The 5 Most Important Tips For LSAT Success
1. Prioritize accuracy over speed
If you focus on speed, your accuracy will inevitably suffer. You will likely end up rereading the passage several times, choosing between two or three wrong answer choices that look appealing, or relying on cheap tricks to get questions right. Don’t go down this path. Take the time you need to understand what you are reading, maintain a high accuracy rate, and speed will come naturally over time.
This also means that if you are in the 140s, 150s, and likely even the 160s, you should not be trying to finish sections. Instead, you should be focused on keeping your accuracy as high as possible. Trying to answer all the questions in a section when you are still scoring in the 140s or 150s is like an amateur weightlifter trying to lift the same weights as a professional weightlifter. It is possible to get there in time, but you are not there yet. Build the proper form, go at your own pace, and you will see improvements.
2. Make predictions before reading the answer choices
This forces you to properly think through and digest what you have just read. If the question asks for the flaw committed and you can’t come up with a prediction before reading the answer choices, take that as a glaring signal that you have not properly read the passage. Making predictions also provides a helpful roadmap for the answer choices. This should aid in quickly crossing out wrong answers. If a wrong answer does not match your prediction, or even if it simply does not make sense to you, you can dismiss it without delving too much into its logic.
There is no need to take this advice to its extreme. For example, you do not need to make a prediction on parallel flaw questions- just make sure you understand the argument and are able to identify the flaw. However, even for some of the more open-ended questions, like strengthen or weaken, it is worthwhile to try and predict a few of the various ways that the argument can be strengthened or weakened. Strengthen and weaken questions often hinge on flawed or incomplete arguments, and identifying those flaws and thinking through ways to make them superfluous is highly useful.
3. Thoroughly review each question you get wrong
Any time you get a question wrong, make sure you properly think through three things. First, make sure you understand why you chose the wrong answer and why that answer is incorrect. Second, make sure you understand why you mistakenly crossed out the right answer and why that answer is correct. Finally, go over in your head what you can learn from this question and how you need to change your approach to not get similar questions wrong in the future. Until you go through these three steps, you should not move on to a new question.
There are many different ways you can get a question wrong. Sometimes you simply misread one word or phrase, and once you see your mistake, the question quickly makes sense. Other times, you either misunderstood something or had a flawed approach. Reviewing these errors will take more time. You should not move on until you can answer yes to the question of “Can I confidently explain this question to a fellow LSAT student?”
4. Be a consistent studier, not a heroic one
There is no perfect study plan to follow in terms of hours per day or week. However, it is important that you are consistent and that you do not study past the point at which fatigue causes decreased accuracy.
For me, this meant a schedule where I studied anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours per day, depending on my other commitments and how I was feeling. I would also take one full-length PT every other week. For other people, it may make sense to be more regimented and study 1-2 hours every weekday. Regardless of how you spread out your studying, it is critical that you stay consistent in your approach. Five hours of studying spread out by one hour each weekday is far more effective than five hours of studying on Monday and no studying from Tuesday until Friday.
5. Do not sign up for the official test until your PT scores match your target score
This advice sounds simple, but so many students don’t follow it. Until you are consistently receiving scores on your practice tests that you would be happy getting on your official tests, do not sign up for the official test.
Tangentially, do not have a set test date in mind when you start studying. You have no idea how long it will take before you reach a PT range that you are happy with. Let your practice tests and timed sections guide your timing plans, rather than the other way around. Focus on improving your accuracy and thoroughly reviewing any mistakes, and then sign up to take the official test when you are ready.
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