Logical Reasoning Getting Harder? Forum

[dannyde7]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and was hoping I could get some feedback.

I'm set to take the LSAT in February and have worked on most of the preptests up to the 2006 tests. I recently took the 2004 tests in Powerscore's 3 LSATs Deconstructed and was only getting 1-4 questions wrong on the logical reasoning sections (was averaging 168-172 on PTs). I recently took the December 2005 test and the December 2006 test, and had a noticeably more difficult time finishing all of the questions. I also averaged 4-6 questions wrong per logical reasoning sections (now averaging around 165-168).

Have the logical reasoning questions definitely gotten harder? Has anyone else encountered this? If so, how did you tackle this problem?

Thanks.

[thegor1987]

No, they have not gotten harder.

[UTexas]

LR and RC have generally gotten harder in recent years, and LG has generally gotten easier.

[dannyde7]

Thanks, Texas. Did you do anything specific in your preparation for the test to account for this?

[chicoalto0649]

No....but maybe yes depending on your strengths and weaknesses in LR...

I think there is more of an emphasis on Sufficient Assumptions and Flaw questions.....anyone who remembers "mistaking lack of approval for active disapproval" from Sept 09 can attest to this...but still, you have to be damned good at LR cause it is 50% of your lsat score/future happiness/career prospects etc.

[UTexas]

Thanks, Texas. Did you do anything specific in your preparation for the test to account for this?

Just make sure you do all of the most recent practice tests, at the very least. Review all of the most difficult LR problems you've encountered as well.

After a good amount of intensive study, I found that I was getting through almost all of the older LR sections in 25-28 minutes with no errors. The LR sections of the more recent tests often take me more than 28 minutes, and I found that I was a little more likely to miss a question here and there.

This is just my experience. Some people insist that it hasn't changed, and others feel the way I do. I thought the December 2009 LR was more substantially more difficult than almost any older LR section in that it took me more than 30 minutes to finish each section. (Having said that, I still only missed one LR problem.)

[pattymac]

Here's what I did, you might want to check it out.

I'm prepping for June, so i've got some time ahead of me. I completed the LG bible and used the games from '10 actual' to practice. These games are generally the more difficult of the lot. When I finnish the LRB, I'm going to write all 10 of these preptests. Yes, I'll have seen the games, but I figure that it will A) help my stamina for later tests and B) help me get used to RC as these passages are regarded as easier amongst popular opinion on this board. Hopefully I'll be in the 160's and not looking back...fingers crossed!!!

[ben]

I think there is more of an emphasis on Sufficient Assumptions and Flaw questions.....anyone who remembers "mistaking lack of approval for active disapproval" from Sept 09 can attest to this...but still, you have to be damned good at LR cause it is 50% of your lsat score/future happiness/career prospects etc.

I agree. The test is probably getting slightly harder over time. But it's getting "harder" party because it's evolving. In the past, many LR questions were really short. You just don't see that much anymore. I'd make sure to practice with the most recent tests; go over the ones you missed until you really get them; then review them a few days or so later.

[Madman]

I am definitely finding them harder. I particularly am having more of an issue finishing them on time and am finding the answers not as clear. Like the OP, I am also wondering if others have experienced this and if they were able to once again regain their LR composure after doing a number of the newer tests?

[Derrex]

I find the later LRs to be less wordy, but slightly more tricky in that actual logic content. Overall, I found them easier but it depends on what you're good at.

[ZombiesAhead]

It's changing for sure but whether it is harder/easier depends on your strengths.

LR - LSAC demands more airtight logic in recent tests to eliminate answer choices that are "almost-correct." In the past, the right answer choice might have jumped out at you but now several AC's often look very similar until you really break down the logic. This eats up time to "prove" that AC's are incorrect using more diagramming of argument structure (either on paper or mentally).

Starting mid-40's and some pretty hard sections recently.

RC - As in LR, there are more "almost-correct" answer choices that you can't eliminate instantly. The passages are no more difficult to comprehend. Comparative reading is easier than long passages. Checking that several contender AC's are wrong eats up a ton of time. The more-difficult RC trend seems to start more recently than the more-difficult LR. It might start around the introduction of comparative RC.

Question types have shifted from describing structure to more questions about what the author or someone else would "most likely agree with," etc.

LG - Without a doubt, way easier than in the past.

[dannyde7]

What strategies do you employ to deal with these slightly different answer choices? Do you diagram all condition logical reasoning questions? For the Must Be True and Parallel Reasoning, I feel like this is what you have to do. But then these almost always come at the end of the section, where every second is valuable.

Do you gut-check eliminate all that are clearly wrong and then double check remaining "contender" answer choices with the stimulus? What do you do to increase time when all the answer choices look so similar?

Thanks.