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[Phoenix]

I've been working with a number of people who are preparing to take the LSAT on Monday so I wanted to wish those of you who are preparing to take it on Monday the best of luck!

 

[AstroLad]

You work for Kaplan/Testmasters or just tutoring on the side? LSAT is fun as hell; I wish I had a reason to take it every year. I remember I helped my friend study for it and he absolutely hated it but to me it was great fun.

 

[Dreamfixx]

I just took the new SAT this morning... that writing prompt was bullshit. A decent essay in 25 minutes? Fuck that.

 

[Phoenix]

You work for Kaplan/Testmasters or just tutoring on the side? LSAT is fun as hell; I wish I had a reason to take it every year. I remember I helped my friend study for it and he absolutely hated it but to me it was great fun.

Just tutoring on the side - moreso to help people understand the types of questions and ways to at least be able to set them up properly. Once you get the set up (particularly for the games), the rest is really up to you

 

[Aruarian Reflection]

I just took the new SAT this morning... that writing prompt was bullshit. A decent essay in 25 minutes? Fuck that.

I guess you've never taken the SAT II Writing?

 

[AstroLad]

Just tutoring on the side - moreso to help people understand the types of questions and ways to at least be able to set them up properly. Once you get the set up (particularly for the games), the rest is really up to you

Yeah, games are fun, though imo Arguments/Logical Reasoning is the best since there are more types, with Reading Comp. being the dumbest (just feels out of place on the exam); well I guess the written part is the dumbest actually. :lol

 

[Phoenix]

Yeah, games are fun, though imo Arguments/Logical Reasoning is the best since there are more types, with Reading Comp. being the dumbest (just feels out of place on the exam); well I guess the written part is the dumbest actually. :lol

Logical Reasoning is certainly the bread and butter of the test since its 50% of your score. The hard part with the games is just being able to recognize them and solve all 4 of them fast enough with a 75%+ accuracy. The Logical Reasoning section is a little harder to tutor people on. Its pretty much: find the conclusion, figure out what you're doing to the conclusion, find an answer that matches.

The real thing about many of the LSAT questions is just that have obfuscated the language of the questions.

Yeah, Reading Comprehension is a crap shoot. If you can read and know how to summarize what you've read - it shouldn't be a big deal. Writing isn't even graded (unlike on the GMAT), and from what I've been told isn't even opened/examined most of the time.

 

[Sapiens]

See you next year, LSAT. My school's law society offers the exam for free. I really can't friggin wait.

 

[AstroLad]

Logical Reasoning is certainly the bread and butter of the test since its 50% of your score. The hard part with the games is just being able to recognize them and solve all 4 of them fast enough with a 75%+ accuracy. The Logical Reasoning section is a little harder to tutor people on. Its pretty much: find the conclusion, figure out what you're doing to the conclusion, find an answer that matches.

The real thing about many of the LSAT questions is just that have obfuscated the language of the questions.

Yeah, Reading Comprehension is a crap shoot. If you can read and know how to summarize what you've read - it shouldn't be a big deal. Writing isn't even graded (unlike on the GMAT), and from what I've been told isn't even opened/examined most of the time.

I've heard that the Writing section is used as a "tiebreaker" for schools if they absolutely can't differentiate you from another candidate based on a million other legitimate factors, but I doubt it's used as a tiebreaker very much, if at all.

 

[Phoenix]

I've heard that the Writing section is used as a "tiebreaker" for schools if they absolutely can't differentiate you from another candidate based on a million other legitimate factors, but I doubt it's used as a tiebreaker very much, if at all.

It could very well be, but I would hate to think that they couldn't decide everything they needed for the tiebreaker by simply interviewing you. An essay hastily written in 30 minutes is by far the absolute worse way to judge a candidate.

 

[Doth Togo]

An essay hastily written in 30 minutes is by far the absolute worse way to judge a candidate.

No, taking a standardized test is by far the absolute worst way to judge a candidate. The essay, on the contrary, is the only piece of individuality that comes from this exercise. This, in turn, should be the starting factor in how a candidate can be accepted into a legal, or any, educational program. What knowledge is gained from all factors...academics, work, life experiences shows a stronger and adaptable mind than one that simply comprehends how to jump through hoops in order to get a higher score.

 

[Phoenix]

No, taking a standardized test is by far the absolute worst way to judge a candidate. The essay, on the contrary, is the only piece of individuality that comes from this exercise.

Individuality isn't a measure of whether or not you will be 'successful' in law school. Since GPAs aren't 'normalized' across all schools, the only way to be able to pick the best candidates really is standardized tests, for better or worse.

This, in turn, should be the starting factor in how a candidate can be accepted into a legal, or any, educational program. What knowledge is gained from all factors...academics, work, life experiences shows a stronger and adaptable mind than one that simply comprehends how to jump through hoops in order to get a higher score.

All factors are gathered together, but there needs to be some normalizing factor across everything else.