If you want to get to perfect in Logical Reasoning, you need to focus on getting one question right at a time.
This boils down to applying simple frameworks through repeated practice on your way up from the easiest questions to the hardest.
In this lesson, we're covering:
- An approach you can use on all LR questions
- Why practicing "hard" ones is counterproductive
- Curating an environment that resists our worst study habits
High-level Strategy
Every LR problem is susceptible to a basic framework. At a high level, you can think of this framework as Read > Respond > Predict > Attack.
Read
Start by reading the passage to determine whether or not you're dealing with an argument.
You should be able to point to the conclusion (or lack thereof) and each piece of evidence that supports it.
Respond
As you read, respond. Clarify your thinking with these questions:
If it's an argument, did it make sense? Why or why not? Rephrase the argument, point out any flaws, and consider what would strengthen or weaken it.
If it wasn't an argument, was there a mystery or underlying principle? How could you solve the mystery or apply the principle? What else could or must be true?
Predict
Next, read the question carefully so you know what to solve for, using your responses to the clarifying questions above to formulate a prediction.
Don't overthink it. Simpler is better.
Attack
Armed with your prediction, go after the answer choices!
Four are wrong. Tell them why and eliminate them with confidence.
One is right. Go find it! It's often the closest thing to your prediction. Even when your prediction's a little off, predicting will clarify your understanding of the passage and make it easier to find the right answer.
Putting it All Together
Here's what this approach tends to look like in practice:
Work Up in Difficulty, Not Down
I'm not sure why LSAT students gravitate toward harder questions early on in their study.
Maybe it's because they tend to be go-getters who like a challenge. Maybe they're gluttons for punishment. No matter the reason, it's a bad game plan.
Starting with the hardest LSAT content is sort of like picking up a guitar expecting to understand the fretboard. It ain't happening. At least not at first. You have to develop your skills.
It's true that the same underlying strategies apply to each question type regardless of their difficulty. But it's much easier to grasp those underlying concepts when you work upward from the easy questions to the hard ones.
Bad Habits and How to Break Them
I'm a firm believer that environment trumps will power when trying to build good habits. That's a little abstract, so let me explain with an anecdote.
Like many of you, I came to the LSAT with a volume mindset. I thought that studying more meant learning more.
I'd hammer away at question after question, often making excuses and letting myself off the hook. "I must have misread something. Next time I see a question like that, I'll recognize the pattern."
Barf. Even now, I get the ick thinking about it. But admitting your mistakes is the first step to learning.
So, how'd I correct these habits? I made small, incremental changes.
For instance, I wouldn't allow myself to drill another question after getting one wrong until I could explain it to my wife. Or I'd take my pen and put it under my butt when I felt the urge to diagram something complicated. These little changes paid dividends. Reflect on your bad habits and make some changes.
Remember, you're learning skills here, not information. You aren't going to flashcard your way to success. You have to put in the reps—good reps. And good reps come from reviewing what you screwed up on your last bad rep.
Here are some recommendations to help you curate a more conducive learning environment:
- If you're focused on study plans or how many PTs to do, try focusing on one question instead. Go until you get one wrong, then review it until you understand what makes it right and why you got it wrong.
- If you're feeling burnt out, make a change—fewer questions and more review, or cap your daily study to an hour, or make yourself a reward system. The list goes on.
- If you're making excuses like, "I just misread something," stop letting yourself off the hook. Of course you misread something. Hold yourself accountable to what you actually misunderstood.
- If you're separating your practice and review time, try marrying them back up. Breakthroughs happen during review, so curate your study time to include space for thoroughly reviewing your mistakes.
- If you're taking more PTs than you are drilling single questions, swap those proportions. PTs take much longer to review. Simplify your study to master one question—one concept—at a time.
- If you get anxious thinking about the clock during timed practice, turn it off.
- Pretend nothing else exists besides the question / passage you're currently working on. Your job is to get them right, not to get to the end of the section.
- Practice how you'll play on game day. Try to avoid noisy, distracting environments. This is easier said than done, but important nonetheless.
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That does it for our lesson on how to approach Logical Reasoning. Next, we're revisiting LR question types, going beyond what they want us to do into how we solve each type. See you there!