General LSAT Strategies
Before we get into section-specific advice, here are 3 general LSAT strategies that apply to every section, because dominating the LSAT starts with a solid foundation.
1. Eliminate Wrong Answers
As a multiple-choice test, the LSAT is a prime candidate for eliminating answers. If you know answer choices (A), (B), and (E) are wrong, then suddenly you’re down to two options. If you can’t figure out which one is right, you still have a 50% chance of guessing the right answer.
However, the real power of elimination isn’t in guessing—it’s in clarity and speed. Crossing out answer choices (A), (B), and (E) essentially declutters your mind. Freed to focus on the two or three potential answers, you can think more clearly and find the answer more quickly.
On the LSAT, speed is imperative. If you can save a few seconds on every problem by eliminating bad answers, you can answer more questions and improve your score.
In some cases, it’s actually faster to eliminate all four wrong answers than to prove the right answer, giving you yet another reason to use this strategy.
2. Don’t Get Bogged Down on One Question
If you’re trying to improve on your 175, then this advice won’t work as well. Also, why are you here? Go write your own article.
If you’re like the rest of us and don’t always get through all the questions within the allotted time, then skipping certain questions isn’t a bad idea.
For example, if you generally complete 3 of the 4 logic games and the first game seems brutal, you can skip it and move on to the next game. If you have time, you can always come back later.
In logical reasoning, you likely won’t realize you’re stuck until you’ve already read the question. Eliminate the answers you can, but if you have to spend 3-5 minutes to get a question right, your time would be better used answering other questions.
Another benefit of this strategy is that coming back to a question can bring clarity and a fresh perspective, allowing you to solve it more quickly.
3. Don’t Rush Your Reading
There’s a lot to read on the LSAT, and reading quickly is good. However, if you find yourself missing key details, you might want to slow down.
For example, have you ever gotten halfway through a logic game only to realize you wrote down L-P-Q when the rule is Q-P-L? I may or may not be speaking from personal experience here.
If you find yourself making these kinds of mistakes, then you might need to take more time reading. Do your best to put everything else out of your mind—that last question you weren’t sure about, whether you’re going to finish the section on time, and the dog grooming business you’ll start if you can’t get into law school.
Reading actively and—if necessary—more slowly can actually save you time. It does hurt to lose a few seconds on reading, but it hurts more to have to re-read the entire question (or logic game!) because you misread a key fact.
These general LSAT strategies provide a solid foundation from which to attack the test, and we’ve also got specific strategies for each section: