50/50

[mfgaines]

I am self-studying for the June 2018 LSAT. I started last November but only recently picked up my pace. I’m a non-traditional applicant with little time (or funds) available for tutoring so Powerscore’s books have been very useful. I have a few questions and would appreciate if you can help answers them for me.

My diagnostic test was a 155 and after completing 10 or so tests, I’m scoring pretty consistently in the 155-160 range. My weak areas are logical Reasoning and logic games. I’m mid-way through both the power score bible for LG and LR. (I was working on both concurrently before deciding to focus first on LR with the intention focusing on LG after I had improved LR.)

I seem to be making limited progress with LR (perhaps even scoring a little worse than I started). I’ve worked at adopting the strategies listed in the LR bible. I recognize that it makes sense for my scores to decline while I adapt my strategy. I’ve noticed that the questions I miss always seem to be “50/50’s.” That is, I will eliminate 3 of 5 answers and be left with 2 answer choices that are enticing. Anecdotally, it seems that the least enticing of those two answers is typically correct - but I’m hesitant to go against my intuition. It seems to me that my score will jump quickly if I can improve my performance on these 50/50 Questions.

I’ve noted in my reading of the PS Bibles that “4 of the 5 are wrong and 1 is right.” In the context of my question this to mean that there is an objective reason for 4 being incorrect and 1 being correct. Taken in the context of the “50/50” dilemma, I believe that this means I’m simply missing the nuances to those AC’s that makes one clearly right and one clearly wrong. Is there a better strategy to adopt for addressing these questions? I’m slightly concerned that betting against my intuition (which is simply assuming that the test makers are trying to deceive me with an enticing answer is a bad strategy. A better strategy seems to modify my intuition to pick up on what features makes one answer choice clearly wrong or clearly right.) Initially, I’d tried to adopt a strategy where I categorized the various “types” of wrong answers — e.g. Shell Games, Opposite Answers but that hasn’t been as fruitful as I’d have liked.

My second, more general question is this: I’ve bought in on the PS bible strategy. I’m spending a lot of time learning the material and committing the ideas to memory - but also keeping in mind that it’s a “flexible framework” because it doesn’t seem that turning it into a rigid framework is going to be the best approach. (Or am I wrong on this?). Do you have a recommendation for “syncing” up the lessons and strategies from the LR Bible with the actual LR sections?

Maybe it’s worth noting that the PT’s and sections I’ve taken to this point have come from PT’s 7-18 or so. There have been a few, not many, but a few correct LR answers that just didn’t...seem right or the questions just didn’t seem clearly stated. I’ve read the more recent tests are different - but not substantially so. I admit, there are a few Logic Games per section that “blow up” my score on that section and just seem to be on a different level than the other games. How would you describe the differences in the games and logical Reasoning section between the older tests and newer tests?

Finally, I’d have thought by this point, my score would have started trending upwards but it seems stuck within that 155-160 score. What can I do to break out of this score and start doing better? Or, what should I stop doing to start scoring higher? I’ve been stuck within this range for a few months and it’s pretty frustrating.

Thanks for all of your help.

[Jennifer Janowsky]

mfgaines,

We’re happy to answer any of your questions! The books you’re using are a great resource for studying without tutors.

Logical reasoning can be one of the easier sections starting out, but can be one of the hardest to improve upon because of how many varied question types it contains. Luckily, you also have the highest return when you focus on it, since it’s such a large part of the test.

Another thing you have mentioned is this “50/50” phenomenon, where you narrow down two answer choices and choose the wrong one. It’s infuriating and common—and the makers of the LSAT definitely do it on purpose.

Dave Killoran has a great method he uses for choosing between these answers that I find very insightful:

The rule I always tell students about picking between two remaining answers is:

• • If you understand both answers, then pick the one you feel is superior. Always go with your analysis when you feel like you are on solid ground with understanding both.
  
  • If you understand one answer and don't really like it but don't really understand the other answer, then choose the answer you don't really understand. Why? Because if you choose the one you do understand, you are choosing an answer you already don't like. Again, go with your analysis and avoid answers you dislike. The unknown is better than an answer you don't like.
  
  • If you don't really understand both answers well, then try to match the general language in the stimulus with the task at hand. For example, if you have a Must Be True question and the stimulus used a lot of a terms that were probabilistic and not absolute (such as "could," "should," "maybe," etc), then choose the answer that uses similar language and avoid the answer that uses absolutes (such as "always," "never," etc).

The other comment I always make is that in these situations, details matter. so, one thing you have to lock down in the stimulus is the exact wording of the conclusion. Don't just kind of know it; make sure you know it exactly. It makes a difference in so many cases, and I've seen students get quite suddenly much better at choosing the right answer when they get forced to focus on the conclusion language.

Obviously this method isn’t foolproof, but I think it does a great job forcing you to look closer at the answer choices to choose between them in a thoughtful way.

My second, more general question is this: I’ve bought in on the PS bible strategy. I’m spending a lot of time learning the material and committing the ideas to memory - but also keeping in mind that it’s a “flexible framework” because it doesn’t seem that turning it into a rigid framework is going to be the best approach. (Or am I wrong on this?).

In this case, it really is up to you how rigidly you would like to apply the framework given in these Bibles, and which tips you would like to apply. I also found that I preferred to be more flexible in the framework I held myself to rather than struggling to memorize everything. If memorizing is your strong suit you may do better otherwise.

The LSAT is a dinosaur and hasn’t changed all too much over time, making old tests a valuable resource. However, changes do occur and new features show up with newer tests. It’s difficult to say whether the newer tests are harder necessarily, but it is certain that they are more reflective of the material that you will be tested on next year. Your scores shouldn’t change considerably between these tests, although there may be slight differences.

It is common for scores to plateau for a time, and I would expect another increase in the coming year. The biggest thing that can bring that score up once you know the material is just to do practice questions under timed conditions. If you think you’re still missing too many questions in LR, you could do well to look back at all the questions you’ve missed in past tests to see if there are any specific trouble areas. When put together, these trends tend to become more obvious.

Good luck in your self-studying, I hope this helps you a bit!