LSAT Analytical Reasoning: Dealing with Timing Pressure in LSAT Logic Games

So we've summarized the types of analytical reasoning questions. The next thing I want to talk about is just a couple of theoretical points about how the LSAT writers are thinking about and how you should think about analytical reasoning questions. There's really only one theoretical issue. Timing. In every section of the LSAT, you have 35 minutes to complete the work, and they're all a little bit about timing. Analytical reasoning is entirely about timing. What do I mean by that? Let's say in any game, there are 25 possible arrangements. Let's say with our seven CDs, there are 25 possible ways to put them in their seven slots. If you had unlimited time, here's what you'd do. You'd draw up all 25 possibilities. You'd look at the question. You'd look down all 25 pretty pictures that you have, and you would never get anything wrong, ever. You couldn't. Here's your problem. You don't have infinite time. You have four sets of five to six questions apiece, 35 minutes. That gives you an average of about eight and a half minutes a set. That's the time you have. If you had infinite time, you'd never get any of them wrong. That's why this section is entirely about timing. How do you deal with that? Stick with our hypothetical. There are 25 possible arrangements. The key to doing well on analytical reasoning is to be able, in one, two, or three pictures, encapsulate 19 or 20 of those 25 possibilities. Then, instead of looking at 25 pretty pictures, you're looking at three. You have pretty much the whole state of the world visible right in front of you. That you can do in eight and a half minutes. Some games you can do in five minutes. Some games may take you a little longer. Some may take you 10 or 12 minutes. If you work diligently and effectively, you will have banked time on the easier games so that you have time to deal with the more difficult games. The key, then, is the diagram. If you get the diagram or diagrams right, you should never, and I emphasize never, miss an analytical reasoning question. The only reason you'll miss it is because you're careless. Now, that's the paradox of analytical reasoning. It is all about timing, and the result is you actually have to worry about timing less. When I took the LSA team, when I was preparing for it, when I would hit a difficult game, I'd think I have eight and a half minutes. And sometimes I'd find myself five minutes in, still working on the diagram at the top. I haven't even gotten to the questions yet. And I did what a lot of people did, panicked, and hurried up to finish up the diagram. And always, always, always, I got questions wrong as a result. The reason I got a 180 on this exam, there are many reasons, because you can't miss very many questions. But one of the reasons is I learned to relax at the top. Take as much time as I needed, because what I knew is that if I took the time at the top, four of six answers, three of five answers, would be immediately obvious to me, just by looking at the picture I'd drawn. So instead of spending a minute and a half on any individual question, most questions started to take me five, ten, fifteen seconds. And we'll see examples of that. But the reason they took so little time at the bottom is because I spent the time at the top. And clients who eventually learn to relax a little bit about analytical reasoning timing, always do better, because they don't make any mistakes, and the answers at the bottom are really like falling off the bone. And we'll talk about, and you'll see this in various illustrations, and we'll talk about it with various games. A lot of people recommend that you redraw the diagram for each question, and that you think about questions individually. I think that's a terrible waste of time. If you spend the time at the top, you'll save it at the bottom. Now, what that also means is that it puts a premium on a couple of things in LSAT prep. First, calm and composure. You just can't panic on analytical reasoning. Go through the steps, which we'll talk about in a minute, religiously and methodically. You'll know what the next step is. You'll be fine. It'll take practice, but you'll be fine. Second, you want to know what your symbols are. And there's a list of symbols on the website that's just a trial list. You can use whatever symbols you want, but for every logical relationship, you want one symbol that means one thing and only one thing for you every single time. Because otherwise, you're going to forget what the symbols mean. If you've got one symbol that means two things, you'll forget which one it is, and you'll make mistakes. That's what I mean by careless errors. So let's talk next about specific steps for analytical reasoning. And remember, the point here is you want to have your 25 possibilities boiled down to a couple, three diagrams. Some games that works better than others, but it almost always works to some extent. And what you want to be when you answer any analytical reasoning set is as mechanical as you can possibly be. Because on exam day, you're just going to be dumber than you usually are. You just are. You're going to forget stuff. All those brilliant flashes of intuition that you used to have will be the first things that desert you. So what you want to be is a mechanic. You want to know, it's this kind of game, this is what I do. One, two, three, four, five, I'm done. Thank you.