Welcome to the first in a series of posts in which I analyze an entire LSAT and give my objective assessment as The LSAT Genius. The September 2019 LSAT is an auspicious LSAT to begin the series with because it is historic: it is the first fully digital LSAT in the test’s 71 year history. Lo and behold, the digital test is merely a cosmetic and methodological change, not a substantive one. In fact, the September 2019 LSAT is one of those tests that I consider “average”—it is neither palpably easier nor harder than previous LSATs. LSAC is incredibly talented at producing consistently similar tests across decades. If you were well-prepared for the September 2019 LSAT, then there is no test-related reason you couldn’t have done well.

Logical Reasoning

​The 25 question logical reasoning section had a noticeable number of principle questions, but other than that, it was very straightforward. There was the usual mix of scientific and artistic topics that LSAC loves to cover.  Main point and role questions have become more subtle and sophisticated in recent years , but those question types in this section were not challenging. The only quibble I have is with question 24. The correct answer involves a violation of etiquette. Well, considering that it’s a weaken question, I would’ve preferred an answer choice that more definitively weakened the argument. It’s still the right answer because the other choices were atrocious, but it doesn’t make me happy to pick the violation of etiquette answer choice.

The 26 question logical reasoning section was mildly harder than the 25 question section. You had a few principle questions to tend to, and the main point and role questions were a little bit harder than the ones in the other section. But all in all, they were all very manageable. Even the flaw and assumption questions were not convoluted. Once again though, another weaken question bothered me: question 22. The right answer purports to weaken the argument because the proportion of teenagers who participate in sports is very different in different societies and time periods. My problem with this answer choice is that it doesn’t really address the nature vs. nurture issue that’s brought up in the argument. It hints at the environment being a factor, but not squarely enough for me to be happy with this answer choice. Once again, it’s still the right answer because the other choices were nowhere near viable.

Logic Games

​If anything is going to be a challenge on this LSAT, it’s the logic games section. However, the game types were the usual fare: two ordering games, a grouping game, and one with both ordering and grouping. Nothing unpredictable at all. The main challenge with this games section is that the rules throughout all the games required precise understanding. Particularly for the third flower game, if you got confused with the rules, you could easily get every question wrong. On the other hand, the questions themselves weren’t difficult to answer. There were no tricky rule substitution questions that often foil students.

Reading Comprehension

Other than the rather fluffy comparative passage, the reading comprehension section was as straightforward and easy to understand as can be. There really was no obtuse language and the concepts being discussed were not complicated. Even the questions were exactly the kind of questions you’d expect from the content. With the proper reading comprehension method, this test’s reading comprehension section could’ve been done with time to spare. As a sidenote, I really enjoyed learning about Great Zimbabwe and cholera.

Conclusion

You should not have struggled with the September 2019 LSAT. The hardest section was arguably the logic games section, but the logical reasoning and reading comprehension sections were such standard fare for the LSAT that your score should not have been greatly impacted. If you did struggle with the September 2019 LSAT, then you need to change how you’re preparing for the LSAT.

​The LSAT Genius
New York's Best LSAT Tutor, Bar None

One saddening fact of my life is that most of my students end up being ex-LSAT prep course students. After an LSAT prep course fails to help them achieve the LSAT score that they want, students come to me to remedy the situation. The truth is that LSAT prep courses are not designed to help the students who are at the ends of the spectrum: students who are in the 130s and 140s and are struggling to get into the 150s and the high-scoring students who can't seem to break through the 170 ceiling. Test prep companies take those in the middle, help them get 5–7 points, and then claim that they did their job. Sadly, most students are satisfied with these modest results or they believe the companies' rhetoric that it is not possible to do much better.

Helping a classroom of students with a wide-ranging array of skill levels to achieve a universal 15-20 point score increase is extremely difficult and not feasible in the typical 3 month LSAT prep course timeframe. Do not believe the test prep companies. If they truly cared about your achieving your utmost potential, the course would take place over at least 6 months. Since that would be very costly to execute, LSAT prep companies do not even attempt to help students achieve their best.

If you have a 135, you can jump 25 points. If you have a 162, you can get a 175. How is this possible? Because personalized tutoring can bolster your weaknesses and capitalize on your strengths. Even though I have a set curriculum that will be covered by every LSAT student whom I tutor, the way the curriculum is taught and executed is not uniform across my students. For example, if my student is very strong in logic games, then covering logic games will be very fast. If my student is struggling with making inferences, then extra help will be given until the student truly understands.

Unless you'll be satisfied with a 5-7 point score increase, taking an LSAT prep course doesn't make much sense. If you're in the 130s and 140s and want to make a 20+ point jump, you won't get that with an LSAT prep course. If you're in the 160s and want to score in the mid-170s, then an LSAT prep course is a waste of time and personalized tutoring will get you there. This is why you should take a diagnostic test and see how you score before making any decision regarding your LSAT preparation. Don't seek my help only after wasting time and money on an LSAT prep course and be like so many of my other students. Learn from their mistakes.

The LSAT Genius
New York's Best LSAT Tutor, Bar None.

The September 2014 LSAT scores were recently released and there were a lot of disappointed test takers. These people have been asking me: should I take the December LSAT? For most people, the realistic answer is going to be no. If you're not currently within 5 points of your target score, then taking the next LSAT administration with only about one month of preparation is not realistic.

That's the problem with the December LSAT. While it's nice to have another shot at scoring higher for the current application cycle, most people desperately register for the December LSAT, hoping to get a 10 point score increase or more. The wisest plan is to either take the February LSAT or apply next year after taking the June or October test. Of course, even if you take the February LSAT, you'll need the best training possible in the meantime.

If you're willing to wait another year, taking the June or October test has many advantages. You're already ahead because you've been working on the LSAT. You now have half a year or more to truly work on your problem areas and get a significant increase. Many students of mine have achieved 15 point or higher score increases in that timeframe. With a much higher LSAT score, you dramatically increase your admissions chances and are much more likely to qualify for merit scholarships.

The LSAT Genius
New York's Best LSAT Tutor, Bar None.

You have a 3.5. Your dream law school's median GPA is 3.65. Do you still have a shot? Absolutely. Your LSAT score can more than compensate for your less-than-perfect GPA. If your dream law school's median LSAT score is 163, then you should shoot for the 170s. Except for schools like Yale and Berkeley that historically care a lot about the GPA, your LSAT score is going to matter a lot more to the admissions committee than your GPA, so a LSAT score that's much higher than the school's median is going to attract attention.

When law school admissions committees receive an application, an index score is created, which is an aggregate of your GPA and LSAT score. The problem is that at most schools, the GPA and LSAT score are weighted differently. In fact, it's safe to say that at most law schools, the LSAT score is twice as important. That's why I always tell my LSAT students that their application should be prioritized in the following way:

60%: LSAT
30%: GPA
10%: Recommendations, résumé, personal statement

The LSAT score is such a large part of the admissions decision that you need to tread carefully with your LSAT preparation. If you don't have sufficient time to prepare, then don't even register for the LSAT. What is a sufficient amount of LSAT preparation? For full-time students and those with full-time jobs, it has historically been 6–9 months. It's not impossible to score well with much less time (my own LSAT preparation took 3 months), but that's only if you're already scoring high without any test preparation or you aren't in school or working.

Since a high GPA is not correlated at all with a high LSAT score, do not mistakenly assume that you won't need to prepare as much as everyone else. Many people don't understand why the GPA wouldn't be correlated with the LSAT score. What does a high GPA indicate? It indicates diligence, the willingness to work hard for 4 years. A high LSAT score indicates your ability to read and reason quickly. One doesn't need to read and reason quickly to get good grades in college courses, so it makes sense that there would be no correlation. Once again, a high GPA does not exempt you from a lot of preparation. If you're considering the September 2014 LSAT, for example, it's not too early to start preparing now, even if your GPA is a 3.95.

The LSAT Genius
New York's Best LSAT Tutor, Bar None.