Best way to improve logic games Forum

[PoopNpants]

Is their any consensus on the best way to get nice at Logic Games? I know the basics and stuff but I just feel like I waste too much time over-diagramming and I make some but not all inferences they are to be made. I'm looking at the 7sage method and it says to do a game over 10 times in a row but I feel like that wouldn't help much since I'd just be recalling shit from memory. I'm really good at LR usually around -2 and RC is alright too but I feel like LG is what is keeping from scoring well in June

[Clyde Frog]

What prep book are you using for LG?

[PoopNpants]

LG Bible. I went thru it thoroughly and also the accompanying workbook too that contains more drills and other shit

[Christine (MLSAT)]

The thing about repeating a game 10 times is that while you will start doing things from memory, a lot of them are exactly the things that you WANT to do from memory.

You want to be building up habitual, automatic responses to certain types of rules, common combinations of types of rules, etc, so that when you see those types of rules/combinations again in the future, you will know what inferences you can make almost immediately. This way you're not having to re-invent the wheel on every single game, or for every inference. There's substantial value in being able to effortlessly handle the common motifs of standard games.

It sounds like what you're concerned about, though, is being able to think on your feet and stay flexible when a game does something that you're not expecting - and that's an absolutely valid concern. But one of the best ways to prepare yourself for "curveball" games is to have a wide variety of well honed tools that you're comfortable using on games - and repetition of execution is one path to get there. People have trouble with the weirder games when they have memorized rigid game types, rather than built up a bevy of tools that can be used in any combination.

Repeating games is a fantastic exercise. Just make sure that the repetition isn't mindless. You're not just copying out the diagram, you're consciously articulating in your own mind why the next step is XYZ, and why the intersection of this rule and that rule produces this awesome inference, etc. You're reflecting afterwards how the steps that you took can be applied to other similar (or even dissimilar) games. You're re-executing a different way, to see what happens if you play out frames, or don't, or plug-n-chug, or whatever.

The point isn't getting the right answers - you might remember those, but who cares? The point is how you are thinking about what you are doing on the way to those answers, and how you are considering the ways to apply those things in the future.

[PoopNpants]

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it

Yeah your right on the money with my main concern: Like for example, I was doing a PT with some weird circle game and I had literally no clue what the fuck to do in terms of diagramming so I'm real nervous about coming across a difficult game or 2 in 6 weeks. My last PT i had more wrong in one section of LG -6 than the other 3 sections combined. So I think I'm going to spend the next week or so just doing games over and over. I feel real embarrassed considering LG is typically viewed as the easiest section of the test and I've been studying since November LOL

[Clyde Frog]

I didn't really like the Powerscore lg book. All I really got out of it was the in-out game approach. Found Manhattan to be much better for it. Took only a few days to go through it, but it helped a ton. LG can definitely be discouraging when you're scoring well in LR and RC and you see everyone else talking about getting -0 on their PTs, which is how I was for a while, especially for some of the PTs in the 50s. The most beneficial thing you can do for improving, like any other section, is to drill, but drill properly. This means when you're going through your Cambridge packets/book and see the simple ordering, grouping distribution ect., sections you don't have some automatic mechanical approach that makes you quickly draw in a diagram that a prep company told you was the proper way. Basically be fluid in your approach and find the method that works best for you. Many times the setups for different game types will require no creativity, but sometimes they will. LSAC has really been toasting test takers in recent years with games that go against convention, and scoring high sometimes requires you to make a unconventional diagram to attack the questions.

Go through the Cambridge LG from tests 1-40 (even the misc ones) and before you draw a diagram on any LG focus on visualizing what it will look like beforehand, which will requires reading the passage and the rules, not just the passage. Don't worry so much about time because a proper diagram will save you time on the back end. Making proper inferences will come with experience to the games.

[PoopNpants]

Is there a specific manhattan book your referring too?
I got the test in 6 weeks but I'm blessed to be unemployed and have parents who are kind enough to let me devote all my time towards studying. I also read the LSAT trainer a few months ago but I didn't like the Logic Games section in there. Been really using 7sage videos lately. As far as Drilling goes I'm an idiot and got the actual Cambridge packet 1-20 games but i always did em on scratch paper so they can be re-used. I got all the PTs available from my friend who took a kaplan course too, so I could just print out those PDFs and use them for drilling purposes too.

[Clyde Frog]

I used this one http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/manhatt ... 1935707844

I think they have a 4th edition out now. Not sure if there is much of a difference.

[ilikebaseball]

LG Bible and/or 7sage

[PoopNpants]

LG Bible and/or 7sage

Yeah I think this is my best bet with the test in 6 weeks, I don't think I have to time to go thru the manhattan book and learn new approaches, honestly I understand the LG bible conceptually well. I think I'm gonna just do the 7sage "foolproof" method over the next few days and take some timed sections