Practice tests are the bread and butter of LSAT prep. Timed and untimed practice using both individual sections and whole tests strengthen LSAT performance.
LSAT practice is even more effective when it is focused and methodical, geared toward identifying and addressing weaknesses rather than cranking through one question set after another.
However, practice alone will not suffice when your LSAT score is stuck. Ultimately, the LSAT is a skill-based test, so cultivating essential skills is critical to test preparation.
[READ: How to Use Practice Tests to Study for the LSAT.]
Below are some examples of skills required to master each section of the test.
Logical Reasoning
There are more than a dozen types of logical reasoning questions on the LSAT. Each type of question requires a different approach, but they share some common skills.
Most importantly, logical reasoning prompts tend to present an argument. To rapidly make sense of these arguments, test-takers must understand their different parts and be able to distinguish premises from conclusions.
With practice, you can get a feel for this distinction, but it’s often easiest to start by looking for indicator words. Premises are generally introduced by words like “because,” “since” and “for,” while conclusions are generally introduced by words like “therefore,” “thus” and “so.”
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Not all information in a question prompt is equally important. You must mentally separate wheat from chaff. Pay less attention to parts of the argument like pieces of background information — often broad, general statements such as “childhood obesity is a major problem in North America” — and any statements that are presented as conflicting with the argument’s premises or conclusion.
Finally, understand the different methods of argument used on the test, most importantly causal reasoning and conditional reasoning such as if-then statements.
Logic Games
The skills needed to master a logic game are rarely intuitive for test-takers. It can be hard work to learn to set up a diagram to represent a logic game, to represent its rules and to draw inferences from them.
But setting up a logic game correctly is not the whole battle. Test-takers must distinguish between the different types of questions asked and know how to best approach them.
One great starting point is to focus on what must be true. Making deductions up front that reveal the limits of what you know to be true can help you avoid wasting time answering questions by laboriously creating scenarios to either prove or disprove each individual answer choice.
Reading Comprehension
Despite its name, the reading comprehension section is not really a test of reading or information recall. It is a test of understanding the structure of a written argument and knowing how to locate critical information in a thicket of complex sentences.
To organize this information effectively, you will need to hone a simple and reliable strategy for using highlighting or notes to help you answer a question that requires you to refer back to the text.
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As in other sections, one key is to know when to flag questions for later review. Getting stuck on a question can drain your time, energy and confidence. Gaining awareness of this mental trap is a critical mental skill.
Recognizing when you are off track is not the only mental skill on the LSAT. Test anxiety is both natural and manageable. Practicing techniques to sustain your focus and keep self-doubt in check may be learned and practiced like diagraming a conditional statement or spotting the conclusion of an argument.
Learning all these skills takes patience and attention. If you don’t see results over time, get back to the fundamentals and make sure you are applying the right techniques. Books, courses and other study methods can help keep you on a steady trajectory of improvement.
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How to Cultivate Essential Skills for Each LSAT Section originally appeared on usnews.com
