Solving LR: Better to find the wrong answers or right ones? Forum

[WiltyMIZ]

Hey y'all this is kind of a wierd question but I hope it makes sense.

A lot of times when performing LR questions, I can quickly eliminate 1-2 choices but there are always at least 2 that seem like good answers. When I get to this point, do you think it's more effective to try and disprove the choices that dont align with the stimulus/question type or better to zone in on the one that seemingly fits matches the best. I constantly find myself trying to do both at once which seems to screw me up and causes me to answer either unconfidently, or carelessly at times.

Let me know what you guys think!
-Wilty

[Deardevil]

Always go through each choice and scout out the wrong ones unless the problem is easy and the correct answer is blatantly obvious.

This is also a rule of thumb for pretty much the majority of LSAT questions, with a particular exception being MBT/MBF in LG;
for those types, you should not waste unnecessary time figuring out each answer that could be true/false
and instead go in for the absolutely correct choice.

[Blueprint Mithun]

Hey y'all this is kind of a wierd question but I hope it makes sense.

A lot of times when performing LR questions, I can quickly eliminate 1-2 choices but there are always at least 2 that seem like good answers. When I get to this point, do you think it's more effective to try and disprove the choices that dont align with the stimulus/question type or better to zone in on the one that seemingly fits matches the best. I constantly find myself trying to do both at once which seems to screw me up and causes me to answer either unconfidently, or carelessly at times.

Let me know what you guys think!
-Wilty

In general , I'd say go for the former - try to disprove one of the answer choices. When reviewing a question, it's really important to be clear on why each wrong answer doesn't fit the bill. If you practice doing this while reviewing, you'll get better at spotting mistakes while practicing. The problem with looking for the answer that "seemingly fits" is that it's too vague, and if your criteria is too vague on the LSAT, you're likely to get tripped by a tempting but incorrect answer. This is especially the case for the stage that you're at now - it's common for students, once they've reached a certain level of skill on the test, to often narrow down LR questions to two choices. At that point, you need to focus on the details of each one, see how they differ, and figure out why one of them is a bit off.

[HiLine]

I anticipate the answer before looking at the choices and quickly look for one that matches my answer. It is only if I cannot find one that I resolve to the process of elimination. Analyzing every single answer choice will tire you out quickly. There are question types that make it impossible to come up with an answer ("except" questions, for exame), but most of the time,if you're not able to answer the question asked, you don't really understand the argument.