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March 29, 2024, 08:40:49 am

Author Topic: Is LSAT contingent on IQ?  (Read 5036 times)  Share 

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Cacti

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Is LSAT contingent on IQ?
« on: June 17, 2017, 09:47:02 pm »
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Hello,

I was wondering if LSAT scores dependent on IQ? or how smart you are. Or is it just how well-prepared and hard you try? When would be a good time to start preparing for LSATs? I am in my 1st year of my undergraduate studies, would starting to prepare now be too early?

spectroscopy

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Re: Is LSAT contingent on IQ?
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2017, 09:51:05 pm »
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if two people did it with no preparation then the smarter person would score higher but you can study for it and almost every score of 170+ is from people who have studied hard and not just relied on natural talent. you can definitely study for the test.  prepping now might be a little bit early. focus on getting really good grades in your subjects. id start studying (slowly) over the summer between 1st and second year with an aim to take the test in late 2nd year for the first time. do a summer subject and lsat prep over the summer then do 3 subjects during the semester and treat lsat prep as a 4th subject. then by the end of 2nd year you should have a good score and if you dont then you can just keep studying as you need to re-sit.

kbanks

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Re: Is LSAT contingent on IQ?
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2017, 10:30:26 am »
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Hello,

I was wondering if LSAT scores dependent on IQ? or how smart you are. Or is it just how well-prepared and hard you try? When would be a good time to start preparing for LSATs? I am in my 1st year of my undergraduate studies, would starting to prepare now be too early?


The LSAT does absolutely have a little bit to do with natural IQ, but you can prepare for it and train your brain to think a certain way in order to do really well.
Because the LSAT doesn't test knowledge per say, it tests thinking skills, you can't rote learn anything, which makes it a bit trickier to prepare for. There are three sections to the LSAT - reading comprehension, analytical knowledge and logical thinking, and so you may find one of these a lot easier than the others. Personally, the logical thinking part was the easiest for me, and analytical skills was where I really struggled, so I needed to spend most of my time prepping for that area.

Now is a bit too early to be preparing for the LSAT, because there will come a certain point where you reach what is referred to as 'diminishing marginal utility' - basically, the first few months that you spend preparing, the hours you put in sharply increase your knowledge, but eventually you will reach a point where any extra hours you put in will give you not much extra knowledge in return, if that makes sense.
What I would advise is picking an LSAT date where you know you have about a month beforehand where you don't have to worry about class - for example, picking the December LSAT date. Then, six months before the LSAT, start preparing on and off (around your studies) - then, when your exams for that semester are over, you study solely for the LSAT until December. Hopefully this means you won't burn out or get bored, and you're still getting the most out of your study.
As to HOW to study, the best way is practice LSAT tests, which you can find in University bookstores mostly, as well as reading the guides that they write about how to go about answering the questions.
But remember, your brain will work in a completely different way to someone else's so don't be discouraged if you talk to other people who are finding the analytical questions really easy and you're not. That's the point! The LSAT doesn't test law knowledge, it tests how well you can learn and how your brain works. So just practice practice practice :)

Hope this was helpful!
Karly :)