What to Do When You’re Down to Two LSAT Answer Choices
You know that feeling when you’re at a restaurant, and there are two things on the menu that you really, really want for dinner? Everyone has a different way of handling that decision. Some might go with the cheaper one, or the tastier one, or the healthier one, or the one they’ve never tried before. If you’re like me, you just wait to see what pops out of your mouth when the server takes your order.
It’s a feeling that many folks have while taking the LSAT, although often with less satisfying results. When we’re down to two LSAT answer choices, especially on seemingly subjective questions in Logical Reasoning or Reading Comprehension, sometimes it can be hard to come up with a great decision criterion. Many students report that, after staring at two LSAT answer choices for a while, they pretty much disregard everything they’ve thought about in the last minute and circle the answer that they “liked” the most from the beginning. In other words, they go with their gut.
Normally, I’m all about trusting your intuition, but for most people it’s not the best move on the LSAT, especially on the most difficult parts. Why? Well, the LSAT writers know what your intuition will tell you, and they write trap answers that are designed to appeal directly to you. It’s almost as creepy as targeted internet ads. How did they know you were going to want an answer that included the word “posterboard?”
Now, if you can find a way to stop creepy targeted internet ads, I suggest you skip law school and get right to it. If not, let’s focus instead on outsmarting the LSAT’s appeal to our intuition. If you can’t trust your gut when you’re down to two LSAT answer choices, what can you trust? Cold, hard, logic. Your brain.
Your decision criteria on Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension questions will vary depending on the task, but here are three questions you can ask yourself on a variety of question types:
1. What do I have the most text support for? Train yourself to think this way by doing a set of questions where you stop when you are down to two LSAT answer choices, underline all the support you can find for both, and choose the answer with the strongest support. This is especially helpful on most Reading Comprehension questions and Logical Reasoning Inference questions.
2. Which answer choice has the fewest problematic words? When you are down to two LSAT answer choices, box any words in either answer choice that seem sketchy to you. This should include strong language (always, never, inevitable, etc.) and words that seem a little “off” from what the passage says. Don’t allow yourself to choose an answer with a sketchy word until you’ve verified it with the text. You wouldn’t open a sketchy-looking email link just because it says you won a million dollars, would you? So don’t pick a sketchy answer choice just because it appeals to you.
3. Which answer choice connects most strongly to the author’s point/conclusion? This is extremely helpful for many Reading Comprehension questions and all Assumption Family Logical Reasoning questions. When you are down to two LSAT answer choices, remind yourself of the author’s main idea or conclusion. Re-read the sentence where you found it (really! It’s time well spent). Then pick the answer that has the strongest link to it.
So the next time you’re out to eat and you have a tough time choosing, well… do whatever you want. Trust your gut if you want, but then leave your gut at the restaurant and bring just your brain to LSAT practice. ?
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Ally Bell is a Manhattan Prep Instructor who lives in the Washington, DC metro area. Ally 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. Ally 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 Ally’s upcoming LSAT Complete Courses here.