LSAT Study Plans and Speeding Up on Timed Exams

How should someone come up with a study plan for the LSAT?

I recommend a five-step approach to LSAT studying -- the LASER approach - it's the framework underlying my day-by-day LSAT study plans and courses. (I also offer free week-by-week LSAT study plans following the same structure).

LASER is an acronym that stands for learning, accuracy, sections, exams, and review.

L is for learning theory.
A is for accuracy, doing individual questions by type, drilling them untimed to get used to what each type is asking for.
S is for sections -- doing individual timed 35- minute sections at your own pace.
E is for endurance and exams.
R is for review.

If any of these five steps is missing from your prep, that will hold you back, and you need to slow down to focus on the missing piece.

How To Speed Up On Timed LSAT Practice Exams

Ok, so maybe trying to get faster on a timed LSAT section wouldn’t be the most compelling movie, but it would be better than Speed 2. That film was a giant flaming ball of crap.

I would much rather watch someone blow through an LSAT Logic Games section than Sandra Bullock and whoever replaced Keanu Reeves run around for two hours on a cruise ship going kinda fast

But I digress.

The bottom line is untimed practice tests will only get you so far. You gotta practice for the real thing so you don’t make simple mistakes just because the clock is stressing you out.

In this article, I’ll give you some tips and tricks to make sure you make the most of the 35-minutes you’re given in each section.

How To Speed Up On Timed LSAT Practice Exams

Good luck and Godspeed,

LSAT Steve

P.S. #2 sucks, but it might help you!

Can you handle my 5 hardest LSAT reading comp passages?

Everyone loves a good challenge, or at least people studying for the LSAT do!

If you’ve been knocking out Reading Comp sections on practice LSATs and are looking for an extra challenge, then you’ll love this article I wrote compiling some of the hardest passages I’ve seen.

So go ahead and take on these bad boys, then let me know what you think!

5 Hardest Reading Comprehension Passages
Good Luck!

-LSAT Steve

P.S. Let me know which ones you have trouble with, and I might write an article breaking them down!

Recommended Resources:
1. LSAT Courses
The best of my LSAT materials, with my full curriculum for each section, including video courses, guides, and study plans to keep you on track. You can save hundreds of dollars with an LSAT course package.

2. Reading Comprehension 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. LSAT Vocabulary Builder
A handbook that guides you through confusing LSAT language, but not by forcing you to memorize hundreds of words. Instead, this comprehensive guide focuses on the LSAT's most commonly-used words and phrases and gives you their meanings on the LSAT.

A Steve-less article about managing LSAT stress

The LSAT was like Mount Everest to me back when I was studying - it seemed impossible to conquer and was discouraging at first, but step-by-step, I eventually made it.

Now, things have changed - I live to conquer each new LSAT as it’s released, and I love helping students like you do the same.

Sometimes, though, it helps to let someone else do the talking. So I’m going to let one of my readers, Caroline, share with you how she dealt with all of the stress that comes with LSAT Test Day.

(And how I helped her get a perfect score on Logic Games.)

Caroline's LSAT Diary

She has plenty of advice, and a great story about how to overcome whatever’s keeping you from the LSAT score you want.

Sincerely,

Steve

P.S. If you have your own tips for dealing with LSAT stress I’d love to hear them! Just reach out and let me know what’s worked for you.

P.P.S. In my next article, I’ll share 5 of the hardest Reading Comp passages

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.

2. LSAT Day-By-Day Study Plans
Preparing for the LSAT is confusing. There are dozens of prep books and practice tests out there, and 1,000+ articles on my website alone. When, and how, should you use them all? These super-specific study plans give you a clear plan of attack.

3. LSAT Cheat Sheets
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.

LSAT strengthen questions: 5 steps to getting stronger

Not physically, of course. I’m a man of many talents, but this isn’t about personal training.

(Although if you’re hitting the gym regularly, good for you! I hope you are doing all the reps and drinking all the protein.)

No, what I’m talking about is that during the Logical Reasoning section of the LSAT, you’re going to come across strengthening questions, where you’re asked to support an assumption.

So how do you solve these? I’m glad you asked!

Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Recognize that it's a Strengthen question.

Some strengthen question stems:

"Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?"

"Which of the following, if true, would most justify the conclusion?"

2. Look for the main flaw (if present).

It will make some unwarranted (and unstated) assumption - the missing (and weakest) link between premises/evidence and conclusion.

3. Support the assumption and scan for answer choice that helps patch up the argument.

After you find the central flaw of the argument, fix it. Bridge the gap between evidence and conclusion. The correct answer may protect the argument against the flaw by:

-denying an alternative possibility

-promoting the evidence's relevance to the conclusion

-supporting the evidence's validity (such as by saying a survey or study was properly conducted)

-providing additional evidence to support the conclusion

4. Remember that the answer choices can contain information not mentioned in the stimulus.

Why? Because the question stem says "if true," which allows the possibility of new information.

5. Remember that in "Strengthen EXCEPT" questions, 4 will strengthen the argument, and 1 will not.

The 1 that doesn't strengthen will either weaken or have no effect. In logic, the opposite of strengthen is "not strengthen.”

***

And that’s how you do it! Be sure to check out my article on solving the flip side of strengthening questions: 5 Steps To Solving Weaken Logical Reasoning Questions

Study strong,

LSAT-Strengthening Steve

P.S. In my next article, I’ll share the 7 questions you need to ask before writing your personal statement.

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.

If everyone took the LSAT...

Not everyone takes the LSAT, but I often imagine what it'd be like if it was required for every human being in the world.

People would be a lot more logical...

and I'd be famous!!!

The fancy restaurants, press appearances, and of course the sweet rides.

So, today, I’m inviting you to step into my fantasy world where I’m a global celebrity and (also learn about sufficient and necessary conditions).

The "Sufficient" Condition is often introduced by words such as "if," "when," and "whenever."

Something that's sufficient is enough to get the job done. However, without more info, we can't assume that it's a requirement (necessary).

It might help to think of the sufficient condition as "activating" the necessary condition.

The "Necessary" Condition is often introduced by words such as "then," "must," and "required."

Something that's necessary has to happen in order for the "sufficient condition" to occur.

However, without more info, we can't assume that it's the only thing that has to happen in order to know that the sufficient condition also happened (or will happen).

So let’s say, as an incredibly famous person, that I have my own limo and personal driver/bodyguard.

I think to myself: ”If I take a limo, I'll get where I want to go."

A limo would be sufficient to get me wherever I want to go.

However, I don't need fancy forms of transportation. There are other ways to get to where I need to go - I could take my personal helicopter, private jet or drive my underwater spy car.

Here’s a few more examples:

Un-friending on Facebook
"If we break up, I'll un-friend him/her on Facebook."

Breaking up might be sufficient to un-friend a significant other, but breaking up isn't required (necessary) to un-friend him/her.

You might un-friend him/her in the middle of a fight without actually breaking up.

Becoming President
"If you have a reasonable chance of becoming President of the United States, then you must be affiliated with one of the two major political parties."

However, being affiliated with the Democrats or Republicans is not enough to become President. You also need to win your party's nomination and, eventually, the Electoral College.

Now that you have a basic understanding of Sufficient vs. Necessary, check out this article I wrote highlighting the words you need to look for that indicate sufficient/necessary conditions.

Cheers,
LSAT Steve

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.

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.

LSAT Mindset During COVID-19

1 year from now, you'll be done with the LSAT - you'll have acceptances from your dream schools and significant scholarship money.

(Your biggest problem will be choosing between several great options.)

You may be getting ready for law school, or you may be finishing up 1L.

You'll still be part of this group, serving as a resource for others, but your own LSAT journey will become an increasingly distant memory.

You'll look back on this time and say, "It was challenging, but I made the most of the time I had and used it to dominate the LSAT."

What would need to happen for this to become your future?

How to deal with LSAT words that annoy you

Words, Words, Words...

Sigh.

One of the hardest things about the LSAT is that you can completely understand what you’re looking at and then get tripped up on wording.

It doesn’t do either of us much good for me to sit here and list a bunch of vocab words for you, but what I can do is show you one of my favorite methods for dealing with the trickiest words you’ll encounter: “except”, “unless”, “until” and “without”.

So here we go.

Take any of the annoying words ("except," "unless," "until," and "without") as introducing the necessary condition. In other words, whatever immediately follows one of these words is your necessary condition.

Then, whatever other clause is present in the conditional statement will, when negated, become your sufficient condition.

The phrase "Not B unless A" would first become "Not B then A." However, we're not done yet - we still have to negate "Not B" to become "B."

So we have B ---> A. No need to take the contrapositive or rearrange anything.

Examples with words replacing variables:
"It's not delicious (B) unless it has salt or sugar (A),” would first become:

"Not Delicious ---> there's salt or sugar..." BUT

We still have to negate "Not Delicious" to become "Delicious."

This gives us "Delicious ---> salt or sugar."

(Meaning that we've directly turned "No X unless Y" into "X ---> Y”)

I wrote a full article on this with another method (although I like it slightly less than this one), you can check it out HERE.

Or, if you want to do a deeper dive into Logic Games vocab and recognizing different types of games, I have that too.

Until next time!

-Steve

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.

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.

Is LSAT-Flex Fair?

One reason LSAC has given for making it 3 sections, not 5, is the need for bathroom breaks and related test security issues with folks leaving the room.

(Other reasons include increased proctoring time and the increased likelihood of Internet/tech issues the longer the exam goes.)

I understand the feelings of unfairness, especially for those who took the 5-section exam being compared to those taking the 3-section LSAT-Flex. 3 sections at home is probably a more pleasant test-taking experience, but there are downsides, too (like knowing every question counts and that each is worth more).

LSAC is only offering LSAT-Flex out of necessity (at least for now). It's clearly not an ideal solution, but it's the best they can do at the moment. And although their communication could be better, I've got to give them credit for rolling this out so quickly.

LSAT-Flex: Do I Like It?

LSAT-Flex: Do I Like It?

I like the idea of an online LSAT for so many reasons - primarily its convenience.

I don't see LSAC compromising the integrity of the exam or cheapening it in LSAT-Flex, at least with regard to test security.

From a content perspective, I do have to admit I'd prefer the exam contain 1/2 Logical Reasoning rather than 1/3 Logical Reasoning. And the exam's overall length is obviously a significant difference, but I'm not sure it's particularly impactful in terms of predictive ability.

One major unresolved question is how LSAC would field-test questions if they weren't widely administering experimental sections.

Regardless, LSAT-Flex is here (at least for the short-term), and everyone I've spoken with in admissions says they'll consider LSAT-Flex scores the same as regular LSAT scores.

(It's also worth noting that a 3-section online LSAT is still probably a much better predictor of 1L grades than the GRE or any other standardized test we have.)

LSAT-Flex + Talking to Yourself

Re: LSAT-Flex, I asked ProctorU if test-takers are permitted to quietly read aloud to themselves.

(Some people do this as they read - often called subvocalizing.)

Alternatively, it might be likely to lead to a flagged/canceled test as a perceived security violation.

ProctorU responded:

"This may create a flagged event. If the whispering is very consistent and you can understand what the test-taker is saying, there [is] unfortunately no way for our system or proctors to know whether the tester is just reading aloud to themselves or speaking to another person in the room or on a device, etc."

(For in-person LSAT administrations, proctors might be able to distinguish talking softly to oneself from a potential security issue, like whispering to another test-taker, and allow more leeway.)

Will LSAT-Flex tests be disclosed?

Neither the May nor June LSAT-Flex tests will be disclosed. LSAC considers these "special" administrations and remains hopeful about returning to in-person administrations (and, relatedly, releasing 4-section exams) in the near future.

I can't imagine them using the same test form across multiple days of LSAT-Flex, so there wouldn't just be one test form for any month's Flex administration anyway.

LSAT Study Schedule + Days Off

Question from an LSAT student who got one of my day-by-day LSAT study plans:

Day 1 went well! After skimming the entirety of the schedule, I noticed a few days that said to take a break. I am truly trying to utilize every day of prep that I can in order to perform my best on test day. Do you truly recommend a full day away from material or should I fill those days with maybe a timed section or some other stimulating subject? I would like to hear your suggestion.

My response:

Glad to hear day 1 went well! I recommend taking days off to make sure you don't burn out.

I find a lot of students do too much - I even got a question recently about whether you should study 8 hours / day for 60 days - my answer is "no" - it leads to burnout.

This is even more common during these times when many are under stay-at-home orders. For this reason, I put together a schedule to structure your day for those able to study full-time without other obligations.

That being said, every student is different - if you feel the need to do something every day, that's fine - just don't overdo it - you can use the days off to catch up here and there, or do a timed section, a few questions, etc.

Let me know if anything else!

LSAT Blog: LSAT Unplugged YouTube / Podcast

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