You may not remember, but not too long ago, the egg was considered the miracle food. Then it became known as a cholesterol bomb. And now it’s gaining acceptance in our South-Beach-diet-accepting world. The same thing happens in education. Just a few days ago, the New York Time published an article about a study that concludes that testing helps us remember what we’ve read. This seems to debunk the idea that “concept-mapping” leads to long-term retention. You don’t remember concept-mapping? Apparently it’s because you used concept-mapping to learn concept-mapping. It’s basically the strategy of drawing a map of a passage, or taking lots of notes. The scientific study also debunked straight-up studying, as in reviewing multiple times. You may not have been dabbling in the dark arts of concept-mapping, but studying what about you’ve read? That’s something we all know/have done/felt we were supposed to be doing during college, and something you might be trying to do to do well on the LSAT. Hmmm.

The basic gist of the study is that they had college kids read a passage. One group simply read it. A second group reviewed the passage a few times (i.e. “studied it”). A third made a concept map while reading. And a fourth took a short test right after reading it. Then, a week later, everyone was tested on what they had read. The final group did 50% better in terms of retaining information than the studyers or the concept-mappers. This might mean that poor high school students will find that after reading a story or essay in class, instead of having a deep conversation (in which they try to impress some girl, boy or teacher), they’ll find themselves immediately taking a test.

Don’t jump to conclusions yet, all of that is predicated on the idea that the goal is long-term retention. That brings us to what this study might mean for the LSAT. Read more

It happens to all of us.

Folks, it’s that time of year. The weather is turning crisp, the trees are stripping down for the winter, 3rd grade teachers are changing their window decorations from cut-out turkeys to snowflakes, and LSAT students are burning out.

This is understandable. With such a high-stakes test, prepping for the LSAT generally goes past being a part-time gig and starts becoming an obsession. Yes, practice does improve your score, but there’s a limit. Watch out for the signs of burn-out:

– Your score is starting to droop – and not because of anxiety, but because of weary eyes and a wandering mind.

– You are taking tests but are not reviewing them. Mostly because . . .

– You are angry, deeply angry.

Alright, stop. Here are some suggestions:

1. Take a day or two off. Your brain may actually do better if you give it some time to settle and organize what you’ve learned.

2. Work out. Your brain is a muscle – it needs oxygen.

3. Stop drinking, sniffing donuts or whatever you do for recreation that happily or not impairs your brain functioning. Your brain . . . well, this one is obvious.

4. Change how you are preparing. Try studying with someone else. Try playing the LSAT Arcade. Try doing just 1 or 2 full sections each day for a couple of days instead of full practice tests. Re-do some old sections.

5. Get some sleep. If you’re exhausted, this can be more helpful as doing more work.

6. Create a schedule, and add in breaks. Watch a movie to unwind and let your brain relax.

7. Recognize that you cannot learn much more – these final days are for you to solidify what you’ve learned and get into a routine.

You’re almost there, so don’t sweat it if you’re seeing a dip in scores – instead, change up what you’re doing.  And don’t worry if you’re unable to get excited about the LSAT. Test day will bring adrenalin, which will help energize you a bit.

If only it were this easy...

I just finished reading an interesting book, How We Decide, by Jonah Lehrer. One of the more interesting studies that he cites involved choosing between five posters. Three were humorous cat posters (i.e. the internet!), and One poster was a cute photograph of a cat cute cats, one was a Monet, and the fifth was a van Gogh. The folks in group A was simply asked to choose a poster to take home. Plain and simple. Group B was asked to do the same thing AND were asked to explain their decision. What do you think happened?

Group A tended to choose the Monet or van Gogh posters, while Group B went for the kitties. That’s interesting! And then, a few weeks later, Group B folks were generally far less satisfied with their choices than the Group A people. The hypothesis is that forcing people to explain their thinking led them to choose the poster for which they could more easily provide a reason. Apparently, it’s a lot easier to explain why we would want a cat in our dorm room than a Monet.

So what does this mean for the LSAT? One interpretation is that you should simply go with your gut. Sure, that makes sense. Don’t over think the decision – and definitely don’t think you can out-smart the LSAT. Instead, do what the LSAT is asking of you: make the inferences, grasp the argument, etc.

However, I think the more useful takeaway for the experiment above is that we should practice explaining why LSAT answers are right or wrong. Read more

We were saddened to realize that one of our Logic Challenges was looking suspiciously similar to a real LSAT game. While we try to make our games LSAT-like, we don’t like to have them feel like copies of real ones. So, we’ve replaced #25 with the following. Enjoy!

Pat the Planner is planning her perfect party. The party will go from 8 pm to midnight. During this time, 8 different musical bands—K, L, M, N, O, P, R, and Q—each of which has at least one member in one of the other bands, will perform, each for thirty minutes.

The following conditions apply

At least one person in band M is in both bands K and O.
At least one person in band R is in both bands N and L.
O performs before K but after M.
P performs before L but after N.
No musician can perform in consecutive time slots.

1. Which of the following could be the order of bands that perform, from first to last?

(A) M, N, O, P, Q, L, K, R
(B) M, N, O, P, L, R, K, Q
(C) N, M, P, K, R, O, L, Q
(D) Q, N, M, L, P, O, K, R
(E) K, N, P, R, O, M, L, Q

Read more

Time keeps on slipping...

Welcome to the panic room! Let’s start with a deep breath.

Those asking this question fall into a few categories, which we can broadly group as follows:

A. Test-day anxiety Annie

B. Novice Nick

C. Half-prepared Henrietta

We’ll start with Annie. She freaked out during the last LSAT. She was scoring decently on her practice tests, but lost her cool on the first logic game on test day (or perhaps the first LR section, or second RC passage, etc.). She definitely does have enough time to get ready, and here’s what she needs to do: 1 or 2 full-length LSATs per week. Time those tests like the pros (here’s a proctor), do them in various settings, and use an experimental section! Annie needs to review that LSAT deeply. (Here are some tips on how to effectively review.)

Let’s move on to Nick. Nick just began. He recently realized that his dream of opening a great Korean barbecue food truck has already been done, and furthermore, he’s allergic to kimchi – so he’s off to law school.  Nick needs to start by taking a practice test. Then he should look at the GPA and LSAT calculator to see what his chances are. If he’s over 15 points below the minimum he’d need for the two “easiest” schools that interest him, he probably needs to shoot for the Feb LSAT and applying for 2012 to give himself more time to prepare. Sorry, Nick! But, depending on what score band he’s at, if he needs only 5-10 more points, that’s within reason IF he fully devotes himself to the process! This would mean he does not work (and, let’s face it, it sounds like he’s free). His schedule would look something like this: Read more

It’s the Monday after an LSAT, so this is the question that’s filling the LSAT-universe. It’s not a pleasant discussion, but let’s get into it. Assuming that you just had a bad test day experience, here are a few considerations you should, well, consider:

1. Was this LSAT considerably different than your usual practice test experience? For example, did you only complete 3 games or RC passages when you usually complete 4? Or did you become violently ill?

2. Were you scoring comfortably within an acceptable score range on your last 2 – 3 practice tests?

3. What is the policy of the schools that interest you in terms of considering all scores, only your best, etc.

First things first:  if YOU KNOW you bombed the LSAT, then you should cancel (unless all your goal schools are firmly committed to only considering your best score).

Now that we have that out of the way, you should start with #3. Let’s say that you have 8 schools in mind. If 6 of them will look at all your scores, then that should steer you towards canceling and re-taking. Read more

With just 3 days left to decide whether to take the October LSAT, some folks are pulling out their hair. So, for your flow-charting pleasure here’s a guide to making this decision…To be taken with a grain of salt, especially if the schools you care about take your higher LSAT score, no questions asked. If that’s the situation, the issue is mainly whether you have more attempts available.

Bring it on...

October 9th may seem to be barreling down the calendar towards you, nostrils flaring with sufficient assumptions. Indeed, we’ve only got a bit more than a month left until game day. So, what’s to be done with this last stretch?

It’s time to pile on the Preptests! It’s too easy to be a superstar just on short practice sets, or when you take a break between each section. Now is the time to be mean to yourself.

If I were an LSAT doctor, here’s what I would prescribe:

– Do at least two 5-section LSATs per week. If you’re seeing your accuracy drop on later sections (i.e. you’re pooping out), do some 6-section tests.
– Time these preptests like the real deal – use our online LSAT proctor to make it legit, or, depending on your location, attend one of our proctored exams.
– As you take your test, mark questions that you find challenging, time-consuming or all-around not super easy (as in anything that doesn’t fall into the I-would-bet-$100-on-this-question category).
– Review each test thoroughly. Don’t review just the ones you got wrong, also review the questions you starred. Read more about reviewing questions.
– Between tests re-play old sections, games, passages, etc.

– Work out a few times a week – it makes a difference!

– Cut down on the drinking

-Tie your shoelaces

– Wipe your nose

– Get to work!

This game is no joke! It’s a tricky, tricky set-up.  You can post your answers on our site and read or post explanations on our forums. Have fun!

Six young children – K, L, M, N, O, P – gather in a circle and play a game in which they toss a ball to one another. One child starts the game by tossing the ball to one of the other five children, who then tosses it to another child, who tosses it to another child, who is declared the “winner.” A child may handle the ball more than once during the course of any one game, but cannot toss the ball to himself/herself. The following conditions apply:

* K can only toss it to P.
* P can only toss it to O.
* N can only receive a toss from M.
* L can only toss to P or M, and M can only receive a toss from L.
* N can only toss to K, and K can only receive a toss from N.

1. Which of the following could be the order of tosses, from the child who starts to the child who wins?

(A) M to L to P to K
(B) M to P to O to N
(C) M to N to K to L
(D) L to N to K to P
(E) L to M to L to P

Read more

Can You Make The Cut?

A screenwriter has pitch meetings with six producers – F, G, H, I, J, and K – over the course of a day. He will meet with each producer once, and one at a time. The following conditions apply:

* The screenwriter will meet with K before G if he meets with F before J.
* The screenwriter will meet with G before H only if he meets with I before J.
* The screenwriter will meet with F before I if, and only if, he meets with F after J.
* The screenwriter cannot meet with G last.

1. Which of the following could be the order of meetings?

(A) H, J, G, F, I, K
(B) I, H, F, J, K, G
(C) G, H, J, F, I, K
(D) H, G, J, I, K, F
(E) I, G, F, K, J, H

Read more