Technically speaking, most people would be able to get every question correct on the Logic Games (LG) section if they did not have any time constraints. Unfortunately, the LSAT is a timed exam. The tricky part for many people is getting your time down. Here are some tips to help you get there.
Tip #1: Get REALLY good at the easy games
Assuming you did not get any accommodations, you will have 35 minutes per section to complete 4 games. That means you get a little over eight and a half minutes per game on the LSAT, right? Well, yes and no...
Here's the thing--some games are harder than others, so they will require more time if you are trying to complete all the games within the time constraint. Some LSAT Logic Games can take up to 10 minutes, depending on the difficulty. Therefore, it makes more sense to get faster at the easy games so that you can have extra time to complete the harder ones.
To be clear, this does NOT mean you should read faster, nor should you rush. You shouldn't EVER do this on the LSAT in general, for that matter. This will only lead to consistent errors. The way to get faster is through focused, methodical repetition, which I point out time and time again in my blog posts. Make sure you are doing plenty of repetition with the easier games until you get faster naturally without skimming, implementing the Impetus LSAT Logic Games Review Method. If you go to this file, it will also show you suggested target times for each game type. If and only if you are able to consistently hit the target times should you move on to harder games (did you catch the biconditional there?).
Tip #2: Make Deductions Up Front
There are two strategies people often use to save time on the LSAT LG section--they will either jump straight to the questions after making their diagrams or will draw out a bunch of different gameboards. Let's talk about each one and why each strategy may be wasting your time.
Strategy #1: Jumping straight to the questions
I can see why jumping straight to the questions can be tempting. In fact, this is a strategy I initially used myself. I thought that if I spend time thinking about my rules and my diagram to come up with deductions before moving on to the questions, I would waste precious time that could be used on the questions themselves. After all, the questions would get me points on the LSAT, not my examination of the rules.
I couldn't have been more wrong. Here's why...
If you try to answer the questions, you often have to make deductions anyway. For example, think of those "Which one of the following must be true?" questions. If you don't make the deductions before moving on to the question, you will need to try out each of the answer choices one by one. If this is the approach you take, you better hope the correct answer is 'A'! Otherwise, if the answer is 'E', you just ended up wasting a TON of time on the LSAT.
As a result, people who don't make deductions up front end up spending two minutes or more per question. That is a lot of time when you multiply that across 5-8 questions per game!
On the other hand, if you already have made your deductions, you would be able to see the correct answer right off the bat. Going back to my previous example of "Which one of the following must be true?", you can look back at your gameboard to determine what you are certain about. You can then use that information to sometimes even predict the correct answer. As a result, sometimes you can answer a question in seconds!
Invest some time up front to analyze the relationships between the rules before heading to the questions. This alone will save you time on the LSAT LG section, as counterintuitive as that may sound.
Strategy #2: Drawing out a bunch of gameboards
Let me first point out that I understand some LSAT prep companies recommend drawing out a bunch of different gameboards for every situation. I firmly believe you should do what works best for you, and clearly this strategy has worked for some people. However, I know this strategy did not work for me. If you have already attempted this approach and it hasn't worked, it's time to move on and try something new.
Here's the thing--I strongly believe there is a time and place for splitting the gameboard. However, I believe there are many instances where it does not benefit to do so, and even if it did, you should not exceed 3 gameboards.
Keep in mind that the main purposes of splitting the gameboard are to make more deductions and to account for as many rules as possible so that you don't need to juggle so many of them in your head at once.
But certain games just don't have that many deductions, even if you split the gameboard. So if you split up the gameboard and don't have much additional information, you may have wasted some time.
This is why I recommend checking to determine if it's a good idea to split before immediately diving into it. And if it's not a good idea to split, make sure you are making concrete deductions within the game before moving onto the questions.
Also, try to find ALL deductions before moving onto the logic games questions. Yes, this may take some time in the beginning, but overtime you will be surprised to find that those once "tricky" deductions become common sense and come almost instinctively.
Tip #3: Practice Techniques to Boost Your Confidence
Your first priority should always be accuracy. But sometimes people will consistently get all the answers correct, but will occasionally have a few questions remaining before time runs out no matter how hard they try. I want to stress that this tip applies only to these individuals. If you are still struggling to get through multiple LSAT games or if you are getting questions incorrect, you do not want to apply this strategy just yet.
If you are slightly struggling with time, one thing that can help is learning to be more confident in your answers. Often times, people will linger too long on an answer on the logic game after they have found it or they will double check all of their answers before moving on, costing time.
To reinforce this confidence, do timed practice with logic games sections and make the conscious effort of selecting the first answer you think is correct and move on. Then, when you are doing untimed logic games practice you can check the remaining answers. The best way to gain confidence is to prove to yourself over and over that your intuition was correct without having to check your answers again.
Tip #4: Order the Questions Efficiently
The reality is certain logic game questions are generally harder than others. Also, certain questions can be used to answer other questions more efficiently.
Here is the recommended order of questions:
Acceptability (The questions that ask what is a possible arrangement of entities, i.e. "Which one of the following could be the order of the artifacts in order of their age, from first to sixth?")
"If" Questions (Any of the questions that start with "If" or "Suppose")
All other questions
If you approach the questions in this order, you can use the Acceptability and "If" questions to help you out with the more general questions in logic games. For the "If" questions, you should be making all of your deductions before moving onto the question, which provides you with additional information.
For example, suppose you had a question that said "Which one of the following must be true?" and one of the answer choices said "Q is in slot 4". You can refer back to the information you gathered from previous questions and if you see a scenario in which Q is not in slot 4, you know it does not need to be true, so you would then be able to eliminate that answer choice.
Tip #5: Get Outside Help
Gaining an outside perspective can help immensely with improving Logic Games speed. Experts can watch you in real time and recognize areas within your process that can be made more efficient. There are time-saving techniques that can help you avoid having to do process of elimination. They can also help you devise a study plan to make sure you are studying games as efficiently as possible. For most people, just doing a bunch of games is not enough. Often times, they need additional help to make sure they are learning as much as they can from each game before moving onto the next.
Impetus LSAT provides personalized Logic Games tutoring and offers a free 2-hour trial. Sign up for a free consultation!
Stay Motivated!
Sincerely,
Impetus LSAT
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