If you adhere to the official “line”, the LSAT tests your initial aptitude for the types of tasks you will be graded on in law school. Essentially, it is intended to offer predictions on your likelihood to succeed (i.e., get good grades) in your law school classes. 

And it does that fairly well—at least law school admissions offices seem to think so!

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We’ve all experienced the dreaded mind drift. You read an entire paragraph only to realize you have no idea what you just read. You could not even express the general topic, much less the author’s main points. 

For many, this “lack of focus” is pervasive. It can happen throughout the RC or LR section, on only the hardest passages, or whenever you feel most tired and/or frustrated. So many students decide that they’re just slow readers or can’t concentrate well enough and stop pushing to improve their reading on the LSAT. But like all the other things the LSAT tests, reading processes can be improved. 

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This post was written by Laura Damone, a Manhattan Prep LSAT instructor.

By now, you’ve probably heard the news: Like everything else in the world, the LSAT has gone digital.

Note: The digital LSAT changes referenced in this post are only applicable in North America.

It’s not like we didn’t see it coming. The paper LSAT, with its Scantrons, #2 pencils, and analog watches, was decidedly behind the times. The other graduate and professional school exams—the GRE, GMAT, and MCAT—have all been digital for years.

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Ready to study the right way? We incorporate the latest discoveries in learning science into our LSAT course to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your prep. Want to see? Try the first session of any of our upcoming courses for free.

To many people I’ve encountered studying for the LSAT, the Reading Comprehension section is the toughest to study for. How do you get better at reading, after all?

But as you might guess, LSAT Reading Comprehension involves a lot more than just reading and understanding passages. You’re actually being tested on your logical analysis, the speed and efficiency of your close reading, and your ability to extrapolate from facts you’re given.

Which means it’s absolutely something you can improve. Read more

1. MYTH: You should just keep taking practice tests until you’ve taken them all.

Please don’t do this. As we repeat again and again over here at Manhattan LSAT, preparation for this test is all about quality over quantity. If you just plow through tests without taking time to learn the proper strategies, to apply them, and then to evaluate your work with close and careful review using all of the study tools at your disposal (free explanations of questions by our 99th percentile teachers on the forum, in-class review sessions, and instructor office hours, among others), you will not be maximizing your study time, and your score will likely not improve as much as it could.

2. MYTH: You can’t improve at reading comp.

You can. It’s just slower than, say, improving at logic games, because you essentially have to learn how to read for the LSAT. Reading comp on the LSAT requires several skills that can feel and seem diametrically opposed: You have to be efficient but also thorough; you have to understand what you’re reading but not get bogged down by the details you don’t understand; you have to be sufficiently well-versed in the subject matter to be able to answer 5-7 questions on it but don’t need to try to become an expert on what you don’t need to become an expert on.

The solution here is going to be to take advantage of learning opportunities but also, to allow yourself enough time to improve on reading comp if you really need to. A month is generally speaking not enough.

3. MYTH: If you get a 180 on the LSAT, the school will just let you in regardless of what the rest of your application looks like.

You may have heard the legend of the guy who got a 180 and just drew a smiley face on the essay portion of his exam, then got into Harvard. If you haven’t, there’s a legend about a guy who got a 180 and just drew a smiley face on the essay portion of his exam, then got into Harvard.

I highly doubt this is true. But either way, I am going to say something frank and perhaps harsh, but listen up: If you actually want to use this as a guideline in approaching your own LSAT and application and major life decisions, please, by all means, do. Because the world doesn’t need any more dumb lawyers, and this will help weed them out.

Schools read your applications. They may or may not read your LSAT essay—but just in case, write one. And write it well (or, as best you can after sitting for four hours).

4. MYTH: You can rig your chances of scoring higher by which test you choose to take—February, June, October or December.

Nope. They’re all the same folks, at least for your purposes. Can’t plot this one, so don’t waste any more time thinking about it. Go do a logic game.

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The LSAT Reading Comprehension section is just one of the three multiple-choice sections on the LSAT test. The other two are Analytical Reasoning (logic games) and Logical Reasoning. The Reading Comprehension section contains four 400-600 word passages, each with 5-8 questions, for a total of approximately 27 questions to complete in 35 minutes. Of the 4 passages, one is a “comparative reading” section that is made up of two related shorter passages. Skills tested include drawing inferences, finding the main idea, understanding intricate text and the ability to compare and contrast. Topics covered in the reading passages include the humanities, social sciences, biological and physical sciences, and the law. The purpose of this section is testing your ability to effectively read and analyze complex details as is often required in the practice of law.

Just like the other question types on the LSAT, the key to mastering the Reading Comprehension section is to first understand the question types and then to practice, practice, practice. Strategies that will help you effectively read each passage and answer the questions include active reading and note-taking. In order to master Reading Comprehension, you must learn to remain focused as you read 400-600 words of dense, not so interesting text. By actively involving yourself in the reading process, you will be much better equipped to answer the questions that follow. As you read, look for clues in the text that will lead you to understand key concepts from each passage including:

• Main idea
• Explicit details
• Details inferrable from the text
• Contextual clues to the meaning of complex words or phrases
• Passage structure
• Author’s viewpoint
• Contrasting viewpoints

Knowing the types of details that are likely to be needed to answer the questions will help you be a focused, active reader and avoid merely skimming the passages.

The LSAT Reading Comprehension questions test you on your understanding of explicit and implicit details. Getting in the habit of marking up the passage as you read will help you find and remember key parts of the LSAT Reading Comprehension passages. Part of your preparation process should be figuring out the best level and kind of highlighting and notating that will help you most in answering the questions. As you gain experience through practice, you will learn which details are important for answering questions. Techniques like writing notes next a paragraph can help you keep track of key ideas and structural elements.

Always practice using a timer as test takers often find it difficult to read 4 dense passages and answer 27 questions in just 35 minutes. At the end of your 8-12 week LSAT prep period, your goal should be to be able to read a passage and answer 7 questions in about 8-9 minutes.

Studying for the LSAT? Manhattan Prep offers a free LSAT practice exam, and free Manhattan LSAT trial classes running all the time near you, or online. Be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, LinkedIn, and follow us on Twitter!