Examining common wisdom in context Forum

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Blueprint LSAT
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Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 5:43 pm

Examining common wisdom in context

Post by Blueprint LSAT » Tue Mar 12, 2019 7:45 pm

If you have made your way to a forum like this one you have probably heard a lot of repeated advice on studying for the LSAT. Things like "Get to -0 on games first," "always read the prompt/question stem first," "Read a lot of academic literature in your spare time," or "Grinding practice tests/sections is the only way to improve."

These and other commonly shared (and argued with) pieces of wisdom can be great tips, but just like anything you see on the actual LSAT you can't just accept (or reject) them without context and a critical eye. If you are struggling with a piece of advice you've received ask yourself (or the person who gave it) why. What is the reasoning behind it? If it worked for them, why did it work?

Sometimes the advice will be targeted at shoring up a weakness you don't have and won't help at all with your problem. Other times it will be good advice for someone on the home stretch of their LSAT journey, but mostly useless to someone starting out cold. Occasionally, good advice will look like it is actually hurting your score because implementing it requires taking a step back before enabling three steps forward. Students looking for a magic bullet will miss out.

Whether you are on the long road from a 145 to a 175 or you just need a 7 point bump from your diagnostic to reach your goal also matters a lot to what advice will you should take. Just like the decision to go to law school itself, your LSAT prep should come with a healthy cost-benefit analysis. Pair that with a constant critical examination of your own strengths and weaknesses and you should be able to process the flood of (sometimes contradictory) advice and pick and choose what makes sense for you.

Andrew McDonald, Blueprint Instructor

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