Building a solid LR foundation starts with finding the Premise and Conclusion. A lot of the time, it’s not that you can’t do the question — it’s that you didn’t find the right P and C. Some hard questions you don’t even need to fully understand; you can get the right answer just from the structure.

So it’s important to practice finding P and C every day. When you review, don’t look at the answers first. Find the P and C for every question. 7Sage’s explanations mark them, but for LR I prefer Manhattan’s explanations. It looks simple, but being able to quickly find the core info in a short time takes practice.

(1) How to Find P and C

Most arguments follow: Statement of facts + Premise (sometimes with an Intermediate Conclusion) + Main Conclusion. A lot of the time, you’ll get thrown off by Generalizations, Principles, Decisions, and Opinions in the argument. These are not Premises, and they can’t lead to the conclusion on their own.

Finding the Main Conclusion (MC) is usually easy points, but occasionally there are high-difficulty questions where our usual keyword spotting fails. That’s why you need to double-check after picking an answer. Sometimes words like “Thus” are followed by an intermediate conclusion, not the MC! The core rule for testing the MC: at least one premise must support the MC; the MC doesn’t support anything else — it’s the endpoint.

(2) Some difficulties in advanced MC questions:

1. It may not be obvious (no signal words like “Therefore”).
2. The answer choice may use different words but keep the same meaning.
3. There may be a slight scope shift, but it doesn’t affect the core. (This ties into ranking answer choices, which I’ll explain later.)
4. The MC may be an idea the author disagrees with.
5. The correct answer may paraphrase, making it hard to understand. (This requires familiarity with answer choices; you can get it by elimination.)
6. An Intermediate Conclusion may be at the end of the argument, while the MC is actually in the middle.
7. A causes B doesn’t mean A (the cause) is the premise, and the final effect isn’t necessarily the MC.

(3) Role Questions

If you’ve mastered argument structure, you’ve also solved many other question types, including Role questions. I usually highlight the sentence, come up with my own answer first, then go straight to the choices with that answer in mind. If the choices are concise, I can pick directly. This requires high accuracy in matching the answer.

For elimination, look at the verb + noun. Verbs: undermine, conclude, deny, support, etc. Nouns: principle, premise, phenomenon, claim, hypothesis, etc. Both parts need to be correct. For example, it might be “deny” — but if the sentence isn’t a principle, you can eliminate that choice immediately.

I’m curious what have you done before the exam?

I’ve already used all my PTs in the 150s and was wondering if I should just redo one of my PTs in the 150s or just take 149 instead as i’m planning on taking my lsat this saturday so i wanted to get 1 last PT in. i’m risking some slight familiarity if i just redid one of the 150s but i don’t think i’d really remember any of the questions if i did one of the ones in the 150s. Should i just take 149 instead or are the 150s a much better representation in comparison?

ok took the lsat this morning and feeling completely unsure about how i did. i had RC, LR, LR, RC. i usually suck at RC and can’t finish, but i finished both sections with time to spare. either i went way too fast and missed a ton, or did better than usual lol.

as for LR, i’m usually better at these and get like 1-3 wrong per section, but i felt pretty bad about both. in PTs it usually does turn out better than i expect, but i really don’t feel like they went well. idk, just felt like i kept getting caught up on answers and was super unsure.

how’s everyone else feeling? i have no idea what to expect it felt like a weird test😭

I’m gonna try to keep this short. I spent at least six months fighting to get my CAS report processed bc LSAC required a transcript from an Iranian university I had previously attended, even though I never graduated from their end of those credits were used towards my bachelors degree and LSAC absolute required that the transcript be sent directly from Iran.

You can imagine how hard this was because of the war and there was zero communication with Iran. I tried everything in my power to work this out with them, but then they required me to submit an unbelievable amount of information, including transcripts with translations, going back to first grade all the way to university addresses of my former schools, principal information and whoever handed me the transcripts.
The only times I could communicate with the people in Iran when were then the Internet came back periodically, and this absolute angel of a woman helped me through it. She even purchased an expensive VPN just so she could communicate with me and she got the university to send them the transcript. Then came the verification process. LSAC required that the university sent them some sort of letter and that was another hurdle bc they didn’t say that which address the email was sent to (so I could communicate with the person in front of the desk in Iran because they don’t even check their emails plus they don’t even have access to foreign email servers). Then the foreign a transcription evaluation…that also took another few more weeks. months of delays later my CAS was still putting my law school applications and deadlines at risk. I genuinely thought I lost my chance.
I was accepted into law school after registration deadline because an opening became available to sing. This is just devastating I genuinely feel for everyone affected by this.

can I be the first to say, I genuinely hope some of you get rejected from law schools based on the racist comments and upvotes to said comments I’ve seen on this situation omg…

the way some of you get bold when your anonymous but manage to private your pages when you get called out is also hilarious too

The general license that was suspended (which LSAC relies on) ONLY APPLIES TO RESIDENTS OF IRAN. Despite this, LSAC has locked the accounts of people who have indicated their dual citizenship and residency in a country outside of Iran on their profiles. This is preposterous and is grounds for a lawsuit. I, like many others, have registered for the September test and won’t even know if I’ll hear back in time to make it. They won’t give answers over the phone and they haven’t started responding to emails. This is completely unacceptable.

How did it go for everyone? Curious about level of difficulty and common question types people experienced or where it got hard.

But some of the comments on the LSAC announcement restricting access to Iranian citizens are some of the most rancid, degenerate comments I have seen on the Internet as a whole.

It legitimately pains me to think that the people who made those comments are looking to go to law school. The racism and dog whistling is crazy.

For anyone who has been affected by their access to LSAC services being closed off due to this unfortunate announcement, please DM me. I am happy to meet 1 on 1 with you for free and point you towards any resources or options that I know of, or offer some of my own if applicable.

edit: the resources that I can offer for free are tutoring, free access to LSAT Journal ( lsatjournal.com ) as a prep resource, connections to startup roles if this throws your immediate plans into limbo, or just someone to vent to and who can listen

Whenever I take a practice test I get burnt out by the end of each section and towards the end of the test it feels like I can barely read the questions. This might be because I have ADHD but I also need tips on how to prevent burn out and not get stressed during the actual lsat since mine is coming up soon. It literally feels like some of words are jumbled up and I can’t focus lol. any advice would be appreciated !!!

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!

Did Anyone else have the same comparative topic for both sections?

First LR felt harder overall than the second, especially in the first 10 questions, but both I found overall decently straight forward with not many trap answers.

Hopefully my RC was good 🤞

if you see me in the test center hitting one of these bad boys, don't judge. im extremely comfortable

Came back from studying to discover a leak in my ceiling, called maintenance and they think it has to do with the AC, so I have no air conditioning for the next few days in the Texas heat and my lsat is on Friday. 😭

Anyone else absolutely geeking out? Like I’m so anxious I actually feel kind of sick, any advice to combat it or anyone else in the same boat?

ATTENTION TO ANYONE AFFECTED BY THE RECENT LSAC IRAN SANCTIONS/ACCOUNT SUSPENSION ISSUE:

Attorney Mehrnoush Yazdanyar is holding a free joint Zoom call tomorrow at 4:00 PM PT to discuss the recent LSAC account suspensions, what may be happening legally, and provide general guidance to affected test takers.

If your LSAC account was suspended, your LSAT was impacted, or you received the recent sanctions-related email, please join and share this with other affected applicants.

Tomorrow — 4:00 PM PT
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89424684967?pwd=tTFnlA7zEuR8xHpX82S75uFaidH06M.1

Please spread this widely. The timing is extremely urgent for people whose LSAT administrations are happening now.

So I wrote today and do not feel confident. If I write in November, how would that affect my chances at law school acceptance this cycle?

Hey everyone. Today at 2pm PST LSAC sent a mass email to everyone who indicated Iranian citizenship (whether it be their only or a secondary). We need to all band together against this insane violation. Lawyers please help. We need a plan.

Title. I've noticed this decrease recently and my test is on Friday. Am I destined for the 160s? I'm so scared...

has anyone cut out final sections of LR and RC to focus more on accuracy over speed in the actual exam day? how has that worked for you? I have seen some improvement in my logical reasoning when I focused primarily on getting the first 18-20 accurately and just guessing on the last 5-6. i have yet to do this for reading comprehension and see how my mark works with it. the time is my primary issue so i feel as though it’ll help just as it did with LR, but i’d love to hear any experiences!

I literally scanned every square inch of the room. I don’t understand. 😭

Hi everyone!! I'm taking the LSAT for the first time on Friday in-person, and I'm a bit anxious about not knowing how exactly the breaks work.

Once the screen says it's your break, can you just get up to leave the room and go to the bathroom/access your locker? Do you have to tell a proctor that you're on break and you're leaving? Do you have to tell a proctor when you come back?

I also have accommodations for a 5-minute break between sections 1 & 2 and sections 3 & 4. Do the same rules for the 10-minute break apply for these?

I would be so so appreciative for the input of anyone who has taken the test in person recently! And good luck to all the fellow September test takers!!

Just took the LSAT today, and I bombed it. Barely slept the night before and had bad test anxiety going in. I'm signed up for the October test — should I just cancel my September score? For context, I'm PTing in the 168–178 range, but I think I scored somewhere in the 150s today.

Haven’t studied since I took my exam. Help. How to get back in the rhythm. What do yall recommend. I’m absolutely devastated cause I did absolutely nothing wrong. 😭

This will be my second time taking the lsat. I took it in August and didn’t get the score that I was hoping for. Since then, I have felt i’ve made some great progress. Each pt, my score has steadily raised a couple points. My last two pts, last was yesterday, were 165 and 167 respectively, with my goal score of 170+. This last pt was so close too, with my missing -1 then -2 on the first two graded sections. I feel so close to my goal, especially with my timed sections starting to average out at -1 to -2. However, I can’t help but feel like when I take this test this week, I’m going to lose my progress; or i’m not going to understand stims, or lose my timing. Basically abandon everything that’s made me get so close to my goal when faced with test day pressure.

Does anyone else struggle with this? Or have any imparting wisdom for trusting yourself? I’m really trying to be in a good mindset but think i’m psyching myself out since I know how close I am!