Top Law Schools

I've heard that top-scorers eliminate 4 wrong answer choices for on each problem. Is that necessary for the first 10-15 questions in LR? I'm struggling with timing, but making steady improvements on it. To improve my timing, I've been going with my gut as much in the first part of LR, then being more careful towards the end. I usually glance at all the answer choices, but don't really consider them all if I find one I think is right. I only do this for the first half of LR though because I know that it gets harder in the end.

Is this a bad habit? Should I try eliminating all 4 wrong answers for all 25 questions and just find some other way to improve speed?

The first thing id say is to remember that 10 isn't some magic cutoff point. There are plenty of sections with tough questions early. I feel like I've even noticed a trend where around Q10 there is a super tough one.

That said, if you can spot an obviously right answer and you are struggling for time, choose it and move on. If you aren't doing either of those things, prove as many answers wrong as you can first.

You can always circle answers you didn't thoroughly check an come back to them with fresh eyes after you finish, if that's the case too.

Post removed...

Mint-Berry_Crunch wrote:I think it really depends on how confident/ accurate you are. If you're pretty sure, go ahead and move on and don't eliminate each one. Working through answer choices is a big time drain, so the faster you can eliminate wrong choices and move on the better.

Yeah, I should clarify, cause this is true. When I said "prove as many answers wrong as you can" that isn't a lengthy process. Usually at least a couple of the answers are obviously wrong on first read, so that's just 10 seconds.

Post removed...

Mint-Berry_Crunch wrote:
Yeah so basically what I do, is until I hit a question that stumps me, I'll select my answer, and really quickly skim any remainders to double check. As long as mines the only one that seems right, I'll move on.
Once I get stumped I obviously get more strict. This usually happens around q12, but it varies. Hell I have a hard time with the first one sometimes.

I'd like to second MBC's method here. If you know what the answer is gonna look like, and see it in the answer choice, it will take 5-10 seconds to go through the remainder and double check them as wrong. Don't necessarily eliminate each one as you go through, but search for the correct answer and then verify the others as incorrect. That way you are actively answering the question and not wasting time doing POE. Save official POE for those questions that you are stumped on and have almost no clue as to what the answer should look like.

I've been drilling difficult questions using POE and doing better on these questions than I was going quickly through easier questions. I think I will do a quick informal POE in the beginning of sections and also reread my chosen answer choice to verify that it is correct.

I also realized I was relying too much on my gut rather than logics. Doing full POE helped me realize that.

lymenheimer wrote:

Mint-Berry_Crunch wrote:
Yeah so basically what I do, is until I hit a question that stumps me, I'll select my answer, and really quickly skim any remainders to double check. As long as mines the only one that seems right, I'll move on.
Once I get stumped I obviously get more strict. This usually happens around q12, but it varies. Hell I have a hard time with the first one sometimes.

I'd like to second MBC's method here. If you know what the answer is gonna look like, and see it in the answer choice, it will take 5-10 seconds to go through the remainder and double check them as wrong. Don't necessarily eliminate each one as you go through, but search for the correct answer and then verify the others as incorrect. That way you are actively answering the question and not wasting time doing POE. Save official POE for those questions that you are stumped on and have almost no clue as to what the answer should look like.

Thirded. I'll always take a look at all the answers, but some get more focus than others. If I have a strong prediction, I'll more easily eliminate answers that I notice a problem in early on.

As far as trends go, 1-15 are usually easier (with 8 or 9 being hard); 16-23 hard; 24-end moderate. For 1-15, outside of the hard one, I don't expect them to throw in really tricky trap answers (as the test has easy questions early on to distinguish between people at, say, a 133 vs. a 136), so I'm much more quick to dismiss an answer as soon as I notice something wonky. For 16+, however, they're definitely trying to trick me with subtly wrong incorrect answers and correct answers that have "dirt" on them (they're right, but not obviously so). On those, definitely eliminate first, then work with the 2 answers (usually) that are left.

Manhattan Prep Matt wrote:

lymenheimer wrote: I'd like to second MBC's method here. If you know what the answer is gonna look like, and see it in the answer choice, it will take 5-10 seconds to go through the remainder and double check them as wrong. Don't necessarily eliminate each one as you go through, but search for the correct answer and then verify the others as incorrect. That way you are actively answering the question and not wasting time doing POE. Save official POE for those questions that you are stumped on and have almost no clue as to what the answer should look like.

Thirded. I'll always take a look at all the answers, but some get more focus than others. If I have a strong prediction, I'll more easily eliminate answers that I notice a problem in early on.

As far as trends go, 1-15 are usually easier (with 8 or 9 being hard); 16-23 hard; 24-end moderate. For 1-15, outside of the hard one, I don't expect them to throw in really tricky trap answers (as the test has easy questions early on to distinguish between people at, say, a 133 vs. a 136), so I'm much more quick to dismiss an answer as soon as I notice something wonky. For 16+, however, they're definitely trying to trick me with subtly wrong incorrect answers and correct answers that have "dirt" on them (they're right, but not obviously so). On those, definitely eliminate first, then work with the 2 answers (usually) that are left.

in the newer more recent tests, i am noticing a couple of tough questions very early even between q1-8. anyone notice this trend?

for those who run into timing issues with LR, is it a good idea to simply pick a choice without eliminating or double-checking others for some types of questions? when i put in only 5-10 seconds in verifying others choices to be incorrect without fully eliminating them, then i find that such verification usually doesn't change the choice i picked originally. if i picked wrong i am not as judgmental toward the choices i am verifying and never catch my mistake, and if i picked right then verification wasn't necessary.

Knowing the question type helps as well. By registering what to look for before you read the answer choices, you'll eliminate at least 2 answers within a matter of seconds.

It really depends on the question type, but for me all LR questions basically boil down to two strategies:

1) Anticipate
2) Eliminate

"Anticipate" means you've read the argument and you already have a pretty good idea of what the flaw/assumption/conclusion/etc. is. This won't happen always, but when it does, I like to scan the answer choices and see if I can find the right answer from the get-go, since I'm pretty sure I already know what the right answer is. If I find what I'm looking for, I'll check out the other four answer choices briefly, but it's going to take a lot to change my mind.

"Eliminate" is the strategy that you're talking about, and is my backup strategy. If I don't have a good anticipation for the right answer, or if I anticipated the answer but my anticipation didn't show up in the answer choices, I go into "eliminate" mode and don't make my choice until I've confidently eliminated the four wrong answers. This is a more thorough strategy but in my experience is too time consuming for most people to do for 25-26 questions in 35 minutes.

So, to answer your question: no, you don't have to eliminate the 4 wrong answers in every question, and it's a myth that all top scorers do. My mantra with LR has always been: anticipate, THEN eliminate.