll be sent to whichever email address you submit.

-Due to the nature of digital downloads, LSAT Blog cannot offer any refunds. All sales are final.

Continue Reading...»

Starting LSAT Studying When You Wake Up: Bad Idea

Starting your LSAT studying when you first wake up is not a good idea. It doesn't matter whether you wake up in the morning or afternoon.

Why? Because your brain needs time to get out of sleep mode. It's called sleep inertia.

One of my LSAT students emailed me with the following:

I was trying to take your most recent advice to heart: study 2-3 hours a day. One way to do this is to get up early and practice in the morning before work/school.

Any researcher of sleep physiology will tell you that your brain is not fully awake and capable of operating at its optimum capacity until 90 minutes after you have awoken.

More important than the actual preparation is your test day "readiness", one aspect of which is your clarity of thinking. Getting on a schedule where you are used to being up and "fully awake" in the sense described above would be important for your actual performance.

Some of your students most likely are used to sleeping from 12-1-2 am to 7:30-8 am. It would be a terrible mistake to keep this schedule the day, week, even fortnight before the test date. Establishing a schedule that allows your brain to be fully awake at 8 am on LSAT test day will be an important contribution to your performance.

Of course, that last part doesn't apply to all you June test-takers because the June exam starts in the afternoon.

However, even if you're taking the June exam, this still means you shouldn't study when you first wake up in the morning.

Here's an example of research supporting this:

Grogginess, Disorientation On Awakening More Debilitating Than Sleep Deprivation

Excerpts:

The study showed test subjects had diminished short-term memory, counting skills and cognitive abilities during the groggy period upon awakening known as sleep inertia...

For a short period, at least, the effects of sleep inertia may be as bad as or worse than being legally drunk...

The most severe effects of sleep inertia generally dissipated within the first 10 minutes, although its effects are often detectable for up to two hours...

Another study referenced in that link indicates:

[C]ortical areas of the brain like the prefrontal cortex take longer to come "on-line" following sleep than other areas of the brain...The prefrontal cortex is thought to be responsible for problem solving, emotion and complex thought."

So, if you wake up at 7AM, you're probably not going to operate at 100% until close to 9AM. While most of the effects of sleep inertia go away pretty quickly, it's the prefrontal cortex that you really need for your studying.

Problem solving and complex thought sound like LSAT-related tasks to me.

When you first wake up, do other stuff before you start your LSAT studying. Eat breakfast, shower, exercise, check email, etc.

If you do your LSAT studying as soon as you wake up, you're likely to do less than your best. The LSAT can be frustrating enough without sleep inertia - don't make things harder than they have to be.

Photo by fofurasfelinas

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LSAT Diary: LSAT Preparation and the Mormon Faith

This installment of LSAT Diaries comes from Mike, a practicing Mormon. In this LSAT Diary, he writes about how his faith served as inspiration and motivation for his LSAT prep.

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

Please thank Mike for sharing his experience below in the comments!

Mike's LSAT Diary:

So, I’ve been studying for the LSAT for the past few months, and I just took the test in June, so I had to really buckle down. Since I didn’t have much time to spend on keeping up with current events, I don’t really know what’s going on in the world these days either, so I thought I’d write about what I have been doing, preparing for the LSAT, and I’ll relate it to faith as well.

Faith is an active principle for Mormons. Let’s say we have two farmers. Both purport to believe in God. Both pray that God will bless them with a bountiful harvest. The first goes out and plants and fertilizes and waters and weeds his crop and the second doesn’t. Even if the second was spending all of his time praying to God to bless him with a harvest, we believe that the first has more faith because he went out and did the work necessary for God to bless him. That doesn’t mean that we earn God’s blessings with our works, but that we put ourselves in a position in which God can bless us. After all, God generally won’t make seeds grow if they have never been planted.

With that same attitude I approached studying for the LSAT. I prayed and fasted for God’s help and lived in a way to keep him on my side (doing my best to obey his commandments). But I didn’t stop there. I knew that I had to do the work in order to get God’s blessings. Note: don’t read the next paragraph if you have no interest in the details of LSAT preparation.

First, I took an actual, official LSAT PrepTest (these are LSATs that have been administered in the past). I was pleased enough with my score that I decided not to take a LSAT prep class. Instead, I hunkered down and started familiarizing myself with the different types of questions and the timing that each section requires. My goal was to complete a test section every day and to complete an entire simulated test (four 35-minute sections) every week. In this process, I wasn’t happy with my performance on the logic games section. I could either do really well, or really poorly. I wanted to have more stability in my performance, so I bought the Logic Games Bible (I am not being compensated by PowerScore to promote their book, I’m just explaining explicitly how I prepared). It helped me get a handle on these games and stabilize my scores.

The Saturday before the test, I left the day open to replicate my test day schedule as best I could. I awoke at the same time, went through the same morning routine, ate the same food, and went to the same place. That’s right. I traveled all the way down to the testing center, just to be sure that I would know how to find it on the test day. I wanted to be sure that I eliminated all of the surprises that could pop up on the test day. After I found the testing center, I went home and took my final preptest and got a score that I was satisfied with.

For those of you who skipped the paragraph above, let me just say that I did a lot to prepare for the test. Did it improve my score? I will find that out in about three weeks. But I can tell you what it did do: it gave me confidence. Not confidence that I would necessarily get a great score, but that I had done all that I could to prepare myself for the test, both intellectually and logistically. Unless an act of God like a meteor impact on the street in front of my house prevented me from getting to the test center, I was going to get there. And I wasn’t going to get there only to find that I had brought the wrong kind of pencils. At that point, I could put my performance in God’s hands and be confident that he would help perform my best. As it says in the Doctrine and Covenants, “if ye are prepared ye shall not fear” (38:30).

Sometimes people shy away from mixing spiritual stuff and secular stuff. They seem to think that God simply tolerates their going to work and earning a living while what he’d really like them to do is read the scriptures and pray all day. But God knows better than anyone else that we need to make a living. In fact, God’s command is that “if any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). If God has commanded us to work, and if we do all that we ourselves can do, he will bless us so that our work is “for the welfare of [our souls]” (2 Nephi 32:9).

I don’t know exactly what God has in store for me, what path he will lead me down, but it appears as though at least part of that path includes a career in law. Or at least a stint in law school.

*If you want to warn me against the evils of going to law school, let me save you some time and effort. I already read Above the Law regularly, I’ve read the New York Times and the Economist articles about the trouble law grads are having finding jobs, and I know that being a lawyer isn’t like how television portrays it. In short, I have exposed myself to everything I can to dissuade me from going to law school and nothing has worked yet, so don’t waste your time.

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Logic and Games

* Day-by-day LSAT study schedules are now available for the February and June 2012 LSAT test dates! [LSAT Blog]

* A list of law schools that create the greatest number of law firm partners. [Above The Law]

* Cooley Law School sues anonymous online commenters for defamation. [ABA Journal; Techdirt]

* Should rape victims be allowed to nuzzle dogs for comfort while giving testimony at trials? [NYTimes]

* Some correlation/causation confusion in this article about smoking in the morning. [Gawker]

* Why the LSAT is fun: a new look at an old test [First Call Magazine]

* A mistake in the court records may have caused this man to serve an extra year in jail. [NYTimes]

* Using your friend's Facebook account to pull pranks could be a felony offense. [Above The Law]

Continue Reading...»

LSAT Cheat Sheet PDFs

I've just created LSAT Cheat Sheets for each of the LSAT's scored sections: Logic Games, Logical Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension, and they're available for instant PDF download.

Why? Well, in college, whenever I was studying for a major exam, I would attempt to reduce everything I needed to know onto 1 sheet of paper.

Sure, I had to write very small, but having all of that knowledge from an entire semester reduced to 1 piece of paper gave me an easy reference point. It made the given subject a lot less threatening and a lot more manageable, but it took a lot of time.

I've now done the same thing for LSAT prep to save you the trouble of doing it yourself.

Each LSAT Cheat Sheet is a quick-reference 2-page guide to a particular section of the LSAT. You can print them double-sided, giving you 1 piece of paper covering each section of the exam.

The 1st page of each LSAT Cheat Sheet gives you general advice, strategies, and information for the given section of the exam. The 2nd page gives you guidance on identifying and approaching the specific question-types in that section of the exam.

You can print as many copies as you like so you'll have them handy anywhere you go.


Some places to keep your LSAT Cheat Sheets:

-Staple/paper-clip them to the inside cover of your LSAT prep books.
-Tape/pin them to the wall above your desk.
-Post them on your refrigerator.
-Tape/pin them to the wall in front of your toilet for bathroom reading.
-Keep them in the car for when you're stuck in traffic or just have time to kill.
-Load them onto to your ebook reading device.


***

At the moment, each section's LSAT Cheat Sheet is only $11.97, and you can get all 3 at once for only $29.97.


Enjoy!

***

Click on the following button to view your cart:




Get all 3 cheat sheets at once for only $29.97:

LSAT Logic Games, Logical Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension Cheat Sheets


Or, click the relevant link below to add individual LSAT Cheat Sheets to your cart for only $11.97 each.

LSAT Logic Games Cheat Sheet PDF

LSAT Logical Reasoning Cheat Sheet PDF

LSAT Reading Comprehension Cheat Sheet PDF


***

Please note:

-Due to space constraints and nature of a "Cheat Sheet", it's impossible to cover absolutely everything relevant to a particular section of the LSAT in only 2 pages. I've exercised my own judgment in deciding which topics were worthy of inclusion, and which were not.

-In order to fit everything to 2 pages for each Cheat Sheet, font sizes used range from 9pt-12pt. If you have poor eyesight, I suggest using a magnifying glass or a copy machine to enlarge them.

-These are PDFs available for instant download after submitting payment via PayPal. You can use Adobe Reader to open the files.

-If you're already registered with PayPal, the instant download link will be sent to your PayPal email address. Otherwise, it'll be sent to whichever email address you submit.

-Due to the nature of digital downloads, LSAT Blog cannot offer any refunds. All sales are final.

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Law School Personal Statement Advice

My in-person and distance LSAT students often ask me to read over their personal statements.

When giving feedback, I try to place myself in the position of the admissions committee. I look to see whether the personal statement answers the following questions:

1. Do you have the discipline, focus, stamina, and commitment to successfully complete the law degree?

2. Do you take initiative and have a proven aptitude for self-motivation?

3. Have you demonstrated the ability to work under difficult conditions or through obstacles, hardship, or other distractions that might arise and potentially hinder progress in law school? (It’s not required, but share your story if you have.)

4. Do you have long-term plans (even though such plans can and probably will change more than once during your time in law school) that require a law degree? Do you aspire to become a leader in society and/or in the chosen specialty (again, even though the current chosen specialty might change)?

5. Have you become involved in extracurricular activities because these opportunities have supplemented the college/post-college experience and/or strengthened leadership abilities, rather than just making you look busy and providing padding for a law school application?

6. Why are you interested in this particular law school, rather than the many other excellent schools out there?

7. What will you offer this particular school that they wouldn’t get if they selected someone else instead?


For further personal statement advice, see these:

Books:

Personal Statement Triumph: A Comprehensive Guide to the Law School Personal Statement

Law School: Getting In, Getting Good, Getting the Gold

The Law School Admission Game: Play Like an Expert

The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions

Other Law School Admissions Book Recommendations


Links:

Nim Batchelor's Law School Personal Statement Approach

Ann Levine's Law School Personal Statement Tips

Anna Ivey's Law School Addendum Tips

A Guide to the Law School Application Process (PDF)

Writing an Effective Personal Statement for Law School (PDF)

Personal Statement (PDF)

Tips on Writing Your Law School Personal Statement

Law School Personal Statement

Tips and Tricks: The Personal Statement

Becoming a Lawyer: Personal Statements from BU Law's Entering Class

Law School Applications 101: Writing a Resume for Law School (PDF)

Law School Application Components

Applying to Law School (PDF)

Law School Applicant Guide (PDF)

Law School Application Guide (PDF)

Photo by zaniac

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LSAT Diary: The 20-Something Fashionista

This installment of LSAT Diaries comes from Diya, a 22-year-old college student who's studying for the LSAT while attending college and maintaining a fashion blog. She's a busy gal.

In this LSAT Diary, she talks about balancing it all as she starts off her prep.

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

Please leave Diya some encouragement below in the comments!

Diya's LSAT Diary:

Hi everyone! I have a confession to make: I've never studied properly for a single exam in my entire life. This LSAT diary will not only be about me prepping for the LSAT on a daily basis, but also documenting the progress of paced exam studying for the first time in my life.

I guess I should tell everyone a little more about me. I'm 22, finishing up my last semester at UT for Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry after 4 years. Other than my course load, I conduct antibody engineering research, tutor for biochemical engineering courses, and...I run a fashion website [Ed. Not linked at Diya's request for privacy reasons]. In other words, I have no social life and very little sleep.

I want to go into patent law and am looking at the more selective schools, so (like everyone else) a score above a 170 on the LSAT is ideal. I have a pretty packed (although strange) resume, where I'm deciding if I should even mention "featured on various fashion websites such as Glamour, MTV Style, etc." and "attended New York Fashion Week" next to "developing antibodies for cancer treatment." I did intern at a law office so there's some law-related activities on the resume. My GPA is not bad (above 3.6), but not stellar either, thanks to the engineering curve and my unwillingness to stay up all night screaming at non-functioning Polymath code.

I took a diagnostic test (before finding this blog and reading Steve's post about why not to take one). I got a 160 with Logic Games as my strong point and Logical Reasoning as my worst. It's not great but not extremely bad either. I bought the 4-month day-by-day LSAT study schedule to keep me on track for the October exam.

Attempting to study in between summer engineering courses, research, fashion shows, and spending time with my neglected boyfriend will be an interesting endeavor. Hence why I'm writing this at 4AM in the morning when I'm supposed to get up at 7AM for research. We'll see how I manage.

Week 1:

Not too shabby! Despite a few nights of having to do LSAT prepping (there I made a verb) at 3 AM in the morning while everyone is snoring in the other rooms, I'm moving down the list of linear sequencing games pretty smoothly. Out of all of the games' problems (so around 150 total), I missed around 4-6 problems. I did take way more than 8 minutes on at least two of the problem sets, although sleep deprivation could have something to do with my slower speed. My diagrams mostly make sense, which I’m assuming is a good thing. I need to work on not reading the rest of the answers when I already have an answer choice, but the indecisive part of me keeps feeling uneasy about not reading all of the choices.

Time management was the biggest problem this week since I'm taking a summer senior lab and two 10-hour lab reports per week plus research does not leave much room for free time. Random fact: around day 3 I heard myself saying sarcastically, "yeah, that makes for a convincing defense of your position” in the midst of a fight. Great LSAT, you're turning me into more of a social outcast than I already am. Note to self: must keep formal logic-related terms to a minimum when at fashion events.


Week 2:

I’m constantly battling with formal logic on the in-out games. I hate reading carefully after so many years of scanning and being used to the author trying not to confuse the reader. I thought I was doing well until I attempted the game written by Steve, where my poor diagramming skills (unfortunately artistic abilities do not affect diagramming abilities) translated into me missing almost half the questions. Nooooo. I’m pretty sure the drawn arrows are NOT supposed be curved. I felt more confident in combating the next few games after half an hour of pondering at Steve’s diagrams. I only ended up missing three out of the three sets of book games. Not great, but better than before. I actually thought the game classified as “very difficult” from the book was the easiest game out of the in/out games, maybe because I had two basic templates set up and templates in general make more sense to me than arrows.

Anyway, I've basically experienced another week of mostly studying at 3 AM in morning. If that’s not dedication I don’t know what is. Me trying to fit in exercising, dealing with fashion PR peoples’ emails, eating dinner, and prepping for the LSAT after research every day is rapidly becoming a juggling game.

Photo by karinbar

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Logic and Games

* LSAT Diarist Samson has been leaving detailed comments with advice in response to readers. Thanks, Samson! [LSAT Blog]

* Going to law school in Japan and preparing for the Japanese bar exam sounds difficult. [NYTimes]

* Kim Kardashian sues Old Navy for using look-alike actress in ad. [Sports and Entertainment Law Blog]

* Sexist Craigslist Time Traveler doesn't want you to use time-travel to tear up his legal waiver. [Buzzfeed]

* It's now possible to conduct drug tests using fingerprints. [Geekosystem]

* Stay healthy as you prep for the LSAT by minimizing your consumption of bad sugar. [Lifehacker]

* Apple's supplier is creating an army of up to 1 million robots, supposedly for iPhone manufacturing, but I sense something more sinister. [CNN]

Continue Reading...»