LSAT Preparation - Part 2

About This Course

Taking both part 1 and part 2 of this course will prepare you to perform well on all three question types on the LSAT: reading comprehension, logical reasoning, and analytical reasoning. We recommend that you practice on actual LSAT exams, which can be purchased from Law School Admission Council at www.lsac.org. You will also learn test-taking techniques developed by The Center for Legal Studies and taught to thousands of prelaw students around the world. LSAT Preparation - Part 2 provides an intensive review of reading comprehension and logical reasoning questions, including techniques for quick elimination of incorrect answers, explanations and interpretations of correct answers, and proven approaches for selecting the correct answers.

About The Instructor

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Scott and Lisa Hatch.

Scott Hatch has presented paralegal courses since 1980. He is listed in Who's Who in California, Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities, and has been named one of the Outstanding Young Men of America by the United States Jaycees. He was a contributing editor to The Judicial Profiler (McGraw-Hill and the Colorado Law Annotated (West/Lawyers Co-op)series, and editor of several award-winning publications. He is author of Paralegal Procedures and Practices, published by West Publishing, as well as books on mediation and legal investigation.

Lisa Zimmer Hatch, M.A., has been teaching legal certificate and standardized test preparation courses since 1987. She graduated with honors in English from the University of Puget Sound, and received her master's degree from California State University. She is co-author of numerous law and standardized test texts.

Syllabus

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week 1

Wednesday - Lesson 01

You may have heard that you can't study for the LSAT. But that's just not true! There are a bunch of general things you can do to prepare for the LSAT, and the more time you spend preparing, the better your scores will be. In our first lesson, you'll learn how to relax when you start feeling panicky on test day. We'll also review specific tips on how to approach LSAT question types, how to eliminate the wrong answers the tests try to entice you to choose, how to guess when you're not sure of the right answer, and how much time to spend on each question. After you've completed this lesson, you'll be ready to learn more about the specific questions, starting with reading comprehension.

Friday - Lesson 02

You've been reading since first grade, but that's not enough experience to get you ready for the LSAT reading comprehension passages. There's more to these babies than just reading a passage and working through its questions, and in this lesson, we'll go over the tools you need to develop your own personal reading strategy. You'll glide through even the most sleep-producing reading topics by focusing on what's important and ignoring what's not. You'll see how to eliminate answers that hook other unprepared test-takers. And you'll find out how to spot the distracters the test-makers use to make wrong answers seem right.

Week 2

Wednesday - Lesson 03

LSAT reading comprehension questions fall into three major types: main theme synthesis, specific information, and inference. In this lesson, we'll take an in-depth look at the characteristics of and approaches to each of the question types so you'll know how to recognize them and handle them with ease.

Friday - Lesson 04

Reading LSAT passages isn't the same as reading for pleasure or even reading for school. In this lesson, we'll go through some time-tested technique for approaching passages. We'll go over what to do while you read the passage to prepare yourself for each LSAT reading question type so when it comes time to provide answers, you're all set!

Week 3

Wednesday - Lesson 05

In this lesson, we'll draw on everything you've learned about reading comprehension so far and put it all together. Through careful analysis of previous LSAT reading passages, you'll develop a system for the reading comprehension section that allows you to focus on what's important and overlook what's not. You'll move through the section more quickly than you thought you could!

Friday - Lesson 06

Because practice makes perfect, in this lesson, we'll continue to instill the concepts you've learned so far by thoroughly examining another reading comprehension passage from a prior LSAT test. You'll find out exactly how to read through the passage and how to methodically approach each question.

Week 4

Wednesday - Lesson 07

You may not have seen the LSAT logical reasoning questions before. Even though they may be unfamiliar, by the time you've completed this lesson and the next few, you'll know just how to tackle them. They may just become your favorite LSAT test questions! In this lesson, we'll review the elements of a logical argument and the major types of inductive arguments you'll see on the LSAT.

Friday - Lesson 08

There are several different types of logical reasoning questions. In today's lesson, we'll take an overview of all of them: strengthen or weaken conclusions, drawing conclusions from premises, assumptions, inferences, and method of reasoning. You'll learn how the general qualities of each question type and how to recognize each one in the LSAT logical reasoning section.

Week 5

Wednesday - Lesson 09

In this lesson, we'll get into a little more detail about how to answer questions that ask you to strengthen or weaken conclusions and questions that ask you about methods of reasoning. You'll learn how to pick out the type of argument the author makes and choose the best answer based on the author's manner of reasoning.

Friday - Lesson 10

Today, we'll give the same amount of attention to drawing conclusion, assumption, and inference questions that we gave to the other two logical reasoning question types in the prior lesson. Through examining and analyzing sample questions, you'll learn just how to master these three LSAT logical reasoning question types.

Week 6

Wednesday - Lesson 11

We wouldn't let you escape without a little practice! In today's lesson, we'll completely examine how to approach and answer all types of logical reasoning questions from prior actual LSAT tests. You'll get a step-by-step guide to doing your best in this section. With this proven strategy, you may even find that you're answering all of them correctly.

Friday - Lesson 12

We'll end the course with an examination of one more set of LSAT logical reasoning questions. We know that these will become easier and easier the more you see them. You'll also review the important concepts that you'll need to remember for test day.

Requirements

Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader) and the following required text, which should be purchased prior to the beginning of class 10 More Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests published by the Law School Admissions Council.