LSAT Preparation (specifically, Logic Games)

ChopperDave

After a few months of relatively intensive self-study, I took the LSAT today and immediately canceled my score. The reason? (Fucking) Logic games.

Part of it was just shit luck: I took the test with a bad cold, the Logic Games section came up dead last (i.e. three hours in, when I was already exhausted), and two of the puzzles I got were "hybrids" apparently designed to waste time. (One had no less than four questions that changed the rules or forced me to test every option until I found the right one, ugh.)

But I also recognize that Logic Games is my weakest section, if only because I just can't finish a puzzle in under 8.5 minutes. (I average 10 minutes per puzzle on my practice exams, on a good day). I've practiced it a LOT, working through countless sample questions from various books and quite a few practice exams. I think I've got a good handle of how these questions tend to work and the basic dos and donts, but I just, can't, get, my, time, down. The only way I get through these puzzles in a reasonable time is when they resemble another puzzle I've worked through before; the slightest wrench in the equation throws me off balance, leading me to waste time and stress myself out (thereby making mistakes).

Rather than ranting about how stupid this section is and how unfair the low time limit is -- and believe me, I could -- I figure I need to really focus on it and master it. Quite frankly the strategies I have don't work (thanks for nothing, Kaplan book), and until I fix those any further practice questions are just going to be me spinning my wheels.

What would people suggest, either for books or classes? I've already got general knowledge and don't really need to work on any other sections, so at this point I just want something that'll really develop my ability to do these stupid logic puzzles in the stupid time limit so that I can get into a stupid good law school.

Brian Krakow

I have heard very good things about this book.

sterling3763

Buying the PowerScore book linked above is the way to go. That or shelling out the 1200 bucks for a Testmasters course.

Try the PowerScore book first though. Ideally, logic games should be the easiest section for you. Once you learn the patterns/tricks to laying out the games, you'll find them repetitive and you'll finish with time to spare.

John Matrix

I agree with all of the above. I would also recommend that you do soduku puzzles. It helped me with getting my brain into 5th and 6th gear and generally helped to speed-up thinking.

banksie

Brian Krakow wrote: »

I have heard very good things about this book.

The powerscore books are great and really helped me out in the logic games. I think part of it is just getting to be super efficient in setting up the games and knowing how to write out the rules. Half the challenge is just understanding what the conceptual layout of the game is anyway. Study the powerscore bible and then try to get your hands on every logic game LSAC has put out for the last 10 years. For me I found that the mass repetition was key to getting a good score in the game section.

emp123

I highly recommend the Testmasters prep course (I went with TestMasters.net and not Testmasters.com although they may be the same company). I took it when it was either $800 or $1000 (it was mid 2009), I didnt realize their prices had increased so much.

I like it because the tests they use are actual LSAT tests, unlike Kaplan which I believe makes up the test questions while attempting to keep them similar to questions on actual LSATs. Additionally all of the instructors scored in the 98th+ percentile so they probably know what theyre talking about.

You could probably go with Blue Book as its basically the same course. I think theres been talk of legal action between TestMasters and Blue Book, the guy who created TestMasters claims that the guy who created Blue Book stole his method. Which is better I cannot say and I know people who have taken both.

oldsak

emp123 wrote: »

I highly recommend the Testmasters prep course (I went with TestMasters.net and not Testmasters.com although they may be the same company).

I believe that testmasters.net is the original testmasters and that testmasters.com is an inferior service.

Wezoin

I used the Kaplan books (the all in one book, and the specifically logic games book) They were both very thorough and great learning tools.

I also took a course from Oxford Seminars, which was also good.

A Bear

I would further endorse the Powerscore workbook, and lots of official practice tests taken in full to build up mental endurance to try to better avoid being totally exhausted by the end of the test. You might already be doing the second part, but it can always be done more!

ChopperDave

Yeah, I've already taken four practice tests and gone through dozens of practice problems. I think at this point I'm mostly spinning my wheels and not improving my speed much.

It seems like the Powerscore book is pretty consistently recommended, so I think I'll try working with that. With hope it'll help me improve my strategies, and working with real LSAT problems will be useful too. (I didn't realize that Kaplan uses in-house problems meant to mimic the LSAT's, but it makes sense. They all seem easier than what I saw on the LSAT, though maybe that's just the pressure talking.)

Thanks for the recommendations!

Wezoin

ChopperDave wrote: »

Yeah, I've already taken four practice tests and gone through dozens of practice problems. I think at this point I'm mostly spinning my wheels and not improving my speed much.

It seems like the Powerscore book is pretty consistently recommended, so I think I'll try working with that. With hope it'll help me improve my strategies, and working with real LSAT problems will be useful too. (I didn't realize that Kaplan uses in-house problems meant to mimic the LSAT's, but it makes sense. They all seem easier than what I saw on the LSAT, though maybe that's just the pressure talking.)

Thanks for the recommendations!

According to the Kaplan book they only use real questions taken off of previous LSATs.

A Bear

ChopperDave wrote: »

Yeah, I've already taken four practice tests and gone through dozens of practice problems. I think at this point I'm mostly spinning my wheels and not improving my speed much.

Thanks for the recommendations!

I bet if you did some more, you could see further improvements. The LSAT is not only a test to see how quick and competently you can do any one section, but how quick and competently you can do 5 consecutive sections. I took somewhere between 10 and 12 full practice tests, and saw about a 6 point increase from my first tests to my final score.

emp123

If its at all helpful, I found the LSAT tests TestMasters used to be more difficult than the LSAT test I took. I dont know if they focus on the hard ones or what, but it made taking the actual LSAT a lot less stressful after realizing that the test was easier than I thought it was going to be.

The people who took Blue Book did not feel this way.

LaPuzza

All I would suggest is getting something that offers advice on how to draw/sketch the problems and solutions. I'm nto a visual learner, but I found that on the prep tests I took (from a $5, 6 year old book) that I was unable initially to sketch the data set initially until I put myself in the right frame of mind.

fightinfilipino

when i was studying for the LSAT, i found it best to work out the puzzle as much as you could possibly do without even TOUCHING the questions.

you need to figure out: 1) what type of puzzle you're facing and 2) how to draw up a chart/graph that will most effectively let you visualize the problem.

once you can id those, it's then a matter of going through the puzzle clues and working out what goes where. DO THIS ALL UP FRONT before hitting the questions. you won't figure it all out, but you WILL save a shit ton of time, as a lot of the questions will be already answered for you.