LSAT Basics and Tips

The test layout will be five sections, 35 minutes each and then comes the essay that is 30 minutes. Now how can someone sit through all that and not have butt cramps? Well lucky for us! We get a 10-15 minute break after the third section. The sections are as follow, one games, two logical reasoning, one reading comp, one experimental, and one essay; no specific order, except the essay is always last. There is no way to tell which one is the experimental so it's best you try hard on every section. According to tests from the previous 10 years, the experimental section is generally the first or second section.

Pacing

One of the most important things about this test is pacing, the test is made so that almost everyone cannot finish. Hence, you can still get a 180 (maximum score) without completing the whole test. It tests how well you can finish it under stress, obviously, since I just told you their secret plan... It's not so scary anymore huh? The secret to this test is accuracy, it's utter pointless to finish the test getting 20 right when you can do three forths of the problems and getting it all correct.

Time

Buy a timer! You are allowed to buy a silent timer, the price ranges from $20+ But a smart cheap way that I did was I bought a $5 kitchen timer at Wal-Mart, opened it up and cut off the wire leading to the sound box. These bad boys help with pacing and reduce stress.

Process of Elimination

If you have taken any prep courses in the past, you should know that the best way to increase your chances of a correct answer is to use Process of Elimination. POE is used to get rid of answers that are definitely wrong and leaving you with the remaining choices; normally there are five choices, that means 20% of guessing a random answer correct, but if you are able to eliminate three, you now have 50% of guessing a random answer correct. Use this method for every question, it will potentially rack up points to your raw score.

Speed Bubble

To maximize efficiency, do NOT bubble after every answer, only bubble when you complete two sections and have to turn to the next page. You do not want to spend any precious time finding the ovals to darken in and looking for where you left off in the test booklet after every question.