What is a strategy-based approach to the LSAT?
Since the LSAT is a part of getting into school, people tend to assume that preparing for the LSAT is basically the same as studying a school subject. I’m pointing this out for contrast: studying for the LSAT the way you would study for one of your college classes may seem intuitive, but it is NOT strategic.
Instead, you want everything you do to prepare for the LSAT over the coming weeks or months to be aligned to a clear and precise overall plan for how to score the most points before the clock runs out. That’s what I mean when I say “strategy.”
LSAT strategy has three parts, and they’re all the most important
It’s always exciting to me to get to introduce the three parts of LSAT strategy to folks who haven’t thought about it this way before. I’ll try to keep my enthusiasm in check, buuuut get psyched! Your target score is about to get a little bit closer.
The Procedural Part
If you’re not brand new to the LSAT, then you should have already noticed that every single question on the LSAT looks basically the same in the testing app.
The left side shows the passage you gotta read, and the right side has the actual question (which we call the prompt to avoid confusion), and a list of answer choices. This is like the ‘Order’ in Law & Order. The first half is always the police investigation, the second half is always the legal proceedings. Same thing on the LSAT. You always go in the same order, just a slightly different order on one section than on the other. Like this:
| The Order | Logical Reasoning | Reading Comp |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Prompt | Passage |
| 2. | Passage | Prompt |
| 3. | Answer choices | Answer choices |
You gotta commit to applying this procedure consistently on every single question. No exceptions, ever. Be ruthless. Be obsessive. It tends to take that aggressive attitude to keep from falling back on impulse. It should be clear that impulsiveness is NOT a core competency of being a lawyer. It is NOT what this test is meant to measure. But the ability to apply procedure consistently IS a core competency of being a lawyer. That IS what this test is measuring.
I know this isn’t the most revolutionary or glamorous part of winning the LSAT. But it’s essential to avoiding mistakes. You won’t have much fun with the sexier or more advanced tips and tricks until you’ve integrated the procedural part. Please accept that into your heart before you keep going.
The Analytical Part
Another thing about every single question on the LSAT: they all ask about arguments. You’re a future lawyer, so you know about arguments. But let’s agree about the exact definition the test uses. On the LSAT, an “argument” always includes a conclusion — a main point, a deduction, or any statement the author gives support for — and one or two statements of support backing up that conclusion (a/k/a “premises” or “evidence”).
Most passages on Logical Reasoning, and every passage on Reading Comp, will also have some background info that’s just there for context, but doesn’t support or get supported by anything else. Congratulations! You can now identify the role played by every statement in every passage you will ever read on any official LSAT.
And that’s exactly what the analytical part of the strategy is all about. Going forward, you’ll take some of the brain power you were using to try to really understand everything in the passage, and transfer it to mentally applying a tag to each statement: Is it a conclusion, support, or just background? Getting really good at this tagging kind of analysis takes some practice, but it’s absolutely indispensable if you expect to feel like you know what you’re doing on test day. Mega points this is worth.
The Fun Part 🎉
As a professional LSAT nerd, I’m taking a deep breath before I launch into this. I LOVE this shit. I LOVE how much simpler it makes improving your score. Once you’ve practiced enough with LSAT questions that they all start to sound kinda familiar, you’ll be ready to maximize the points that the fun part of the strategy holds in store. Aaaand you might have almost as much fun as me doing it.
Long story short, the LSAT is crazy repetitive. They ask the same kinds of questions, about the same kinds of passages, with the same kinds of right and wrong answers, over and over and over. They’ve been doing this for decades. And that means there are lots of points available to those trained in the art of pattern recognition.
Patterns are the recognizable features of a question that it has in common with other questions. Most of the time that’s something about the wording of the prompt, the passage, or the answer choices. (Precise wording is gonna be a really big deal when you’re a lawyer.) For instance, one pattern is passages that make a comparison. Another is questions that ask about a “flaw” or vulnerability in the argument. Another is answers that use wording stronger than the passage uses. There are dozens of them.
The point is that if you recognize a common pattern in a question, it always opens up a golden opportunity. You get a chance to simplify the game, and get to the right answer without actually needing everything to make perfect sense to you. Pattern recognition is worth so many points I can’t possibly overstate how valuable it is.
If you’re confident about your reasoning skills and your baseline score is already competitive, pattern recognition will probably be pretty much the whole ballgame for you to get to your target score. If you’re feeling more challenged and basic about where you’re at, pattern recognition may be the only way to reach your target score without unlimited time to take the test.
How is all of this sounding?
If you’re hearing what I’m shouting, but you’re not sure how to integrate LSAT strategy into your plan or just have questions, book a 30-minute meeting with me and let’s get you on the path to your target score.
If you’re ready to start practicing strategically on your own, check out my blog and let’s get to work!
If you have feedback or just need a quick clarification, email me.
The plan will work if you do.
Elliot Hirsen / LSAT coach 