How to Score Better on the LSAT

Here is a guide to improve your scores on the LSAT. It's straight to the point and can help you get into the law school of your choice. I listed the types of questions on the LSAT and how to tackle them, what do to about the writing sample, general questions, and other helpful resources.

Games

Four games per section
5-7 questions per game
Worth 1/4 of score

Most people start off doing worse on games than the other sections. Fortunately, with practice, games are the easier ones to master. They are not subjective like the other sections, therefore the right answer can be figured out concretely.

The trick to the games section is to master the use of symbolizing, after every clue, turn it into a symbol and consistently practice it until you get it down. This way, you will not have to keep looking back and
forth at the clues and the problem.

Ex. John ate pizza sometime before Henley
J-H

Ex. John ate pizza right before Henley
[J-H]

Ex. If Sue eats fish, then Ted sells bananas
S f -> T b

Conditional statements have contra positives that are also true, after every conditional statement, find its contra positive - flip and switch - if Ted does not sell bananas, Sue does not eat fish
T /b -> S/ f

Ex. If Tiffany is short, then Bill is not orange
T s -> B/ O
Contra positive - if Bill is orange, the Tiffany is not short
B O -> T/ S

Diagram every game using these symbols and make up your own for other kinds of clues. Set up the diagram according to what the game wants, such as a game that requires you to order a group of people who
took part in a race, an example would be like this:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
_
_
_
_
_
_
_

Clues:
1) Jeff is always 1st
2) Phillip completed sometime before Tom
3) Tom cannot be behind FGHC

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
J
P
T
FGHC?
FGHC?
FGHC?
FGHC?

We know that FGHC are in spots 4,5,6, or 7, because Jeff, Phillip, and Tom filled up the first three spots, and Tom cannot be behind FGHC. We leave the last 4 spots open to more clues.

Practice, practice, practice!! The LSAT is no push over, look for free online practice tests and keep doing em. Give yourself 2-3 months to study, and study everyday, do a few sets of problems a day so it
doesn't seem like a drudgery, taking away motivation. If you're going to take an expensive prep course, such as Princeton, Power Score, or Kaplan. DO NOT practice previous tests from the past 10 years. The
material from those prep courses will overlap, in turn misguiding your scores.

Arguments

Ã'½ of your score
Many different types of questions, such as main points,
reasoning, conclusions, flaws, strengthen, weaken, etc.

Out of the four sections that count, arguments represent two of them making it a tremendous part of your test. These should be practiced the most.

The first thing you should learn about arguments is how to process of elimination. Eliminate anything that is:

NOT relevant - Question talks about cars, but answer talks about potatoes

Doesn't answer the question - Watch out for wishy washy stuff that doesn't answer anything

Almost right but not quite - It is partially right, but then there's other miscellaneous information that no one cares about, or is plain wrong.

Forceful answers - Basically, stuff that exaggerates “He will NEVER kill Joe†or “Tommy ALWAYS shower with clothes on†UNLESS, the question asks for extremities such as strengthen or weaken questions.

The easiest way to work argument questions is to find the premise and conclusion. The conclusion is the claim or the main point, whereas the premise are the facts that support the conclusion. Generally the
conclusion is in the 1st or last sentence.

90% of the time, the easiest questions are the first 10 in each arguments section. Of course there may be a few random hard or medium leveled questions in there but it is mainly easy.

What to do if POE narrowed down to 50:50? Oh NOS, the dreaded fear in everyone's eyes, “I've narrowed it down to 50:50, but I always get it wrong HELP!!†Calm down, it is usually not wise to guess at 50:50 because it is a big loss if guessed wrong, what you need to do is to analyze the differences in the answers, find which one is more correct and stick to it.

Remember, arguments are 50% of the test, so they should be worked on the most!! There are only a handful of different argument types, with practice, you will get the drift and can follow through with each
question. There will be times when you run across a certain type of argument that takes up too much time, ditch those and work on the easier ones, only come back to them when you have spare time.

Reading Comprehension

Four reading passages per section
5-8 questions per passage
1/4 of LSAT score

Like arguments, finding the conclusion and premises help answer the questions. A few pointers for these types of passages are:

Translate passages into your own words - Repeat things in own words duh

Locate main ideas and author's opinions - What is the author's views and what the heck is he talking about?

Do not use outside knowledge - Only answer the questions with what the text says, the text is what's assumed and any outside knowledge will be wrong. Even if you know that the sky is blue, if the text says the sky is green, then the sky is GREEN. Ya, you better believe it, of course this only applies to the LSAT.
There are two ways of approaching the reading section, either to skim the questions first, and then reading the passages... Or reading the passage and then answering the questions. Generally, most people
prefer skimming the question and then reading the passages for answers, and then answering them as they find them.

Writing Sample

This section, like the experimental section is not graded into your raw LSAT score. Do not worry too much about this because most admissions committee member does not read it. This writing sample not have much impact on your chances for admission under normal circumstances. But that does not mean it will be a good idea to doodle or leave it blank. Do not attract attention incase an admissions employee might happen to glance at it.

It is best to stay on the safe side, for those of you who want a semi decent essay there will be two prompt types.

1)
You write a persuasive essay saying which option is better. Such as to pick the new house or the old house, each having their respective advantages and disadvantages; you will have to decide which one is
better and meets the requirements that the question asks.

2) Agree or disagree with the author. Basically, you will need to identify flaws in the author's reasoning, use the facts in the passage to strengthen your argument.

extra hELP

Get a dictionary, preferably Webster's International Dictionary. They can be found relatively cheap with an older edition maybe $5.

Two weeks before your LSAT exam. For fourteen days, go to a school or public library and read The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Spend about one and a half hour each day reading it, before your bed time. Let's say you generally sleep at midnight, every night, schedule to go to the library at 10:00 - 11:30. Usually during this time you will feel fragile and tired, this is good. Your mind needs to get used to this state so that you can think better during the real thing.

The articles that will help from this book are:

Ludwig Wittgenstein - Logic
Martin Heidegger / Carnap
Game Theory - Strings and segments

Read this CAREFULLY, make sure to use the dictionary on any word you do not understand, the main idea is to understand the articles with accuracy. Doing all this will expand the way your mind works, this will be helpful for the LSAT and also life in general.

day of the test?

What to bring on test day

Admissions Ticket
Silent Timer
Pencils
Telephone numbers of taxi service incase of emergency
ID without Photo
Tissues for runny nose

The day that you have been waiting for, make sure you are comfortable. Dress in layers, air conditioning might be too cold, or if it is too hot you can easily take a few things off.

Get five hours of sleep the night before the test, this is the peak time for your brain to do well, sleep at regular time.

Eat a boiled egg for breakfast, protein in the morning will help balance your energy during the test. Eat only one or two, too many might do more harm than good, wasting precious LSAT time flushing the toilet or stinking up the whole room.

Try your best to not be nervous! It will only hurt, remember, the LSAT is just one part of the law admissions. Also, don't be in a hurry to cancel your test scores, you might have done better than you thought, give it some time before making such a decision.

Applying to Law School

Three main things that all law admissions look for:

LSAT
GPA at what school
Application

One of the main turn offs from applications are the applicant's sloppiness, DON'T NEGLECT THIS PART!! It's kinda uh... Important. Most law schools do not do interviews, they believe that applicants should be able to express themselves through writing, the personal statement.

The next important things in the application are the Letters of Recommendation, these need to be very favorable preferably from professors or academic sources that know you well. Law schools want to know if you have the capability to succeed at their school. Submit the application as early as possible, this will increase your chances of getting in. To send out applications, register an account at www.LSAC.org for a fee. This is a necessity if applying to more than a few schools, and at some schools they require that you use this
service.

To check school score averages, go to LSAC.org and click on

->Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools
->All Law Schools
->Pick the school you want to check out
->Description

At the bottom, there should be a table with admitted students with whichever scores. If the admitted students over the applied students is 50% or above ( Admitted / Applied ) under your score category, the chances of you getting in is good.

If your rating at a reach school is 10% acceptance under your category, you should go ahead and apply, there is a reasonable chance that you will get accepted.

Other questions related to Law stuffs

Q) When should I register for LSAT?
A) ASAP!! You do not want to drive five hours out because you registered too late, do it now!

Q) How do I register for the stupid test?
A) Go to www.lsac.org and register for the test.

Q) Is the test FREE??
A) I wish, well unless you have a waiver form... The cost is $123 for normal patrons.

Q) I took some classes at a community college, do I still have to report
it in my application?
A) Yes.

Q) My score isn't the highest of all, should I still apply to an elite law
school?
A) Go to page 21, and read the steps to find out if your rating is 10% or above.

Q) I'm a failure!!! I scored very low on the LSAT!!
A) Don't worry, LSAT isn't the only thing law schools are looking for, you can still take the test again up to three times in a span of two years. Or rely on your other strong attributes.

Q) What's the best way to study for the LSAT?
A) Do as many problems as possible to get used to the questions, work them everyday for at least an hour for 2-3 months before the exam date.

Q) My GPA isn't too high, my school is really really hard....
A) Do not worry about that, law schools obviously take a note on the easy A schools and the toughy tough schools. You will be competing against other students from your school for the higher grade and LSAT score. Law schools want a diverse campus to heighten the amount of schools that their students come from.

Q) I goofed around my freshman and sophomore years, that's why MY
GPA STINKS! I'm scared.
A) The Law admissions committee will take note of this, and if there is tremendous improvement during the junior and seniors, applicants with a lower GPA can still be competitive.

About Lawyers

Lawyers are role models, because of their prestige and position, people often go to them as advisors. Most of the time not for legal advice. Lawyers need to be excellent communicators and writers.

Lawyers are also problem solvers, they think logically to solve problems and obstacles. Lawyers read A LOT! With cases, Lawyers must research on specific topics to fight in the court room.

Not all lawyers are court room lawyers!!! There are many different kinds of lawyers other than the little court ones, in fact, most lawyers work in offices, such as business, real estate, international, divorce,
etc.

Get rid of the myth that all lawyers are liars and bad guys, say that again when you are in need of someone to help defend your innocence in a court room case. Lawyers are needed, and can educate people about the law.