Sufficient vs. Necessary (Ep. 409)
Thinking LSAT
Nathan Fox and Ben Olson
4.8 • 868 Ratings
🗓️ 3 July 2023
⏱️ 75 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Understanding the difference between necessary and sufficient is necessary—but not sufficient—for success on the LSAT. This week, Nathan and Ben illustrate the difference using some morbid examples of their own invention and a less gory one from PrepTest 65. Later, the guys examine a study that suggests that 76% of legal jobs are at risk of automation by AI. They weigh a listener’s chances of reaching the T14 with a 3.0 GPA. And they encourage applicants to treat their personal statement like a Tinder profile.
4:41 - Sufficient vs. Necessary - Ben and Nathan evaluate an LSAT Demon student’s method of distinguishing sufficient conditions from necessary conditions.
12:13 - Example: Sufficient vs. Necessary - To illustrate sufficient and necessary conditions in action, Nathan and Ben attempt a Logical Reasoning question from PrepTest 65. Try the question for yourself here. Then listen to Ben and Nathan’s explanation.
25:01 - Slow Down to Speed Up - Listener Henry strives to focus on accuracy over speed. But his long-term goal of scoring in the 170s may be sabotaging his approach. The guys encourage Henry to slow down and focus on one question at a time.
33:18 - AI Replacing Lawyers? - Ben and Nathan examine a Yahoo! Finance article about the legal industry’s significant exposure to automation through AI tools like ChatGPT.
38:03 - T14 with a 3.0? - Listener Cassandra wonders whether her URM status could help her into a T14 school despite her mediocre GPA. The guys suspect that it will, but they question the importance of attending a T14 and advise Cassandra to apply broadly.
47:25 - How to Start Studying - Nathan and Ben direct a new student to their One-Hour LSAT study schedule for guidance on how to start studying. They explain why students benefit from taking timed sections in addition to drilling untimed questions from the beginning of their study.
58:10 - Applicants Without GPAs - Ben and Nathan suggest that an applicant’s LSAT score is even more important when that applicant lacks a traditional GPA.
1:01:10 - Create FOMO - The guys advise an anonymous listener to treat their personal statement like a Tinder profile: omit anything negative and stick to the stuff that’ll leave law schools with FOMO.
1:06:20 - Grade Point Median? - Nathan and Ben counsel listener Mike not to use an unconventional statistic in his GPA addendum.
1:11:31 - Student Loans and Tuition Hikes - The guys discuss a Washington Post opinion piece that examines how student loan programs have inflated college tuition.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to episode 409 of the Thinking Elsat Podcast. I'm Nathan Fox with me as Ben Olson. We are the co-founders of |
| 0:13.9 | L-Sat Demon.com and the L-Sat Demon Daily podcast. You can be L-Sat famous. You can |
| 0:19.0 | share news or ask questions on our website thinking L-Sat.com. We got a free class coming up. I hope everybody will join. It is taught by Ben Olson. He's teaching a reading |
| 0:28.8 | comprehension class on Monday, July 10th. That's 10 a.m. Pacific 1 p.m. eastern. |
| 0:33.6 | Go to L.Sat. link forward slash Ben if you would like to sign up for Ben's |
| 0:38.4 | free reading comprehension class again Monday, July 10th, 10th, 10 Pacific 1 PM Eastern, |
| 0:45.0 | Elsat. link forward slash Ben. |
| 0:47.4 | Yeah, so when you come to that class, |
| 0:48.8 | what you're going to hear, what we're going to do |
| 0:50.4 | is we're going to do a reading comp passage and then I'm going to read that |
| 0:54.1 | passage to you after you have attempted to do it yourself and you're going to learn |
| 0:58.8 | how to engage with a passage sentence by sentence, right? |
| 1:03.1 | This is the biggest mistake that people make |
| 1:05.1 | is they rush through these passages |
| 1:06.9 | or they read for structure or whatever the hell |
| 1:10.6 | they're trying to do to master the reading comp section, but I'm going to show you |
| 1:15.4 | how to read a passage, sentence by sentence, and engage and |
| 1:24.0 | show you how to make predictions about where you think the author is going |
| 1:28.0 | and you can then see how those predictions are either right or wrong, |
| 1:31.0 | but that doesn't matter. |
| 1:32.0 | It's not about making the right predictions. |
| 1:33.9 | It's about making predictions so that when you get to whatever |
... |
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