So you’ve decided to take the August test and want some last minute tips and insights? We’ve got you covered. 

The first thing to note is that the LSAT tends to be formulaic and involve the same types of logic and questions as prior tests, so you shouldn’t see anything too out of left field on test day. 

On recent tests, there have been some wonky experimental sections that have announced themselves as unscored at the outset or included logic games-y questions in logical reasoning. If you stick with your normal strategies and bring it back to the basics, you should be well equipped to tackle whatever they throw at you.

Also, you won’t know which section is experimental as you take the test, so treat every question as scored.

Here’s some thoughts on each section:

Logical Reasoning

So what can you expect in the logical reasoning section? I would expect mostly easy to medium questions in the first 12 or so questions, with a pretty intense difficulty spike around question 15 or 16 through the end. Don’t be surprised, though, if they throw you a curveball difficult question in those first 10 questions (I personally would guess and come back to any question that seems nightmarish on the first pass through the section).

I expect two or three highest difficulty questions overall, with most or all of those devilish questions coming after question 15. With this difficulty curve in mind, you may want to think about whether you want to focus on investing the bulk of time on those easier questions or trying to get through those quicker so you have more time to tackle the tougher questions that come later.

There will likely be at least one convoluted conditional question you want to diagram out as well as one or two principle questions in there that task you with applying a broad principle to a specific set of facts. The LSAT apparently wants to watch the world burden, as they’ve been increasingly adding more weaken-type questions tasking you with hurting arguments.

In general, over half of the LR section will likely involve describing or doing something to incomplete or flawed arguments, so if you want to get some high impact practice in this last week, I’d focus on identifying and operating on flaws. Flaw, weaken, soft must be true, and necessary will likely be the most common questions in this section. My guess is there will be at least one tricky principle question involving complex conditionality.

Reading Comprehension

In Reading Comprehension, I would expect two antithesis passages, one comparative passage, and then either a thesis or synthesis passages for that last passage. You can bank on exactly one comparative passage, as they’ve been including exactly one for years now.

For that comparative passage, be on the lookout for similarities and differences in tone, subjects, and author’s attitude between the two passages. Just remember that for the speakers to agree or disagree on a given topic they both need to explicitly mention their position on it. You can treat questions asking about both speakers as soft must-be-true questions in logical reasoning to some extent, because the correct answer needs to be supported by and within the scope of each passage.

Substantively, my gut is telling me there will be a passage on a historical figure or event and its impact on society. If any passage is describing some sort of social event or change over time, look for key demarcation points that indicate a before and after and potential cause and effect.

I also would expect a tricky science passage explaining an experiment or trying to analyze a hypothesis about a natural phenomenon. 

If you know that there are certain subjects that throw you for a loop, I would scan the four passages at the outset to see if that subject is there and construct a game plan accordingly (perhaps invest more time in acing those other three passages). As with all passages, focus on structure and author’s attitude and make sure not to get bogged down by the minutiae of the details so long as you know the context and the role those details play in the passage.

Logic Games 

The story of logic games on recent tests is one of the LSAC falling in love with combo and tiered ordering games—expect both on your test. I would also expect a grouping game of some sort in there. That last game is a wildcard, though they’ve avoided profiling and neither games in recent tests. 

Difficulty-wise, there’s usually a fairly straightforward game (most of the time, that’ll be game 1), a couple of difficult games, and then a very difficult game (these can show up in any order in a logic games section). 

Usually, you can determine the easiest and hardest through the rules and the type of game it is. If there’s a game that has a crazy rule, a complex combo or tiered ordering game, or a neither game, it’s likely the toughest on the test. If it’s one-to-one ordering or in-and-out grouping (or a game 1), it’s likely going to be the easiest. If you’re trying to tackle all the games, make sure to get through that easiest game quicker to save more time for that toughest one. If you’re only doing three or fewer games, I would want to avoid that hardest game and bank points on the easier ones, making guesses on the hardest one.

Final Thoughts

Good luck, stay focused, and go slay the dragon that is the LSAT!

Trust your instincts and your strategies and if you find you’re stuck, either make an educated guess and move forward or consider a different approach or strategy. The main thing on the LSAT is to keep forward momentum going—remember that each question is only worth one point. 

Where you can get into trouble is focusing on that one question at the expense of applying a proper approach to future questions, so if you notice your mind wandering, bring yourself back to the task at hand. It also can be easy to slip into old habits with the stresses and time pressures of the test.

The best thing you can do with these last few days before the test is to rest up and get your mind and body recharged and ready to go for test day. Take the day before the test off entirely and go do something that is relaxing, fun, and the opposite of anything LSAT related. 

On test day, get some light warmup in before test day and you’ll be good to go! See everything you should bring on LSAT test day!