The LSAT Study Style Master Guide
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Does the thought of another night home alone falling asleep over your LSAT book make you want to just toss it in the fire? Are you having nightmares at the thought of explaining your thinking in front of your LSAT class? LSAT preparation can be daunting for anyone. But tailoring your LSAT study style to your learning preferences can make a heavy diet of LSAT a bit more digestible. Here are a few suggestions for some common learning profiles:
Interpersonal
- Start an LSAT study group! Even if you’re already taking a class, this option is a less formal (and more free) way to combine socializing and learning. Invite other students from your LSAT class, pre-law program, or university to study with you. Of course, we’ve all been to “study parties” that are more distracting than helpful (no, loosening your inhibitions with another beer will not make that logic game seem more friendly). One suggestion: Agree on a topic to practice ahead of time, then work through a set of problems in real-time together. When you’re done, discuss your answers. Share alternative approaches to problems and support each other with challenging ones.
- Teach someone: The best way to internalize a concept for the long run is to teach it to someone else. Recruit a spouse, partner, friend, or older child—I mean, who wouldn’t love to spend an evening doing the LSAT? Teach them the strategy for a logic game or Logical Reasoning question. This will be most useful when you’ve just mastered something that was previously a challenge for you, and you want to perfect it and remember it. Caveat: no one likes feeling dumb, so don’t let your unprepared victim flounder while you gloat about your relative LSAT genius.
Intrapersonal
- Keep LSAT reflection logs: Reflection is a key element of learning. After you’ve done a game, passage, or Logical Reasoning question, you may feel like just taking a nap. Instead, take a moment to write down what you’ve learned that you want to remember. It’s helpful if you organize these logs by section type (LR, LG, RC) and keep them in a consistent location. Then you can review the logs on a regular basis to reinforce what you’re learning. Similarly, after a class, lesson in a strategy guide, or video, jot notes about what you understood, what you’d like to review later, and what you need additional help with.
Visual
- Use videos or classes: While there are many wonderful LSAT books available to study from, visual learners may benefit from the demonstrations that happen in videos or classes. If a written explanation isn’t clicking for you, seek a way to have it demonstrated. Manhattan Prep students have the benefit of homework and test review sessions, LSAT Interact videos, and course recordings, all of which include visual support.
- Map out your learning: Just finished reviewing all the logic games? Make a decision tree that shows you how to determine which diagram to use. Finally covered all the Logical Reasoning questions? Make a web that shows which question types are related to each other and how. Taking the time to organize your thinking really helps you review concepts and see the big picture. Plus, if you try to do this from memory and you can’t, that’s a sign that you need more practice.
- Create your own flashcards with visuals: Sure, the LSAT isn’t exactly your times tables, but flashcards can still help you drill some memorizable concepts. Put a set of Logic Games rules on the front and the corresponding diagram on the back. Then, drill yourself on game recognition. Or, put an LR question stem on the front and key strategies for that question on the back. Bonus if you add a little drawing or two that relates to the concept. Stick figures allowed.
- Color code: You won’t be color-coding on the LSAT, but visual learners may benefit from a little highlighter action during their preparation. As you read a chapter, color-code the material based on your understanding: Pink for “I get this,” Yellow for “I should review this again later,” Green for “I need to ask for some help with this.” Color-coding could also help you develop good thinking habits on test questions. For example, when reading an RC passage, you might color-code the two different sides and the author’s opinion. Again, you won’t be able to do this on the real test, but it will develop stronger thinking skills.
Recent research has challenged the idea that sticking to one LSAT study style is really the best way for folks to learn. A more rock-solid educational tenet is that experiencing a concept through a variety of lenses is one of the best ways to learn it. In other words, don’t just spend the rest of your LSAT study time color-coding. If you really want to learn something, try a healthy mix of the above strategies: reflect on it, talk it out with a friend, diagram it, and teach it to someone. ?
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Allison Bell is a Manhattan Prep Instructor who lives in the Washington, DC metro area. Allison first encountered the LSAT while getting her Bachelor of Arts in English and History at Duke University. In college, she scored a 178 and very nearly applied to law school. In the end, she followed her true passion, teaching. Allison currently has the pleasure of being an eighth grade English teacher in Northern Virginia. As an LSAT teacher, she has the opportunity to blend her love for teaching with her passion for logical argument. Check out Allison’s upcoming LSAT Complete Courses here.