The 3rd Edition Manhattan LSAT Strategy Guides

We are pleased to introduce to the world the newest (3rd) Edition of our renowned LSAT Strategy Guide series, on sale now in our store and on Amazon.

This time around we’ve overhauled our Logic Games Strategy Guide, nearly doubling its size. Like a geeky piece of cake that goes straight to the hips, we’ve added substantial bulk to our explanations, including hand written solutions for every game from PTs 40-66, simply because we love you.

So far the chosen few who have received advance copies of the LG book cannot stop raving about it. One forum user out there even admitted to wishing that they were still prepping the LSAT, just so they could read out new book. Yes, it is that awesome!

While the Logic Games Strategy Guide has been enhanced significantly, our Reading Comprehension and Logical Reasoning guides received simple face lifts and remain the basically the same awesome guides that they were in our 2nd Editions.

How Would The Supreme Court Perform on the LSAT?

A question I often hear is, “Does the LSAT actually have anything to do with law school?” And the answer is, however incredibly obnoxious, yes and no.

You don’t do logic games in law school, I’m sorry to report (because the first semester of law school makes logic games look pretty fun). And you don’t answer multiple choice questions in which you evaluate the logic of arguments.

However, you do use the reading and reasoning skills you’ve developed studying for the LSAT: dissecting arguments to determine their structure,

evaluating their internal coherence, and identifying where and how parties (or judges) disagree on the issue.

Do the kinds of “flaws” we look for on the LSAT actually appear in the cases you’ll read? Law professor Andrew J. McClurg, in a fascinating article that you can download and read for free here, shows us the answer is yes. They do.

McClurg examined a number of logical fallacies in Supreme Court decisions, focusing specifically on Justice Rehnquist (the article is kind of old) for reasons he explains that I won’t get into here. I recently stumbled on the article and plucked a few of my favorite examples to share, followed by LSAT questions that exhibit the same flaws. If you’re curious, geek out by finding the flaws in the Court’s reasoning below and then comparing them to the LSAT questions that are analogous:
Read more

Here are the free LSAT events we’re holding this week.

10/23/12 – Online – Writing Your Way Into Law School Workshop (with jdMission) – 8:30-10:00 PM

10/27/12 – New York, NY – Free Proctored Practice LSAT – 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM

10/27/12 – Online – Free Online Trial Class – 12:00-3:00 PM

10/28/12 – Zen and the Art of LSAT Review Session – 8:00-10:00 PM

Looking for more free events? Check out our Free Events Listings Page.

Wahoo!

Happy Friday, everyone! Take a break to check out our weekly set of LSAT and law school-related links.

Want to Stand Out from the Pack? Start a Blog! (The Girl’s Guide to Law School)

Ruth Carter, author of The Legal Side of Blogging: How Not to get Sued, Fired, Arrested, or Killed, talks about why law students should start blogging and offers some tips for getting started.

The Short on Long-Term Planning: To Addend or Not Addend? (jdMission)

This week our friends over at jdMission explain why you should not write an addendum explaining your LSAT score.
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Must. Have. Coffee.

For years, I prided myself on not being addicted to anything, and then I had a child. Now I cannot function beyond the cognitive level of a stuffed iguana if I do not have an espresso. In fact, if I do not have this aforementioned elixir within 23 minutes of awaking, I wreck the emotional stability of everyone around me for the entire day. I accept this new reality, blame my son, and plan to quit one day (though my wife will not permit me to attempt any going cold turkey experiments if I am within 200 miles of her or my son—sort of a caffeine restraining order).

To add to my anxiety about coffee, I saw a news report last week stating that excessive coffee drinking makes us much more susceptible to glaucoma. This makes sense—on occasion I have noticed my eye twitches from drinking coffee, making me look like a fish on crack. Being in Denver, where there are more medical marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks (really), if I do get glaucoma, I’ll have a fine reason to visit one of the well-named “pharmacies” near me: ReLeaf, Club Med, 420 Wellness, Grateful Meds… (Honestly, I was just trying to work in a way to list the ridiculous names – here’s a longer list.)

So, I looked up the article, and being an LSAT geek, besides wondering if I should pick up and move 200+ miles from my wife and child during a caffeine-sobering period, I also wondered about the increased risk. Whoever conducted this study (and I hope my tax dollars didn’t pay for it) reports that the “increased risk was on the order of 66 percent.” Now, on my crappy local news, (sorry, Denver 9 News), the reporter seemed to suggest that drinking coffee equals eye death. What do you think?

So, here are some questions for you to chew on (and respond to in the comment bar):

Assuming the study is correct, do you think we can say that you are now more than 50% likely to get glaucoma?

Based on the study, can we say that heavy coffee drinkers are now very susceptible to getting glaucoma?

Similarly, though with different content, think about this argument: People are more likely to pick the number three than any other number when you ask them to “pick a number, one to four” because you have effectively said the numbers one, two (“to”), and four, and so their minds fill in the number three. Therefore, when you ask someone that question, the person is more likely than not to pick three.

I await your responses!

Here are the free LSAT events we’re holding this week.

10/18/12 – New York, NY – Free Trial Class – 6:30-8:30 PM

10/20/12 – Online – Free Trial Class – 1:00-4:00 PM

10/20/12 – New York, NY – Free Proctored LSAT Practice Exam – 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM

10/21/12 – New York, NY – Free Trial Class – 5:30-8:30 PM

Looking for more free events? Check out our Free Events Listings Page.

We hope you’ve had some time to relax since last week’s LSAT! In case you haven’t, we encourage you to take a seat and check out some the top law school features from the week.

Free Webinar from jdMission & Manhattan LSAT Helps You Write Your Way Into Law School (Law School Podcaster)

If you haven’t had the chance yet, be sure to tune into this week’s podcast from Manhattan LSAT and jdMission. We tell you how to write essays that grab the attention of law school admissions committees.

Looking for a Law School to Fit Your Politics? (WSJ Law Blog)

Did you know that you could choose a law school to fit your politics? This week the Wall Street Journal shared which law schools host the most liberal and most conservative students.
Read more

Apply, or Retake in December?

So you woke up at 6:30 Saturday morning, scrambled some eggs, stuffed your wallet, pencils, and passport-size photo into the Ziploc bag you remembered to buy at midnight the night before, and took yourself an LSAT. Congratulations. I hope the rest of your weekend was full of merry celebration, merry relaxation, or both.

Now what?

If you want to take it again… 

If you are concerned you bombed it–or just didn’t do as well as you know you can–and therefore have decided to take it again, check out upcoming in-person and online classes at Manhattan LSAT. And keep an eye out for our FREE Online Review of the October test right after scores are released (on November 8 at 8pm EST). Sign up here.

If you are bidding X –> Y goodbye (for now)…

Now that you’re LSAT-free, it’s time to turn your attention to the rest of your law school applications. Check out the blog at jdMission for all kinds of tips and strategies on applying to law school, from writing your personal statement to getting letters of recommendation. You can also sign up there for a free consultation with an admissions consultant and, for those of you seeking help on personal statements, be sure to register for my FREE Online Personal Statement Writing Workshop on October 23.

Regardless, I hope you are all proud of yourselves for showing up on Saturday and giving it your best. It’s not an easy test or a short day, so give yourselves a big pat on the back for taking on the challenge. Just think–now you have a hundred gallon-size Ziploc bags to last you through the year!

If you were lucky enough to get your hands on the new iPhone5, we know you’re feeling pretty darn cool. Even if you’re just sitting in class or at work with your Mac Book Pro, Tablet, Kindle Fire, or iPad 2, you’re tech-savvy self is still cooler than the dinosaur hovering over a stack of lined-paper and #2 pencil.  With the ability to double as an environmentalist and a speed typist, why would anyone these days opt for the old-school printouts and notebooks to read and write?

Turns out, according to a recent piece from the New York Times, that while it may feel (and look) cool to spend the majority of your waking hours staring at an array of glowing rectangles, old fashioned paper still matters when it comes to being productive and learning new material. Here’s what a few productivity experts, researchers, and CEOs had to say in making the case for print:
Read more

Hearing from a number of students and colleagues who sat for the October 2012 LSAT on Saturday, opinions on the exam’s difficulty seems to be initially

Before you embark on PT overload for the December LSAT, join our free Oct review session

mixed. Consensus seems to be that there were some pretty whacky games on the test, and and usual, we heard complaints about RC.  Some claimed this was an extremely challenging test, while others even through the “e” word (easy) around. This range in opinion is pretty standard in the aftermath of an LSAT.

As is the case for every released LSAT, we’ve got your back. Managing Director of Manhattan LSAT, Noah Teitelbaum, and curriculum developer Dmitry Farber are hosting a free online review of the October 2012 LSAT on Thursday, November 8th from 8-10pm EST**

Join Noah and Dmitry as they deconstruct some of the trickier problems from the exam and give advice on the all important question of whether or not to retake the LSAT in December.

**Note: the last few of these review sessions stretched on long in to the night.