1.3 - LSAT Advice to Avoid

You’ll encounter loads of advice on your LSAT journey—some gold, some... let's kindly label 'misguided'.

In this lesson, we'll debunk some common LSAT prep myths that do more harm than good, explaining what not to do and why.

We'll cover why you shouldn't:

• Diagram arguments
• Read the question before the passage
• Skim
• Take notes / highlight
• Narrow down answer choices

Let's dive in.

Diagramming Arguments

When you feel the itch to diagram, you're probably telling yourself something like, "I didn't understand, so I want to try and 'visualize' it." RIP. You're in for a bad time.

I get it on some level. Diagramming logic games saves us a ton of time, so it only makes sense to diagram the occasional argument, right? Wrong.

Truth is, if you can't process an argument in your head, you're going to struggle translating it to paper. More importantly, the argument is right there on the screen / paper in front of you the way the test makers intended. Don't draw it. Read it carefully until it makes sense!

Caveat: An Occasional Contrapositive

There’s one rare exception to this rule. Now and then, sketching out a complicated conditional’s logical contrapositive can reveal useful information.

I hesitate to make this recommendation, though. Many students will read this and think I've given them a pass to use contrapositives as some kind of silver bullet—not so.

I'm simply conceding that, occasionally, sketching out a contrapositive can help you answer some questions.

Reading the Question Before the Passage

This tactic is touted as a time saver, a way to "know what to look for." It's bad advice. What happens when you read the question, determine what you "need to look for", and then don't find it in the passage? You're SOL. Huge time waster.

Moreover, consider question types like Parallel Reasoning—you'll need to understand the original argument regardless to have even a slight chance of answering the question correctly.

Instead, start with the passage and read it as slowly as it takes for you to understand it.

Once you understand, read the question just as carefully. By this point, you'll often be able to predict the answer without reading a single answer choice.

Skimming Passages for "Structure" and "Tone"

TL;DR — Don’t skim.

This approach rarely pays off and it’s no substitute for genuine understanding.

Instead, read carefully and pause more frequently than feels natural. Treat every punctuation mark as an opportunity to take stock and double-check your understanding.

These pauses will have you stringing together key ideas, identifying the author's point of view, and understanding how the author presented their ideas (spoiler: that last bit's the structure you were skimming for).

Taking Notes and Highlighting

Take it from a severe dyslexic. You don't need to take notes.

While note-taking and highlighting can benefit those who need a little extra help with retention, for the vast majority, it's unnecessary.

When you're taking notes and highlighting information, you're using a different part of your brain than you do when you reason critically.

Plus, it's cheap dopamine.

We tell ourselves, "I wrote that down, so now I won’t forget. I can‘t forget!" Bull. Watch yourself flounder in the questions and answer choices trying to remember why you even took the note in the first place.

Instead, try having a conversation with the passage—stay rooted in the words on the page, but weigh in! The point is not to have "correct" reactions necessarily, but to engage with the material in a meaningful way.

When you do, the need to revisit passages diminishes significantly. You leave yourself mental breadcrumbs that help you Hansel-and-Gretel your way back, if you even need to re-read at all.

Remember: Your goal isn’t to memorize every little detail, it's to understand.

Narrowing Down Answer Choices

Boo. Boo this advice and all who give it.

”But, Braaaandooon!! There‘s no penalty for wrong answers! Why shouldn’t I do this?”

Every LSAT question has 4 wrong answers and 1 right one. There's no second best. There are no runners-up. I've practiced and taught thousands—literally thousands—of LSAT questions. I think I've found two (ever) that have had an answer choice one could even loosely argue would qualify as second-best. These questions are true anomalies.

If you're narrowing it down to two or three answer choices, then you don't understand something—the passage, the question, the answer choices, or some combination of the three. You need to stop, re-read the passage, make certain you know what the question wants from you, and then find it in the answer choices.

Caveat: When You're Short On Time

The one exception here is when you start running out of time.

A good rule of thumb is to start bubbling in answer choices on unaddressed questions when the five-minute warning pops up. There's no sense in coughing up free points that random chance might afford you.

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As you navigate your LSAT prep, remember that understanding is your true north, not gimmicks that try and help you game the test. Avoid these common pitfalls, build a solid skillset, and keep those skills sharp. You'll be in the 170s in no time.

That concludes our introductory chapter. See you in Chapter 2, where we'll do a deep dive into the LSAT's core concepts.

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