You Don't Need Diagrams in LR (Ep. 473)
Thinking LSAT
Nathan Fox and Ben Olson
4.8 • 868 Ratings
🗓️ 23 September 2024
⏱️ 76 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Since the LSAT dropped Logic Games, anxious test takers have feared the rise of more “formal logic” questions in Logical Reasoning. So far, no significant changes to LR have been disclosed. No matter what happens, every LR question is perfectly solvable with some careful reading and common sense—no diagramming required. Need proof? This week, Ben and Nathan make quick work of a Must Be True question that’s chock full of conditional logic. But first, they help a burnt-out student build a sustainable study plan. They compare the benefits of national and regional law schools. And they offer words of hope to low-GPA splitters.
5:04 - Application Fee Waivers - Law schools often waive their application fees. Just ask them.
8:52 - Scoring 160 - Nathan and Ben prove that it’s possible to score 160 while only attempting 18 questions per section. It pays to slow down and focus on accuracy.
16:18 - Burnout - Listener Will considers taking a few months off to recover from LSAT burnout. Ben and Nathan advise Will to instead dial back his study to one or two quality hours per day.
23:50 - Confusing Language - Nathan and Ben share some tips for navigating confusing language on the LSAT.
32:20 - Small Town, Big School? - LSAT Demon student Will plans to set up shop as a probate lawyer in a small town. Should Will pursue law schools in the T14? Or is he better off attending a regional school?
41:15 - Academic Renewal - Ben and Nathan encourage an anonymous listener to persist in their efforts to scrub an F from their undergraduate transcript.
46:56 - Hope for Splitters - Listener Grace went to law school for free despite her low GPA.
50:13 - Don’t Diagram - Reports of more “formal logic” questions on recent LSATs are likely exaggerated. Regardless, you can solve any Logical Reasoning question without diagramming by reading carefully and engaging your common sense. Nathan and Ben demonstrate on a Must Be True question from PrepTest 123.
1:10:41 - Tips from a Departing Demon - LSAT Demon student Braden says: “Take the time to really understand each question, and you will get faster. Don’t try to go faster without understanding. That’s why I improved when I started digging into the RC passage.”
1:11:27 - Word of the Week - Treat your official LSAT with the same insouciance that you would a practice test.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The no such thing as a question that should or needs to be diagram. |
| 0:05.0 | You just need to slow down and understand what you're actually reading. Hello and welcome to episode 473 of the Thinking Elsap podcast. I'm Ben Olson, with me is Nathan Fox. |
| 0:24.0 | We're the co-founder of Elsat Demon.com and the Elsat Demon Daily Podcast. |
| 0:28.0 | Be Elsat Famous, share news and ask questions on our website, thinking El-Sat.com. |
| 0:34.6 | Coming up on Thursday, September 26, we have a free class with Brandon. |
| 0:40.6 | That class is getting motivated for the L-SAT. |
| 0:44.0 | Apparently Brandon is going to talk exclusively |
| 0:46.6 | about motivation, study skills, |
| 0:49.8 | how to get better at the L-SAT, |
| 0:52.0 | focusing on what mindset you should have. So yeah, interesting. |
| 0:57.0 | It should be a good class, yeah. |
| 0:58.8 | Come join us, Elsat Demon.com forward slash free. |
| 1:06.6 | The day before that the September else scores will be released when they do of course we want to hear |
| 1:09.5 | your good stories and your bad ones. |
| 1:11.5 | We love to know what's going on out there. We always get a bunch of both. We always get a bunch of people hysterically saying, oh my God, it was the hardest test ever. It's totally different and weird and strange. Then we also get a mountain of emails saying, |
| 1:24.8 | yep, it was just like all my practice tests, |
| 1:27.6 | nothing special, nothing different. |
| 1:30.0 | I think I killed it and that just never really changes. |
| 1:35.0 | Wow, that's interesting. |
| 1:35.8 | So the day of this class is, of course, |
| 1:38.2 | right after the score release, |
| 1:39.5 | and then that same day we have the November Elsat registration deadline. |
... |
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