1.2 - Foundational Skills

Welcome back! Next, we're covering core competencies—the essential skills to improving your LSAT score.

Reading Carefully (Not Quickly)

For the love of all things holy, slow down. Slow down until what you've read makes sense to you. Slow down until you understand.

If this is your only takeaway from this lesson, you'll already be a step ahead of your peers.

The LSAT isn't a sprint. It's a marathon where every step—in this case, every word—counts. It's all about understanding what you read.

Identifying Conclusions and Evidence

Spotting Conclusions

Conclusions are "reasoned judgment[s]...the necessary consequence[s] of two or more propositions taken as premises." (Thanks, dictionary!)

More simply, conclusions are statements meant to persuade—to prove something based on other bits of information. Learning to spot them is LSAT 101.

Conclusions aren't always front and center. You’ll often see keywords like therefore, thus, or hence introduce them, but not always. Ask yourself the following clarifying questions to help spot conclusions:

• What idea(s) in this passage are supported by others?
• What's this author trying to prove?
• What's their main point?

Once we find an argument's conclusion, we can determine its validity, point out logical errors, infer other things that must also be true... the list goes on (we’ll cover that list in both the Core Concepts and LR chapters later on).

Spotting Evidence

Evidence is the backbone of an argument—the piece or pieces of support that prop up (and sometimes prove) a conclusion. On the LSAT, you can use support and evidence interchangeably.

Ask yourself, "What supports the conclusion?" It could be facts, examples, or other data. Your job is to identify each piece of evidence and recognize the role each one plays in supporting the argument's conclusion.

Sometimes, evidence is straightforward. Other times, it's implied. Either way, spotting evidence and understanding the role each piece plays prepares you to tackle any question.

Rephrasing Arguments

The next time you encounter an argument, try rephrasing it. This exercise will you help clarify and understand arguments.

Can you summarize things in plain English? If not, chances are you don't understand it well enough.

As you improve this skill, you'll often find yourself predicting answers to questions before you've even read the question itself.

Interpreting Conditional (If-Then) Statements

The LSAT loves conditional logic. You'll frequently see conditional logic presented as an "if-then" statement, but not always. You need to be able to spot and tease apart both kinds.

Here's the quick and dirty: "If" introduces a condition; "then" follows with a consequence of the condition. It's a domino effect where one action triggers another.

When you're presented with an if-then statement on the LSAT, your job is to treat it like gospel.

For example, "If I flip on my light switch, then my lights will turn on." Condition: flipping the light switch on. Consequence: my lights turn on. In other words, flipping the switch on is enough to ensure that my lights turn on.

You could totally argue that the light switch isn't the only thing I need for the lights to turn on. But when a relationship is explicitly established like this on the LSAT, you must accept that it's true.

We'll cover conditionals in greater detail in a later lesson.

Making Inferences

Inferences get a little too much credence in the LSAT industry. Don't get caught up in dogma or gimmicks.

It's not some magical term. It just means putting together what must be true or what has to be the case.

Inferences are about logical certainty—about asking yourself, "Given the information, what conclusion is inescapable?"

Learning to make solid inferences is a skill that mirrors the legal process itself—building cases on solid, undeniable evidence.

For example, the lights are on at my house and the internet is working. It would be reasonable for you to infer that I've paid my utility bills, at least enough to keep those services running. Why? Well, had I not, I probably wouldn't have power or internet.

---

We'll practice these skills till you can do them in your sleep. As you practice, remember: it's always about precision, not speed. Quality, not quantity.

But that does it for this lesson. Next, we'll take a look at some common LSAT advice you'd be wise to avoid.

---

What did I miss? What would you change? Leave me a comment below to help me improve this course for you and future test-takers.