“Dan Bernstine, president of the LSAC, said: “The Law School Admission Test has been used very successfully in the US and Canada for over 60 years. Interest in using the test for law school admission has spread to Australia, Japan, Korea, China, and countries in Eastern Europe. We are very excited about the opportunity to adapt this excellent tool in a way that will be useful for assessing the critical thinking skills of applicants to law programs in India.”

http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/education/2009030921134.htm

The Necessity of LSAT Growth  – Declining  Revenues and A Franchise Under Attack!

The simple fact is that LSAT is a business. The conventional view about business is that “it is either growing or dying.” It is clear that LSAT revenues are under attack  in North America. The reasons include:

- a major decline in the number  of applicants to law school. A law degree  is no longer seen as an automatic ticket to the “middle class”. Furthermore, there is the question of graduating with too much law school debt

- decline in the number  of LSAT test takers as a result of fewer applicants to law school

- the ABA is reconsidering the question of whether to require “a valid and reliable admissions test” (not that the requirement of a test is NOT the same as a requirement of  the LSAT). In other words,  it is possible  that the LSAT will not be required for  law admissions.

- Even if a “valid and reliable admission test” continues to be required, there may be substitutes for the LSAT. After all,  the GRE has successfully targeted  the GMAT market. Many applicants  to MBA programs  now consider the GMAT vs. GRE question. The question of using the GRE as an alternative to the LSAT should be considered by law schools who want to  be more applicant friendly. There are question formats that both have and do overlap with the LSAT question formats. Foir example LSAT Logic Games and the GRE Analytical section overlapped  during the 1990s. LSAT Reading Comprehension is similar  to  GRE Reading Comprehension questions.

How To Sell  More LSAT – Some Business Models For Growth

In any case, like any good business, it is clear  that LSAT is expanding its horizons. The LSAT can grow internationally in any of the following three ways:

First, the LSAT is  now used as part  of the admissions process in foreign law  schools. The LSAT is a requirement for those applying to law school in Canada. It is  now used   in certain law schools in Australia and New Zealand. It is interesting that in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia the LSAT is not administered  on the same day that it is in the U.S. and Canada. For example in June 2012 the LSAT is admistered on Monday June 11.  In Australia and New Zealand the test is administered on Sunday June 24,  2012. Presumably, this means that the New Zealand edition of  the LSAT is  different from the U.S.  edition.

Second, many students around the world, who are interested in applying to law schools in North America, take the LSAT administered in India and other countries.

Third, a  special version of the LSAT – LSAT India, has been developed for use in India as  part of the admissions process for law schools in India.

The “special  version” of the LSAT for India  is the most interesting of the LSAC initiatives. The Times of India reported that:

“To be christened as LSAT-India, this will be held for those institutes which volunteer for it, in all probabilities from 2010. “We are coordinating with the institutes here. We have also spoken to all National Law Schools but they already have Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) in place. Though the response has been positive from them, it may not be immediate,” said Sandeep Gupta, senior manager, business development, NCS Pearson (India) Pvt Ltd, which is coordinating with Law School Academic Council (LSAC).

“However, other law schools have expressed interest in introducing the test. We are still finalizing on this,” Gupta added.

This multiple-choice based question comprises critical-thinking skills, which are key for law studies.

“Earlier, we introduced general knowledge but later realized that it didn’t correlate with the performance in law schools. Critical thinking skills are essential for law. Once a student enter law school, then they are constantly updated on current affairs,” said James M Vaseleek Jr, executive assistant to the president and associate general counsel, LSAC.

Also, he said LSAC has been helping law schools evaluate critical-thinking skills of their applicants for 60 years. LSAC has been running the Law School Admission Test since 1947. It successfully administers an average of 1,40,000 tests every year.

“We have created a special version of the LSAT, specifically for use by law institutes in India. Keeping in mind that the test for those getting into under-graduate courses, the difficulty level varies,” James added.”

About the Special  LSAT for India

The test  is administered by Pearson (the company that also administers the GMAT). Information may be found at http://www.pearsonvueindia.com/lsatindia/test_prep.html

Here is what you should know about LSAT India

1. If you download  the free sample  LSAT you will see  that it is almost idential  to the sample free  LSAT for North  America – the June 2007 LSAT.

2. Three of the four sections have only four multiple choice answer choices instead of five.

Download the free India LSAT here.

LSAT Tutor(s) and LSAT Tutoring

Most  people associate  with tutoring with two ideas.

First, that by using a tutor they will have a one-on-one (or private) session. This may or may not be true. Some tutoring sessions operate  with small groups. We  have made  some effort to organize “small group” tutoring sessions that  focus on specific LSAT question types. Many LSAT test takers actually benefit from  having another student in the discussion. In general, “LSAT tutoring” will be in an environment with fewer students that you will find in “Live LSAT Preparation Courses”.

Second, that they will be able to use a tutor to focus on the LSAT question types that are of most concern to them. This may be true.  But, is this of value? In my experiences many LSAT tutoring sessions unfold by a student showing the tutor a number of “problem questions”. The tutor will then explain the questions and why the answer is what LSAT says it is.  This may be of  limited  value (although you will feel better). There  is a difference between understanding an explanation to  a question and being able to answer the question yourself. You need to learn how to answer the question yourself.  All  LSAT question types need  to be understood in terms of the structure of the test  and how the question furthers the “R.E.A.D. Objective”. There is a difference  between explaining the answer  to an LSAT question and teaching the “approach” that will teach you to  answer  the question on your own.

Again, you do NOT need the tutor  to demonstrate the answer to the question.  You DO need  the tutor to assist you in generating the answer on your own.

Choosing An LSAT Tutor or LSAT Course  Instructor

The specific LSAT teacher or tutor is the most important factor in your LSAT improvement.  The importance of a good LSAT tutor or teacher What should you look  for? Everybody has their own idea of what makes a good teacher/tutor. In my opinion you should look for:

1. A skilled teacher;

2. Who has the ability to motivate you and bring you to the top of your game.

Talk to them. Meet them. Be aware of how you feel around them. Is this somebody who you would like to work with? The issue is  how YOU feel and NOT how somebody else feels. Therefore, the personal meeting is more important than specific recommendation (although the recommendation can be used for the initial contact).

How To Use  LSAT Tutors

In many cases you will need to  learn to read LSAT questions more  effectively.) That is different from understanding an explanation to  a question. Therefore, I  would  NOT  go a tutor  and  say:

“Please  explain the answers  to the following questions.”

You should  say:

“I am having trouble with these particular types of questions. Can you diagnose my problem. Can you then construct a series  of tutoring sessions that will teach me the skills  that  I am missing?”

A good  LSAT tutor will provide some structured assistance, that should include:

- help on understanding the specialized language  of  the LSAT;

- help  on how  to read LSAT questions more effectively;

- emphasis on how  to simply LSAT passages and arguments;

- help you to better choose LSAT answers

- make  sure  you understand and can apply the basic principles  of  LSAT logic;

- understand the fundamental and essential skills of LSAT  logic games;

and more.

Many LSAT test takers try to understand the LSAT in terms of the categorization of LSAT questions. This may or may not be helpful to you. This is something that you should discuss with your tutor. A good LSAT will be able to help you either way.

This will help  provide the structure  that characterizes LSAT preparation courses, but is  missing from most  LSAT  tutoring

You can read the complete article here.

Copyright (c) 2011, John Richardson.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with John Richardson, who teaches LSAT prep in Toronto, about doing a blog post for our sites on why most LSAT prep courses—and their marketing material—tend to underemphasize reading comprehension.

Things have been a little busy lately, but sometimes delay is a good thing.  In this case, it allowed me to have lunch with Elise Jaffe, a former law firm colleague who is now the pre-law advisor at Hunter College in New York City.  Elise and John are always insightful and, while this post is my view, it owes a lot to those conversations.

There are several reasons why reading comp seems to be the forgotten stepchild in LSAT prep courses and marketing.  Some of them are merely commercial; others are inherent in the relatively short-term nature of LSAT prep, which is to say that most programs don’t address reading comprehension very well because—within the structure of most LSAT prep programs—it’s harder to address.  In combination with the limited objectives of most LSAT programs, the result is that reading comprehension feels like an afterthought.

To read the complete article click here.

Principle: The best acronyms should be descriptive acronyms!

What does the acronym “LSAT” stand for?

LSAT is an acronym that stands for “Law School Admission Test”.

The LSAT is:

- a four letter word;
- a barrier between you and the law school of your choice (or perhaps any law  school)
- a standardized test (every test taker gets the same questions);
- a multiple choice test (rewarding answer identification first and understanding second);
- a long test;
- a test administered under strict time constraints;
-  an important test

Read the complete  article here

By:  Kyle Pasewark, President

–Advise-In Solutions

I’m pleased to contribute to John Richardson’s Best LSAT books and courses blog, which provides a valuable forum for views about the LSAT.  After reading my blog (www.adviseinsolutionsblog.com) and looking at the Advise-In Solutions website (www.advisein.com),  John asked me to say a little about what, if any, LSAT preparation commercial publications and materials are valuable.

I have short answer and a long answer.  The short answer:  none, except the LSAT prep tests available through lsac.org.  Exams, not guides.

Now for the longer answer.  Before I took the LSAT, scoring a perfect 180 on my first and only try, I did what a diligent guy like me does.  I took a diagnostic test (on which I got a middling score).  So, I figured I needed help and bought every commercial guide I could.  I came home confident that these would show me the way to LSAT (and law school) promised land.  Then I opened them and my heart sank.   Each one was more technical and jargon-y that the last.  None of them presented a consistent, pedagogically sound perspective on the LSAT.  At the time, I was a college professor and knew something about how information is communicated effectively.  None of them (except for part of one, which is now outdated) did that, either.  What’s more, they presented far too many possible techniques and approaches, and I knew that, come LSAT exam day, this complexity would not only not help me get my best score, but prevent it.

I promptly threw the test prep books in the dumpster and designed my own study program, which allowed me to get the 180 I got and is the original inspiration to Advise-In’s customized LSAT programs (http://www.advisein.com/lsat-preparation-best-LSAT-score.html).  To be clear, I did not write my own 500-page book.  The maximum of written materials I ever used were a few pages of handwritten notes.  Those were changed and culled over the course of my study program to about 5 index cards that I reworked and studied relentlessly.

Why are 5 index cards or a few pages of notes better than 500-page books?  Because taking the LSAT is like playing a game—you have a fixed amount of time to do a lot of work accurately.  And the stakes are high (though it’s best not to think about that).  So, there’s pressure.  It’s not couch-potato understanding you need, but working, reflexive understanding.

An important component of performing well under pressure is to be automatic—always to know your next step.  Cognitive research is now building a mountain of evidence that confirms this but we all know it.  For the LSAT, that has a glaring implication: one key to doing well on the LSAT is making it simpler, not more complex.  I don’t mean that you can take shortcuts or that there are any surefire tricks that will outsmart the writers of the LSAT; they’re pros and they’re better at tricking you that you are at tricking them.  They’re brilliant at writing questions, and that’s why, for most people the LSAT is hard.

But here’s the thing—it’s not complicated.  Each LSAT has about 100 questions on it.  But in the nearly 20 years that the LSAT has been in its current format, they have used only 20 question types.  Thousands of individual questions but only 20 question types.  That’s all.

And this is why the approach of most commercial guides and programs (to say nothing of the magic beans that people are trying to sell all across cyberspace) will hurt you more than help you.  It’s not that it’s just unsound, it’s actually damaging.  A taxonomy of over 50 question types and a bevy of different techniques for answering each of those questions is not only something you don’t need but you can’t possibly execute that kind of complexity on the actual LSAT (if you can, you don’t need to buy any commercial guides or read LSAT blogs in the first place).  You have, depending on the section, between a minute and a minute-and-a-half average time to answer LSAT questions.  You can’t be fumbling around trying to figure out what type of question this is and, after figuring that out, which of 10 or so approaches you’re going to take.  You have to know, instinctively and immediately.

Now, I understand why commercial guides and many LSAT programs make things complex.  You couldn’t charge $25 or more for a 5-page book, and a lot of commercial programs are interested in making the LSAT appear so daunting, and themselves so sophisticated, that you’ll think they’re the only ones who can save you from doom.

But it’s counterproductive to learning how to do what you need to do on exam day, calmly, efficiently and accurately.  To prepare for the LSAT, a few sheets of paper or index cards are simply more valuable to you than a mass of information, even if that information were beautifully and accurately presented.  And we all know that the best teachers are the ones who make difficult material seem easier, not more perplexing.

What you need to succeed on the LSAT is a simple taxonomy of question types and the simple (and few) techniques that work for you to obtain your best LSAT score.  The LSAT is hard for most of us; to make it mystifying makes it next to impossible.  The LSAT is simple, and the key to getting your best score is to make it as simple as you can for yourself.  Everything you do in your LSAT prep should contribute to simplification on exam day.

- 10 Actual LSATs  (Tests 9 – 18)

- 10 More Actual LSATs (Tests 19 – 28)

- The Next 10  Actual LSATs (Tests 29 – 38)

In September 2009, I blogged that LSAT would be releasing a new book of 10 LSATs.

The wait is over – just in time for you to prepare for the June 6, 2011 LSAT. I just receive an email from Amazon announcing that on March 1, 2011, LSAT will  be releasing:

Ten New Actual Official LSAT PrepTests with Comparative Readings

This book will be essential for your LSAT Preparation.

I have just confirmed with Law Services that it will consist of PrepTests 52 – 61. These are the LSAT tests from September 2007 – October 2010.  You may recall that LSAT comparative reading debuted in June 2007. The June 2007 LSAT is available as a free download from Law Services.

GROCKIT LAUNCHES FIRST SOCIAL NETWORK FOR LSAT STUDYING

LSAT Students Now Have Access to Grockit’s Complete, Customizable and Collaborative Online Test Prep Program

SAN FRANCISCO, July 29, 2010 — Grockit (www.grockit.com), a social network for studying that uses collaborative learning and develops adaptive programs for students, announced today the launch of its LSAT test prep program. The program incorporates the most current, licensed LSAT questions available with collaborative online learning methodology and peer-to-peer interaction to provide the most comprehensive and customizable test prep program available to students. Students have the opportunity to study alone or receive guidance from Grockit’s expert instructors.

Read more about LSAT social.

Prologue:

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-new … source=rss

Fisher: Blind law school grad can see injustice

”Being blind didn’t keep Stephanie Enyart from graduating from Stanford University. It didn’t keep her from earning a law degree at UCLA. And she’s determined not to let it keep her from practicing law.”

http://www.lawstudents.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=22655

_______________________________________

During the last few years, I have had contact with several law school applicants who are blind. In fact, I have a blind student planning to take my LSAT class this summer. Every time I have this request, I think: surely this cannot be a unique situation. There must be (numerically) many blind students who want to study law. How do they take the LSAT? How do they prepare for the LSAT? How can any law school in its right mind insist that a blind (or is the correct term “visually impaired” person – I am more interested in helping the student than with the politically correct term) student take the LSAT?  Even if one did take the LSAT, how could the score possibly be compared to that of other applicants?

This post is largely a call for help, input, experiences and any thoughts on this issue. So please, post a comment at the bottom of this post or send me and email: prelawforum at gmail dot com

Here are some tidbits: At least one student I worked with tried to get Harvard Law School to waive the LSAT requirement. They would not.

1. Baltimore, Maryland (February 19, 2009): The National Federation of the Blind, the nation’s oldest and largest organization of blind people; its California affiliate; and a blind law school applicant, Deepa Goraya, are filing a lawsuit today against the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC).

http://www.tabinc.org/blog/archives/2009/02/lsac_discrimina.html

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202428419045&hbxlogin=1

In substance:

“Deepa Goraya, a law school applicant and named plaintiff in the suit, said: “Trying to use the LSAC Web site made the experience of applying to law school a nightmare when it should have been as easy for me as for anyone else. I had to select and rely upon a reader for over fifty hours to complete my law school applications. Also, none of the practice tests available on the Web site were accessible. I want the process of gaining admission to law school to be easier for all blind people who are interested in entering this noble profession, and I hope this action will achieve that goal.””

2.  Here is some interesting commentary include information about how the visually impaired experience the LSAT.

3.     Law Services does allow for special accommodations for the blind taking the LSAT. The National Federation of the Blind argues that they have not gone far enough.

4. I know of  no LSAT preparation material for the blind or visually impaired. If you know of anything (books of courses) please comment below.

John Richardson – Toronto, Canada

http://www.prep.com

On Thursday April 28, 2010, Discoverlaw.org conducted  an  “LSAT Prep Webinar” about how to prepare for the Analytical Reasoning (Logic Games) portion of the LSAT.

It was conducted by Lori Davis, who is a senior test specialist at LSAT. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that LSAT has run a seminar dedicated to LSAT preparation. As a long time, LSAT prep class teacher, I was interested to hear what LSAT says about its own test.  I was treated to one hour of  “LSAT on the LSAT”. It was interesting. I made notes and decided to put those notes on my LSAT blog and social media sites. What follows is a summary of the Webinar (both the information given and the my impressions of it) for the benefit of those who were unable to attend. Discoverlaw.org will be running more LSAT prep Webinars.

Update: May 15, 2010 – The  video of this seminar is now available for your viewing.

Here goes:

The Webinar began with a basic description of the LSAT confirming  (I always tell my course participants that the LSAT is a test of  “reading and reasoning in context”) that the LSAT is a test of : “critical reading”, “informal reasoning (Arguments), and deductive reasoning (Analytical Reasoning)”. Yes, that is what the LSAT actually tests.

The Webinar then discussed Analytical Reasoning (Logic Games) specifically. Ms. Davis began by confirming the basic format of Analytical Reasoning: scenario, rules and questions.

LSAT – Analytical Reasoning – Test Questions Format:

She noted that there are three specific question formats. These formats are:

-         questions that ask what MUST be true;

-         questions that ask what COULD be true;

-         questions that ask what CANNOT be true.

Background Skills – Conditional Reasoning:

In 1991, Thomas White, a past president of Law Services wrote a book called “Inside the LSAT”. In this book Mr. White, confirmed that the “basic reasoning task” on the LSAT involved Conditional Reasoning. Ms. Davis continued this theme at three points in her Webinar.

First - the hypothetical syllogism – which is:

If A then B.

If B then C.

Therefore, If A then C

Second – the logical flaw of “affirming the consequent” – which is:

If A then B.

If B then C.

If we are given “C”, what can we infer with certainty? The answer is nothing.

Third – the “contrapositive” – to eliminate and an answer choice in one of the sample questions that she did.

The contrapositive is a rule of inference  as follows:

If A then B.

Not B

Therefore, Not A

All of this is clear confirmation that LSAT does consider the rules of conditional reasoning when constructing LSAT questions (This is common knowledge in the LSAT prep industry).

LSAT Language:

When it comes to LSAT, sensitivity to language isn’t everything! It’s the only thing!

The one short example used by Ms. Davis included the following words or “clusters of words” that appear on many LSAT tests. These examples were:

“or” – Do you want cream or sugar in your coffee? This could mean either cream or sugar or both.

“exactly” – Each group includes “exactly” three members. This means three and only three.

“at least” – Each student must take “at least” math. This means math at a minimum, but it allows for more courses.

“unless” – this word frequently appears on the LSAT. One cannot study math, unless one studies English too. This means: If math then English. Note how this is tied to the conditional reasoning examples above.

Diagramming the LSAT Analytical Reasoning Conditions:

Ms. Davis spent a good deal of time diagramming. She also made the following two points:

First, the main diagram should be constructed prior to starting the questions.

Second, LSAT is  publishing a new book called the “Official LSAT Handbook” that apparently contains an appendix devoted to diagramming.

Ms. Davis approached the diagrams in a very basic way focusing on what I call the “non-negotiables” (meaning the things that are stated to be true without question). She did not spend time trying to make additional inferences (although this may have just been the nature of the example which I can’t reproduce for copyright reasons). Many LSAT prep courses and books  focus on making lots of initial inferences from the initial conditions. This may or may not be necessary.

The Questions:

Ms. Davis introduced three questions. As you might expect she provided an example of each of the three question types above:

-         What MUST be true?

-         What COULD be true?

-         What  CANNOT be true? (which means what must be false)

Her general approach was to answer each question by returning to the initial diagram. There was not much variety in the methodology or approach.

On at least two occasions she suggested that “if you think you have found the answer – choose it an move on.” (This is obviously good advice.)

She spent more time explaining why the answers were correct, than on explaining how one should go about actually determining the answers. This is forgivable and understandable since one hour is very little time.

Categorization:

The LSAT prep course industry is obsessed with the categorization of questions. The categorization of LSAT questions may  NOT be a good idea. Ms. Davis made no attempt to categorize the sample game that she was doing.

Conclusion:

That’s all. I would recommend that you go to Discoverlaw.org and get on their mailing list. It’s always helpful to see what LSAT says about its own test. Furthermore, you should begin your LSAT preparation with publications from LSAT.

John Richardson

http://lawschoolbound.wordpress.com

http://www.twitter.com/lsatpreparation

Is bucketing logical reasoning questions worth your time?

By John Rood, President of Next Step Test Preparation

One thing that continually amazes me each time I review an LSAT prep book is the huge amount of space spent in categorizing and sub-categorizing question types in logical reasoning. I just flipped through a 2009-edition prep book from one of the big national LSAT prep companies, and it literally had 2 pages devoted to finding assumptions in logical reasoning but over 20 pages explaining each different question type. I can also tell you from experience that categorization is a big part of the curriculum in large LSAT classes.

I think that the big prep companies do this for three reasons.

• It helps fill space in prep books where the industry standard is several hundred pages, and actually licensing questions is expensive
• In live classes or videos, it gives teachers something smart to say regardless of their experience level
• Teaching categorization requires absolutely no customization for individual students. It’s like teaching the names of all 50 states — rote memorization. There’s no comprehension or understanding to check; if there was, there’s no personal attention to fix it.

I think that students should be aware of the different question types in the section, but students can gain this awareness by reading through a few Preptests. Time spent categorizing each question into a certain group or “family” is a waste of time on the actual test. You get 0 points for correct categorization, but you have a great chance at 1 point for correctly understanding and applying logic.

The skills that actually increase student scores are

1. Understanding the basic format of an argument — premise(s), assumption(s), conclusion.
2. Being able to identify each of these components and be able to intelligently manipulate them (strengthen/weaken questions require this, among others).
3. Be able to apply these basic skills quickly and accurately.

It’s hard to teach these basic skills to large groups, but this is what students need to learn to succeed. In our tutoring sessions, these three skills are the main focus of LSAT logical reasoning training.

Next Step provides one-on-one tutoring on the LSAT, GRE, GMAT, and college entrance exams. Check our website for more information, or contact us at info@nextsteptestprep.com or 888-530-NEXT begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 888-530-NEXT end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Image courtesy davidw.