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Thinking LSAT

Skip the GPA Sob Story (Ep. 515)

Thinking LSAT

Nathan Fox and Ben Olson

Education

4.8868 Ratings

🗓️ 14 July 2025

⏱️ 92 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

After an influx of GPA addenda questions, Nathan and Josh address several examples in a rapid-fire segment. Their main point: you probably shouldn’t write one at all. Addenda highlight weaknesses and provide information that admissions committees may hold against you. Skip the sob stories and focus on showing why you’ll succeed in law school.

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0:42 – Big Beautiful Bill

Nathan and Josh discuss provisions of the Big Beautiful Bill that cap law school loans at $50,000 per year. They argue it’s not the crisis some students fear, noting that borrowing six figures for law school is unwise and the cap protects less informed applicants. They see the bill as targeting predatory schools, not students. 


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23:52 – Rapid Fire Addenda

The guys advise students to avoid addenda. Addenda draw attention to the weakest parts of your application and must be concise and strategic if used. An effective addendum highlights positive traits and avoids overexplaining. The goal is to shift focus away from negatives and give admissions officers something strong to latch onto.


38:46 – Role Questions

Nathan and Josh explain how to approach role questions, which ask about the function of specific sentences in an argument. They remind listeners that sentences are usually in one of two key categories: premises and conclusions. While answers are phrased abstractly, you succeed by reading answer choices with the same care and engagement used on the passage itself. 


50:18 – Accuracy Up but Speed Stalled

Nathan urges students not to chase speed at the expense of comprehension. Every missed question indicates another question you got correct, but didn’t understand. Rereading whole passages is a red flag for poor initial reading. Meaningful engagement with the passage allows students to trust their comprehension in the face of flawed arguments.


1:04:05 – Broken Questions

Josh and Nathan refute the idea of “broken” LSAT questions. While some answer choices may be stronger than others, all correct answers are defensible. Blaming the test forfeits a chance to improve. When struggling, walk away and revisit the question with fresh eyes—some days you’ll simply perform better than others.


1:11:14 – Personal Statement Gong Show

Hannah sends in her submission for the Personal Statement Gong Show. Josh and Nathan read the personal statements and hit the gong when something goes wrong. The standing record to beat is 21 lines, held by Danielle.


1:27:07 - Word of the Week - Effect 

Pollination of fruit tree flowers, a necessary step in fruit production, is effected only by certain insects. 

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

By default, no, don't write a GPA addendum.

0:03.4

You're just wasting their time.

0:05.0

And you're also pointing out the fact that you have a bad GPA.

0:13.0

Hello and welcome to episode 515 of the Thinking ElSat podcast.

0:20.0

I'm Nathan Fox, one of the founders of LSATDemon. of the Thinking ElSat Podcast.

0:25.5

I'm Nathan Fox, one of the founders of LSATDemon.com and the ElSat Demon Daily podcast.

0:29.5

Joining me today is our producer and a teacher with the demon.

0:32.5

Josh Mansfield, Josh, how you doing?

0:33.3

I'm good, Nate.

0:35.4

Thanks for having me back after.

0:37.4

I got to go with Ben while you were gone.

0:38.6

Now I'm with you while Ben's gone.

0:40.8

Yeah, we've got some summer scheduling here.

0:43.3

So we're mixing it up a little bit on the show.

0:44.8

Glad to be back.

0:46.4

Let's dive right in, Josh.

0:57.2

Top of the agenda is the student loan ramifications of the big beautiful bill, which apparently just passed. You've been getting a lot of emails about this, and you're going to start with this email from Hannah. Yeah, Hannah,

1:03.1

Hannah asks, starts, good afternoon. I was wondering if a topic of the podcast could be diving into the

1:08.8

$200,000 professional degree federal loan cap signed into law

1:13.0

by President Trump. I'm a prospective law student aiming for the 2026 admission cycle and

1:18.0

someone who received federal aid that made my undergraduate significantly more affordable.

1:22.1

The cap has me and I'm sure thousands of other students confused, worried, and frustrated.

...

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