Top three mistakes to avoid when studying for the LSAT

Studying for the LSAT -- and, truthfully, anything -- is an exercise in focus. You need to be focused when you're writing the test, of course. But it's much more than that. You need to be focused on every phrase you read, every question you face. But being able to focus on the test requires deep preparation. And focusing on that is how you're able to actually focus on the test when it comes time to write.

Think of practicing as driving a wagon through the dirt. You're creating ruts in the road that you will use the next time you face a question, which you reinforce on that next occasion, and on and on. You're building habits. And you need to be very intentional with those habits, making sure they are the correct ones that actually allow you to find the correct answers in the time allotted to you. That too requires focus. Because if you commit these common LSAT study mistakes, you'll be building the wrong ruts in the road and ensuring an uphill journey when you actually write the test.

LSAT study materials arranged on a desk

Mistake 1: Treating Practice Questions Differently From the Real Test

One of the most common mistakes committed by virtually every student with whom I've ever worked is using a different approach to answering questions when practicing versus when writing an actual test. You need to practice the precise habits that you will use on the real thing. The worst possible pitfall is that you solve differently when the clock is turned on. You need to make sure your process is replicable, no matter the circumstances.

Why Process Matters in Avoiding LSAT Study Mistakes

Logical reasoning questions test your ability to analyze argumentation and the quality of proof. You need to ensure that when you do so, you aren't treating every passage you see as a new piece of information. It is a reformulation of a passage that you have already seen when studying. Hopefully, one you've seen dozens if not hundreds of times. The reproduction isn't in terms of information, but in terms of the relationships between the information. If you solve it the same way, you will be able to get to the same answer that you already know to be correct.

How to Avoid this Mistake

• Study core concepts first: Spend time learning about argument structure, common flaws, and types of questions. You need to be able to fit each passage into a pre-existing schema that you already understand.

• Don't try to understand everything: When you write the real test, you don't have time to understand each piece of information given to you in any individual passage. So don't try to do so in practice. You need to focus on what matters and only that.

• Prioritize right answers, not wrong ones: An answer is correct because of its own inherent qualities -- not because the four others are wrong. Work on identifying correct answers, not on using a process of elimination.

• Review mistakes thoroughly: Don’t just check if you got the answer right or wrong. You need to know why you got the question wrong, and what patterns or structures you needed to identify so that you won't miss them next time.

Mistake 2: Overemphasizing Formal Logic

Formal logic is important, yes. It is often considered the boogey man of the LSAT. (Even though if you prepare correctly it shouldn't be considered too difficult!) But one of the most common mistakes I see from students is trying to map everything on the LSAT. Statistically, you should be mapping on average once or twice per section. That is it. You can map too little, which would make those few questions very difficult indeed. But you can also map too much.

Why this Approach Fails

Not everything on the LSAT has a conditional relationship. In fact, it's vital to understand when relationhips are not formalized. And often, even when the relationships offered on the test are conditional, it is easier to answer those questions without mapping the formal logic. If you overemphasize formal logic, you will waste time, see conditional logic when it doesn't exist, and miss the other relationships that are present on the test.

How to Goldilocks Formal Logic (find the right balance)

• Only map when necessary: In general, the only LSAT questions that require formal-logic maps should be inference, parallel reasoning, and the occasional principle. For virtually all others, formal-logic maps will generally be a waste of time.

• Know other types of relationships: If all you own is a hammer, everything in the world looks like a nail. Similarly, if all you know is formal logic, all you see on the test is conditional. But there are countless other logical relationships that exist between information. You need to know what they are in order to avoid overemphasizing formal logic.

• Know other types of causation: Did you know that a huge amount of causation on the LSAT isn't conditional? Knowing the difference between non-conditional causation and formal logic will save tons of time on those wasted maps.

  
  

Mistake 3: Mixing too many Preparation Tools and Approaches

The LSAT is a timed exam, and for many writers, the time limit is the most difficult barrier to overcome. The solution to this is of course having a consistent and coherent method. But you can have too many methods. If you prepare using three textbook, multiple courses, and a variety of tutors, it's quite likely that when you actually sit down to face any individual question you'll have too many different systems you're using. You will be inconsistent and waste time doing the same thing multiple times, in multiple ways. You need to streamline your approach, not adopt every aspect of a variety of systems.

The Impact of Multiple Methods

You not only need to know the path to the correct answer of any question, but you need to know the fastest route down that path. If you mix too many methods, you will not be taking the fastest route. You need to choose one approach and stick to it.

How to Improve your Consistency

• Understand your method: You should always understand what you're doing in approaching a question and why you're doing it. A passage can confuse you, sure. But your own approach never should.

• Know why you solve questions in the way that you are: If you don't know why you're doing something, it is a waste of your time. You have to understand the purpose of your approach, or else it is purposeless.

• Don't do the same work twice: Perhaps the most risky element of mixing methods is adopting multiple tools that have the same purpose.

Avoiding these three common mistakes can transform your LSAT preparation. And that's what all three pitfalls endanger: your preparation. Because the only way to fail on the LSAT is to fail in your preparation for it. You need to ensure the way you solve in practice is the same as the way you solve on the real thing. You need to ensure that you know your own approach, and that it is as streamlined and as consistent as possible. And you need to ensure that you aren't doing more work than necessary. Because if you master preparing for the LSAT, then you will find your way to the best score possible.