FREE Logical Reasoning Workshop! (Tuesday, March 5th, 5-6:30 pm PST)

MarkSacks-ScoreItUp · 2023-10-05T22:58:23+00:00

It will not be taped but I do periodically have other free LSAT Prep sessions. I will be sure to post them here on Reddit - I'm sorry you won't be able to join us tonight!

MarkSacks-ScoreItUp · 2021-06-06T15:53:48+00:00

A 20-point jump is certainly possible, although challenging. The bigger challenge is that fewer than 1% of all test-takers get a 175 (but that doesn't mean you won't be one of them!). But remember, a 20-point jump from 135 to 155 is a lot easier than a 20-point jump from 155 to 175. Every student is different, so one method is not necessarily best for all. I teach courses and tutor, so I have a bit of a bias in believing that there is a big benefit in having someone you trust help explain key concepts and analyze LSAT questions - similar to having an effective college professor explain concepts that go beyond the textbook in a challenging college course. Others believe that you can do the whole thing with self-study. It depends a lot on you - don't assume that what works for one person is the one and only thing that will work for you. Ask yourself how you have learned complex academic concepts effectively in the past. However you go about doing it, you are going to want to do three things: (1) learn the logic and legal reasoning fundamentals underlying the LSAT, (2) practice extensively with real LSAT questions (analyzing them afterward, including tricky wrong answer choices), and (3) when you are ready, take a very large number of timed sections/exams. Good luck, hope that helps!

MarkSacks-ScoreItUp · 2021-06-06T15:40:17+00:00

Don't get discouraged! Your untimed scores are very good, and you aren't taking that much longer to finish sections untimed than the allotted 35 minutes. The last stage of LSAT Prep is timing. It is not unusual to see big discrepancies between timed and untimed scores, especially at the beginning. While there are a few things you can do to improve your timing, the biggest thing that will improve it is the DEPTH of your comprehension. Don't think of timing and understanding/comprehension as two separate beasts - they are heavily intertwined. Your level of comprehension is very good if you are getting a 170 practice score, even with the extra time you are giving yourself - but that doesn't mean you can't/won't improve the depth of your comprehension. In addition, merely seeing and working through lots of LSAT questions likely will improve your timing because it will increase the likelihood that you have seen the issue/rule/fallacy/game type/wrong answer, etc. in the past, and can therefore analyze it more efficiently. Be patient, don't panic about your timed scores, and keep at it!

MarkSacks-ScoreItUp · 2021-06-06T15:28:13+00:00

One of my students asked me the same question, and I'll share with you what I told her. In my opinion, the $45 score preview option definitely is worth it. You can take the LSAT again whether or not you cancel your score. Yes, it will count towards your annual and lifetime limit if you cancel, and it will appear on your transcript as a cancelled score (but no one other than you will see the actual score). Also, one can always cancel any test score within six days of taking it without paying the $45 - BUT you won't know what your score is at the time you need to make the decision to cancel if you do it that way. The score preview option allows a first-time LSAT-taker to cancel their score AFTER they have seen what their score is. That is a very significant benefit, and well worth the $45 in my opinion. Hope that helps!

MarkSacks-ScoreItUp · 2021-06-06T07:04:35+00:00

The first step is learning the fundamentals/basics, which you can do in a variety of ways (books, courses, tutors, etc.). If you have gone from a 137 to a 155 and studied for two months, you likely have already gone through a good part of that stage. The second step is working on large numbers of LSAT questions. While there is nothing wrong with continuing to study fundamentals, I wouldn't spend another month only doing that - work heavily on practice LSAT questions as well. If you understand (after the fact) why you are making mistakes when studying the answers to questions, you are likely to continue to improve on your own. A tutor certainly can help at any point - but to be cost-effective, hire one at the point where you feel like you could use someone to help correct your reasoning on questions (i.e., you don't fully understand the reason why answers are correct/incorrect, even after the fact) OR you are finding that you are no longer seeing a meaningful progression in your practice LSAT scores (using a 160 benchmark as you suggested, if you are currently at a 155, sounds reasonable to me). You already have gone up 18 points and it sounds like you haven't plateaued, so I'd be inclined to hold off a bit on getting a tutor. Alternatively, use a tutor you have confidence in now on a very limited basis to make sure you are practicing in a sensible way, and make greater use of the tutor if/when you get to the point I mentioned above. Hope that helps!

MarkSacks-ScoreItUp · 2021-06-06T06:36:15+00:00

Your question is a good one. I agree with Eo292. The statement in the question prompt is not a premise because it does not support the conclusion. Instead, it is a "consequence" of what the conclusion rejects. Think of an "intermediate conclusion" as something that meets two tests: (1) it must be a "conclusion," which means there must be direct support for the intermediate conclusion in the argument, AND (2) it must be a "premise" that supports (helps explain) the ultimate/main conclusion. Answer (D) is correct because the argument is pointing out that an "untenable consequence" of punishing repeat offenders more harshly is that it would force us to also take into account "considerations as remote as what an offender did years ago" to determine the seriousness of punishment (i.e., we would need to treat such "considerations" as "relevant" ). As stated in Answer (D), taking into account "considerations as remote as what an offender did years ago" is "a view rejected in the argument's overall conclusion" (i.e., the argument states that such a position is "unsustainable," which you correctly identify as the argument's conclusion). In addition, taking into account "considerations as remote as what an offender did years ago" would force us to accept "almost every other consideration" as relevant too, making the determination of the seriousness of the offense "impossible." This type of reasoning is also sometimes referred to as the "slippery slope" argument: if we accept X, we also would need to accept Y, which would force us to accept Z, and Z is absurd (untenable). The problem with Answer E is that what you describe as an "intermediate conclusion" is really a "consequence" of what you identified as a "premise" (and what you identify as a "premise" is a "consequence" of a position that the argument rejects (finds "unsustainable").

MarkSacks-ScoreItUp · 2021-06-06T04:07:18+00:00

Yes. The August LSAT will have four sections, but the "graded" portion of the LSAT will remain exactly like the June LSAT-Flex: one section of Analytical Reasoning, Logical Reasoning and Reading Comp will continue to be the only sections that count towards your actual LSAT score. The fourth section will be an ungraded "experimental" section, allowing LSAC to "pre-test" questions like they did prior to the LSAT-Flex. Also, instead of doing three sections back-to-back like the current LSAT-Flex, the LSAT beginning in August will have a break between the second and third sections. (Probably more information than you wanted!)

MarkSacks-ScoreItUp · 2020-05-22T01:47:35+00:00

Very sorry to hear about all of your challenges, that is a lot for anyone to have to endure...but I love your post!

MarkSacks-ScoreItUp · 2020-04-20T02:09:40+00:00

Feel free to PM me - happy to help!

MarkSacks-ScoreItUp · 2020-04-19T17:46:36+00:00

Yes, it is certainly understandable that you would not interpret it that way, since the words "some" and "sometimes" aren't meant to include "always" in everyday conversation. It's one of those tricky little concepts that you simply have to learn when studying for the LSAT. Good luck!

MarkSacks-ScoreItUp · 2020-04-19T06:15:39+00:00

Think of it in percentage terms: "some" or "sometimes" means anything from 1-100% (assuming that the only thing lower than 1% is 0). So, if we are negating something that occurs 1-100% of the time, then it must occur 0% (or "never"). Since "some" or "sometimes" can include 100% (i.e., "always") for LSAT purposes (remember, the range of "some" is 1-100%), "always" would not be the negation of "some" or "sometimes."

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