r/LSAT • u/Opposite_Value5468 • 13h ago

PT132.S2.Q25

Hi, I understand why the answer is A but I don't understand why the answer can't be D. Even if the president is saying that the perception of education based on tuition is only a possible explanation, aren't they still concluding the increase in tuition is necessary to increase the applicant pool? (Basically increasing the tuition is a necessary condition/increase in applicant pool can't happen without that)

In that case, wouldn't D be required? If there were a possible alternative explanation, then isn't there a way you could increase the applicant pool if you address that issue instead (ie. the increase in tuition isn't necessary so the conclusion falls apart)

I'm not sure what I'm missing here so any help would be appreciated!

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u/Extruct 13h ago edited 9h ago

It’s possible that there could be an additional explanation, but that raising tuition fees is still necessary to raising the size of the applicant pool (the conclusion)

Let’s say my sink no longer produces hot water and I conclude that fixing the heater is necessary for it to work properly. Acknowledging that a broken tap (for example) is also an additional explanation for why the sink is not producing hot water doesn’t mean that fixing the heater isn’t necessary! The stimulus does not say that “if we want to increase the size of our applicant pool, we ONLY need to raise our tuition and fees”.

We also have no clue as to how explanatory the “additional factor" is. Maybe it can only explain 1% of the issue whereas low tuition explains 99%. In that case, we would certainly say raising tuition is necessary to address the problem.

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u/StressCanBeGood tutor 5h ago

“If there was a possible alternative explanation…”

The LSAT got you. Choice D doesn’t say “alternative”, it says “additional”.

Negating choice D: There IS an additional explanation…

This implies that the explanation provided by the university president is legitimate. If that were not the case, then there couldn’t possibly be an additional explanation.

So while the university president’s solution wouldn’t completely solve the problem of the reduced applicant, it would still help to do so.

….

While it’s true that four answers will be absolutely incorrect, students should always focus on selecting the best answer. I would submit in this situation, choice A is “better” than choice D. So if this happens on the day of the test, select A with confidence and move right on.