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LSAT Most Strongly Supported Questions - what you need to know

Would you believe that big prep companies, the ones who get paid to help you ace the LSAT, make mistakes in some of their material?!

Actually, you’re probably not that surprised, which I guess says something.

So what’s one of the most common mistakes I see in LSAT prep material? Failing to distinguish between Most Strongly Supported and Must Be True questions.

For example, you might see them place “Most Supported” / “Most Strongly Supported” Logical Reasoning questions under the category of “ Must Be True” questions.

*cue gameshow buzzer*

I can see why. After all, the answer to a Most Strongly Supported question sometimes is something that Must Be True.

If an answer is 100% supported by the stimulus it must be true and is also the most strongly supported because you obviously can’t support something more than 100%.

BUT just because something is the most strongly supported doesn’t necessarily mean it is true.

This is an imperfect example, but imagine you just got superpowers (hurray! But use them for good).

Of the five government scientists that examine you, four of them say that you definitely got your powers from that radioactive sludge you fell into. It also did wonders for you skin, which is a nice bonus.

One of the scientists disagrees and says the comet that crashed into your house is actually the source.

The most strongly supported answer (the most likely) is the sludge, but it doesn’t quite mean it must be true that you got your powers from it.

Again, not a perfect example but you get the idea. If you want some more realistic examples of what you’re likely to see on the test you can find some here ---->

I take two examples from The Next 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests as well as an example from a more recent LSAT PrepTest and go through them.

I hope that helps, and keep up the good study habits whether your LSAT is a week or a year away!

Sincerely,

Steve “The LSAT Machine” Schwartz

P.S. If you’re enjoying these articles, there’s a LOT more where that came from. If there is something in particular you’re having trouble with, chances are I’ve already covered it in my Free Stuff section. That’s right, FREE! Why? Because I genuinely enjoy helping people kick the LSAT’s butt. Maybe that’s MY superpower?

2. Logical Reasoning Explanations
The explanations that should have come with the LSAT. These don't just fall back on "out of scope," but actually tell you why the wrong answers are wrong, why the right answers are right, and the easiest way to get the correct answer.

3. Logical Reasoning Cheat Sheet
Based on what I'd typically do in college: read what the professor emphasized and condense it all onto a single piece of paper. It gave me a quick reference, making things a lot less threatening and a lot more manageable.

Law School Applications and Scholarships

I want everything to go "back to normal" as much as anyone else.

But I'm not convinced we're there.

If things were "back to normal," colleges wouldn't be asking students to sign COVID-19 liability waivers. There wouldn't be mask requirements and social distancing in the classroom.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't start law school this fall (there are costs to waiting), but do your homework. Make sure it's the right decision for you to go now, and it's at the right price. Consider online and hybrid programs.

And - no matter what -

Get the highest LSAT score possible. Why not aim for 180?

Strengthen your application and get those scholarships.

When you make an LSAT assumption…

The people have spoken! Y'all really don’t like sufficient assumption questions. Like, at all. I get it - they can be confusing.

So today we’ll tackle these questions head on. How are we going to do that? Well, I’ve found the best way to make something you don’t like better is by adding in something you do like.

In this case, I like pizza. And I’m willing to bet you do too!

Now, I do not want to get into the whole “pineapple on pizza” debate, so we’re going to focus on the most popular topping of them all: pepperoni.

If you had an argument containing:

Evidence: A—> B
Conclusion C —> B

A sufficient assumption that could close that gap is C —> A

This is because if all C’s are A’s, (As we suggested) and all A’s are B’s , then all C’s must be B’s which is the conclusion from the evidence.

Letters can be confusing, so let’s go back to the pizza.

A lot of people want to know why A—> C doesn’t work, because it looks like it should.

IF that were true we’d have

A —> B (from the original evidence)
A —> C (from our proposed answer)

And they don’t combine to prove that C -> B! They just say that if something’s A, then it could be both B and C.

Let’s use a real example:

And let’s say A is “pepperoni”, B is “pizza topping” and C is “Food.”

If it’s pepperoni, then it’s a pizza topping, or A —> B (evidence)

And we want to prove any food could be a pizza topping or C -> B (conclusion)

If we learned that all food is pepperoni, or C —> A, that sufficient assumption would prove the conclusion true after combining it with the evidence statement. (C -> A -> B)

Obviously not true in real life, but we have to suspend real-world knowledge for the LSAT.

Remember?

And we’re lucky that’s not really true, because even tasty things like pepperoni might get a bit boring (and salty) after a while!

-LSAT Steve

P.S. Want some extra practice? You can follow along with some actual PrepTest questions I broke down here ------>

P.P.S. Any particular LR topics you want me to cover in the future? Reach out and let me know!

Recommended Resources:

1. LSAT Courses
The best of my LSAT material with exclusive access to attend my Live Online LSAT Master Classes + Q&As, and on-demand video lessons you can watch anytime. Plus, LSAT study plans to keep you on track. Save hundreds of dollars with an LSAT course package.

2. Logical Reasoning Explanations
The explanations that should have come with the LSAT. These don't just fall back on "out of scope," but actually tell you why the wrong answers are wrong, why the right answers are right, and the easiest way to get the correct answer.

3. Logical Reasoning Cheat Sheet
Based on what I'd typically do in college: read what the professor emphasized and condense it all onto a single piece of paper. It gave me a quick reference, making things a lot less threatening and a lot more manageable.

How to dissect LSAT formal vs. informal logic

Just like there is a big difference between what you can wear to McDonald’s and Gordon Ramsay’s new restaurant, there’s a big difference between the kinds of logic you’ll encounter on the LSAT.

Ok, so the metaphor was a bit of a stretch, but I’m doing my best here. As you might have guessed from that awkward metaphor, we’re gonna be talking about formal vs. informal logic today.

This is a huge part of the Logical Reasoning section, so making sure you understand these concepts is important.

Formal logic is easy enough. This is logic that is straightforward and relatively simple. Think Data from Star Trek or Spock…also from Star Trek.

For example: Everyone who lives on Earth lives in the Solar System. Everyone who lives in the Solar System lives in the Milky Way Galaxy. Therefore, everyone who lives on Earth lives in the Milky Way Galaxy.

I don’t know why I’m on a space kick today, but hey, space is cool.

While most formal logic on the LSAT is in the Logic Games section, you will see a bit of it in the Logical Reasoning section, too.

Usually these have something to do with morality or climate change. My article about frequent LSAT Logical Reasoning topics covered that.

Ok, let’s move on to what you’ll see way more often: informal logic questions.

Informal logic arguments tend to be more complex and contain unstated assumptions. These are tough to spot immediately because…well, because they don’t state them directly. And they can’t really be diagrammed.

For example:

Some people on Earth are aliens in disguise. John has a fascination with UFOs, secretively tinkers with machines in his garage and allegedly abducted a cow once. Therefore, John’s an alien in disguise.

John may very well be an alien in disguise, but this messy argument doesn’t prove it. You may even see filler sentences in there as well that don’t contribute to the argument at all but are just there to trip you up:

Some people on Earth are aliens in disguise. This is a fact that was unearthed by the CIA in 1947 at Roswell and carefully covered up. John, your reclusive neighbor, has a fascination with UFOs, secretively tinkers with machines in his garage and allegedly abducted a cow once. Therefore, John is an alien in disguise.

(The underlined sentence is an example of background / filler.)

This is a ridiculous example, but you get the point.

And that’s the basic gist of it. If you have any questions, you can always reach out to me.

Sincerely,

Steve “The LSAT Czar” Schwartz

P.S. Click this link to check your "answers" to the free worksheet I shared the other day. (File --> Download As PDF) (Btw, at that link, I'll talk more about why I keep weirdly putting "answers" in quotes.)

P.P.S. Missed the worksheet? Didn't do it? I get it, we're all busy sometimes. Here's the link to give it another shot.

Understanding LSAT necessary vs sufficient conditions

And…we’re back!

So, if my last two articles were a little too “back-to-basics” for you, you’re going to love this one.

We already talked about common LR topics and vocabulary, so now we’re getting into the nitty-gritty.

This time we’re digging into sufficient conditions, necessary conditions, and time.

Specifically, we’re talking about conditional statements here, or if/then as they’re sometimes called.

For example, if I eat Taco Bell for dinner, then I’ll be getting up all night to run to the bathroom.

So, in this case, the sufficient condition is considered the “if” and the necessary condition is considered the “then”.

If it makes it easier, think it terms of X and Y:

If x, then y.

If sufficient condition, then necessary condition.

Wouldn’t it be nice if it were just that simple? But, of course it never is. There are actually a lot of words that can be used in the X and Y slots.

Sufficient (X) Words include: All, any, every, if, in order to, the only, to be, when, whenever

Necessary (Y) Words include: depends upon, must, only, only if, only when, requires, then

Keeping up? Good.

Now here’s the confusing thing: these can be worded different ways to throw you off.

LSAT test makers can be real jerks sometimes!

We already covered the, If X, then Y phrasing but there’s much more sneaky way of wording this as well.

This is called the contrapositive and looks like this using the aforementioned Taco Bell.

Example:
If I’m not getting up all night to run to the bathroom, then I must not have had Taco Bell.

Need more examples? Fortunately for you I’ve got a bunch!

You can find some of those here ---->

Also, I’m proud to say I have a very active and intelligent group of people who read my articles, and they’re sometimes kind enough to contribute in LSAT Diaries or other ways.

For example, Vicky gave her 2 cents on Necessary vs Sufficient Conditions, and I think you’ll find it quite helpful!

That about covers it for today.

Be on the lookout for my next article, where I’ll share some tips on formal vs. informal logic.

You got this!

Steve “The LSAT Spirit Guide” Schwartz

P.S. Here's that logical fallacies worksheet I promised (File --> Download As PDF). In my next article, I'll share the "answers."

P.P.S. If you’ve been studying for a bit and have some helpful strategies to share, you could be the next Vicky! Seriously, I’m always looking to improve the resources available to everyone, so feel free to reach out with any insights. If there’s a place for them, I'll be sure to add them.

Recommended Resources:

1. LSAT Courses
The best of my LSAT material with exclusive access to attend my Live Online LSAT Master Classes + Q&As, and on-demand video lessons you can watch anytime. Plus, LSAT study plans to keep you on track. Save hundreds of dollars with an LSAT course package.
2. Logical Reasoning Explanations
The explanations that should have come with the LSAT. These don't just fall back on "out of scope," but actually tell you why the wrong answers are wrong, why the right answers are right, and the easiest way to get the correct answer.

3. Logical Reasoning Cheat Sheet
Based on what I'd typically do in college: read what the professor emphasized and condense it all onto a single piece of paper. It gave me a quick reference, making things a lot less threatening and a lot more manageable.

Law School Tuition During COVID-19

Law schools aren't going to discount your tuition just because classes are online.

Sure, they extended deadlines to help fill seats, and they learned to conduct recruiting events online out of necessity.

They need to maintain their enrollment.

But even if you've been hit by the pandemic, they've been hit, too. Although you're struggling, they're struggling, too.

They'll only "discount" your tuition if you have something to offer them -- like a boost in the rankings due to your high GPA/LSAT.

Don't wait for them to get so "desperate" that they'll lower their standards. It's not going to happen.

Look at the students who got into their dream schools. Look at those who got significant LSAT score increases. Then make active decisions for your future.

How to deal with tough LSAT words

Hello again.

Today we’ll continue building on our Logical Reasoning foundation with some key LR vocab. Yay!

…Ok, I understand vocabulary isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but nothing’s worse than getting tripped up by a word you don’t know, or more likely, one that’s used in a sense you aren’t immediately familiar with.

That’s really where the LSAT gets tricky. The test writers like to use the less common definitions of words to make sure you’re paying attention.

For example, on the LSAT, “phenomenon” usually means “event” instead of “something unusual”. Another one I see a lot is using the word “advance” to mean “promote an argument” instead of “literally moving something forward

In my Logical Reasoning Vocab Words article, I’ve broken these words broken down into categories: words directly related to arguments, verbs, adverbs, adjectives and nouns.

You probably know most of these words. However, it pays to be thorough so give the list a look over and look up any you aren’t unsure about. Murphy’s Law means if you don’t know one, that’s bound to be the one that shows up on the test.

There are also some words you definitely know the meanings of, but can cause you way more trouble than any of the four-syllable monstrosities in that list.

These sneaky words include: except, unless, until, and without.

Depending on how they’re used, they can drastically alter the meaning of a sentence.

This is getting a little long, so I won’t go into here but if you’re interested in finding out more I get into it in this article.

That’ll do it for now!

Good studying,

Steve “The LSAT Decoder” Schwartz

P.S. If you missed my last article on LSAT Logical Reasoning topics or just want to go over it again, here’s the most important link on this.

P.P.S. I've written a killer logical fallacies worksheet that I'll share with you soon. Keep an eye out for it in my next article.

Recommended Resources:

1. LSAT CoursesThe best of my LSAT material with exclusive access to attend my Live Online LSAT Master Classes + Q&As, and on-demand video lessons you can watch anytime. Plus, LSAT study plans to keep you on track. Save hundreds of dollars with an LSAT course package.

3. Logical Reasoning Cheat Sheet
Based on what I'd typically do in college: read what the professor emphasized and condense it all onto a single piece of paper. It gave me a quick reference, making things a lot less threatening and a lot more manageable.

The 15 most common LSAT Logical Reasoning topics

Hello!

First of all, whether you’re just starting out with your LSAT Logical Reasoning prep or you’ve spent over 100 hours on this, congratulations on putting in the work to master the LSAT.

This test is tough, but reading this article means you’re taking it seriously and that’s a great sign for future success. Bottom line: I believe in you!

Now, on to the good stuff:

I’ve found the best way to tackle the LSAT is by laser-focusing on one aspect of it until you get it absolutely nailed down.

Trying to do too much at once will leave you confused, and worse, frustrated.

So strap in, we’re about to do a big ol’ deep dive on Logical Reasoning. Some of this might seem overly specific, but remember that the LSAT is designed to intimidate you. The best way to combat the intentionally confusing ways the questions are worded is to know what to expect.

Today let’s talk about common Logical Reasoning topics.

There are certain ones that pop up over and over again. Familiarizing yourself with them will help you get over the initial “what are they talking about” moment so you can actually get to solving them quickly!

Don’t forget, this is a timed test, after all. If you’re interested, I speak a little more about getting faster here ---> if you’re interested.

But, I digress.

Here are the 15 most common Logical Reasoning topics you’re likely to encounter:

1. TV shows and violence in children
2. Climate change, fossil fuel use, and crops
3. Dinosaur extinction, ice ages, volcanoes, and asteroids
4. Cigarette advertising, nicotine levels, and smoking rates
5. Government bureaucracies, political parties, politicians, and campaigns
6. Cholesterol, high blood pressure, and obesity
7. Employees and management in mid-sized businesses
8. Highway speed limits, car accidents, traffic, and car insurance
9. Economic recessions and consumer spending in imaginary countries
10. Pharmaceutical companies and government spending on medical research
11. Industry's pollution of the environment and its responsibility to clean up
12. Vaccines, bacteria, and viruses
13. Government support of academia, artists and aesthetics
14. Planets, moons, and brown dwarf stars
15. Morality, criminals, law enforcement, and law-abiding citizens

Having a basic understanding of the debates that come up on these topics will keep you from getting tripped up on the wording and let you focus on identifying and answering the actual question. Sometimes that’s half the battle!

If you’re like me and bored to death with these topics, I proposed my OWN list of Logical Reasoning topics just for fun. If you need a study break, go check them out, I think you’ll agree they’re a little more interesting then hearing about dinosaur extinction. Again.

Keep an eye out for my next article, where we’ll keep building this thing from the ground up. These are the kind of foundational topics that make for a good refresher if you’ve been studying for a while and are absolutely essential if you’re just starting out.

’Til next time,

Steve “The LSAT Sherpa” Schwartz

P.S. If you’re just starting out, check out my LSAT study schedules if you haven’t already. A wise man (or woman) once said, “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.” Having a day-by-day study guide is a great tool to keep you on track.

LSAT Logic Games patterns you can use

So, last time I gave you a bunch of strategies to help you up your LSAT game. How have they been working out for you? Really, let me know; I’m always thrilled to hear your feedback – just reach out.

Today, let’s all laugh at the logic games the LSAT throws at us!

Seriously, once you learn just how predictable these games are, you’ll be bulldozing through them.

I like to look at the LSAT as if it’s my annoying little brother. It will try to annoy the hell out of you, and will often be illogical in its attempts to do so. Kinda crazy for a test of logic, right?

But, just like an annoying little brother, you can learn to identify and manipulate these childish habits to your own advantage.

You can categorize most logic games into two main categories, grouping and linear. They can occasionally be combined, or split into sub categories, but the same features and patterns return time and time again.

Take a look at how these same logic games have reappeared in LSAT tests over the years, like a zombie returning time after time.

LSAT Logic Games that just wouldn’t die…

Like a zombie, once you know your enemy and its weaknesses, it’s not overly difficult to recognize and defeat it.

If you need more help recognizing and solving particular logic games, take a look over my blog. For example, I’ve diagrammed a very typical logic game right here.

The best advice for logic games has got to be know your enemy! Once you know the games inside out, you’ll be able to easily recognize the patterns they’re using.

Next time, we’ll look at some tricky wording that can come up in both Logic Games and Logical Reasoning.

And, as you know, on the LSAT, wording makes all the difference.

Talk soon,

LSAT Steve

P.S if you’re still struggling with logic games, get in touch and let me know what’s giving you the most trouble. I read each message myself and will do whatever I can to help.

Recommended Resources:

1. LSAT Courses
The best of my LSAT material with exclusive access to attend my Live Online LSAT Master Classes + Q&As, and on-demand video lessons you can watch anytime. Plus, LSAT study plans to keep you on track. Save hundreds of dollars with an LSAT course package.

2. Logic Games Explanations
The explanations that should have come with the LSAT. These tell you why the wrong answers are wrong, why the right answers are right, and the easiest way to get the correct answer.

3. Mastering LSAT Logic Games
This guide to Logic Games is by a former writer of actual LSAT questions! Enough said.

Want to increase your LSAT score? Get my free Easy LSAT Cheat Sheet today.