I never Master The Possibilities? Will this hurt me? Forum

[notaznguy]

It's not that I don't want to, it's more that in given the time constraint, I'm too nervous and rushing through a LG that I never bother to check or see it. Is this ultimately going to hurt me and my game section?

[tehrocstar]

Are you saying you skip questions that ask his many Possible arrangements?

[Manhattan LSAT Noah]

Obviously getting to every question is great , but there's a point in your prep that you start to develop a realistic goal and knowing how to skip is a great skill (many people get a lower score than they "deserve" because they don't skip the questions that are toughest for them). Not everyone can get a perfect score on LG come test day, so it's good to be able to see which sort of questions take you a long time and which ones don't. I can understand why you'd choose to skip this question type, though I think it'd be worth your while to figure out some faster approaches than whatever you're using. If nothing else, for the brain workout during your review. Often these questions are tough if you don't have a strong grasp on the overall game set-up and constraints, so it might be that on those games which are "front end" (calling for more initial thought before heading into the diagram) you're not taking the time you should.

But, back to my first point, those questions are worth 1 point each, just like the rest, so if skipping those allows you to get a score you're satisfied with, go right ahead,

I hope that's helpful.

[edited for incredibleness/clarity]

[Campagnolo]

I think Master the Possibilities is incredibly helpful when you can do it. That said, doing lots and lots of logic games is the only way to get to the point where you can see quickly that there are only a few possible scenarios and that you should throw up all the hypos.

I think it's easier to see on linear and advanced linear games. If there are two large blocks interacting with each other, that's usually a good sign you can master the possibilities in the game.

That said, you can get by just fine without mastering the possibilities. It's just that when you pull it off successfully, you'll crush the game in 5 minutes, whereas if you don't, you're spending 8 on that same game.

[notaznguy]

Well the problem is I never know when to do it. I mean, honestly, it's not painstakingly OBVIOUS that I should Master The Possibilities. When I'm doing practice problems, I only know I should've Mastered The Possibilities when I look at the solution -_____-;;

[Tiago Splitter]

Well the problem is I never know when to do it. I mean, honestly, it's not painstakingly OBVIOUS that I should Master The Possibilities. When I'm doing practice problems, I only know I should've Mastered The Possibilities when I look at the solution -_____-;;

I wouldn't worry about it too much. When I tried to master the possibilities I usually wasted too much time checking to see if I, in fact, had mastered all of the possibilities. Worked out for me.

[kennethellenparcell]

If I remember correctly, Mastering the Possibilities tends to come into play with what Blueprint calls Tiered Ordering games, or what Powerscore calls Linear/Ordering games. I think that you should Master the Possiblities really only when you can find that the game is limited to 2-4 scenarios. You will see when you should do this by focusing on the variables that limit the game the most. The trick is seeing that accurately, and a potential problem is drawing out all the hypotheticals only to find out from a later question in the game that there are more possibilities than you thought.

I think with practice, this will be easier to see. However, I would also practice drawing out hypotheticals really quickly and learning how to do games strategically and efficiently (e.g. learning how to arrive at correct answer choices by using previous work when you can). The thing is - you can do all the games in the world, but on test day with that adrenaline pumping and nervousness clouding your brain - you may miss even the most obvious scenario where you should Master the Possibilities. So, I think that if you never do this, it won't really harm you. But it you figure out how to do it, it could really help you.

[msblaw89]

Well the problem is I never know when to do it. I mean, honestly, it's not painstakingly OBVIOUS that I should Master The Possibilities. When I'm doing practice problems, I only know I should've Mastered The Possibilities when I look at the solution -_____-;;

I used Test Masters to prep and they also pushed for master the possibilities. Personally, I never mastered the possibilities and I made a perfect score of LG in October. BUT I was very fast at processing the information because I practiced SOOO many logic games. I typically would finish 5-7 minutes before time was called. I would start off with my initial diagram...and then make hypotheticals if a question required it. So, if you don't master the possibilities it won't kill you...just practice practice practice until games become second nature... or you become so quick it doesn't matter