So you may have heard some news floating around the LSAT interwebs and subreddits. LSAT Logic Games are going away for good. In their place, students will be getting a double dose of Logical Reasoning.
You might be wondering: “Awesome. In a world with no Logic Games, do I still need intensive LSAT prep?”
As a veteran instructor who has shepherded hundreds of students toward greener LSAT pastures, let me gently (but firmly) say: “Yes.”
In a post-Logic-Games environment, comprehensive LSAT prep will be more valuable than ever in separating the best from the rest.
Logic Games are Low-Key Easy
Ok, ok, hear me out. Logic Games are hard in the beginning, no doubt. But then you learn that they can be broken down into repeatable strategies and methods.
Logic Games are easy in the way tying your shoes is easy. At this point, you can do it in your sleep, but imagine explaining the process to a four-year-old. Once you’ve got it mastered, though, you do it successfully, every time. And sure, sometimes there might be a nasty knot to untangle first, or maybe you have to occasionally lace up a pair of boots or ice skates. But in the end, you can’t run from that familiar, repeatable process!
Many of the students I work with, both in LSAT classes and private tutoring, follow a familiar arc. In the beginning, Logic Games is by far their worst section; by the end, it’s their strongest and the source of their most points.
Logic games are very learnable. It’s not uncommon for a high-performing student to routinely score a minus zero or minus one on a Logic Games section. That opportunity for accuracy is a huge boost to their overall raw score, but it’s being replaced by more Logical Reasoning.
Logical Reasoning Will Be the Big Differentiator
Meet your future LSAT, everyone: 66.6% Logical Reasoning by volume.
When you’ve cracked a logic game and you understand its inner workings and important deductions, the questions are largely an afterthought. The right answer is clear in the way 2+2=4 is clear. If you know that the fourth spice on the shelf is Tarragon, and answer choice (A) says “Tarragon,” you don’t need to read the other four answer choices. It’s Tarragon.
Not so with Logical Reasoning. Where logic games exude the clarity of cold, hard, mechanical logic, LR questions are dripping with subtlety and nuance. You can pick apart a Logical Reasoning argument to its core and still be misled into picking the wrong answer choice. That rarely, if ever, happens in a Logic Game.
And come August 2024, Logical Reasoning will be doubly important. All that nuance plus all that close reading and analysis of arguments and answer choices—times two. Not to mention the mental endurance you need to get through all Logical Reasoning questions which, to the uninitiated and/or underprepared, might make or break your performance.
Unlike in Games, it is exceedingly rare in my experience for a student to achieve the kind of mastery where they can repeatedly score a minus zero or minus one. But the students who learn to do so will separate themselves from everyone else.
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Reading Comprehension is Trending Harder
But let’s not forget about Reading Comprehension, the Cinderella of the exam. The fair-haired stepsister of the LSAT that is scorned, ignored, discounted, and underestimated.
Every exam cycle, we have a sizable contingent of students who are not quite sold on the idea that they need a real strategy for LSAT Reading Comprehension. Maybe they’re Economics and Philosophy majors, or they have dual degrees or PhDs. They’ve likely read Proust and Joyce and lived to tell the tale. They know how to read, thank-you-very-much. And we get it!
But every LSAT test date, every year, they still struggle with LSAT Reading Comprehension because RC passages are hard to take in. By the way, it’s getting harder. You didn’t hear it from us, though.
Thankfully, Blueprint has a dependable, repeatable reading and note-taking method centered on the idea that the types of things the LSAT asks about most often are predictable, and one simply needs to read and note-take with an eye toward these commonly-asked-about patterns.
Call the Cavalry
So does the disappearance of Logic Games obviate the need for seeking professional resources in your LSAT prep? That’s gonna be a no from me, dawg.
Will I miss teaching Logic Games? No doubt. They’re literally games (puzzles, to be precise) and they’re a lot of fun to untangle.
But when I think about my live classes, the most fun moments are when I’m having a dialogue with my students and co-instructors. It’s fun to have a room full of smart people blow the doors off a bad argument in LR, or decry an author’s pompous tone in an RC passage. These are the kinds of conversations where the personalities, insights, and collective experiences of everyone can shine, and we are all made better for it.
And don’t overlook the tangible benefits that thorough LSAT prep offers, even with logic games out of the picture. It’s about arming yourself with strategies to boost your LR and RC scores without burning out mentally, building unwavering confidence in both yourself and your test-taking skills, and much more!
So yeah, I’ll take more of that, but don’t just take my word for it. Sign up for a free LSAT class to experience what I mean in action or check out our schedule of upcoming LSAT Live Courses if you’re ready to take the leap and start your LSAT prep, with our without logic games!
