Narrowing Down: Contenders v. Losers

[concrottrox11@gmail.com]

Hi,

I usually have to read through the answer choices twice before getting down to usually two-three answer choices.

Thus, if I am consistently only able to narrow down to 3 answer choices as contenders instead of 2, is this a major problem, and if so, how should I work to address this?

Thank you!

[ArizonaRobin]

Hi,

I usually have to read through the answer choices twice before getting down to usually two-three answer choices.

Thus, if I am consistently only able to narrow down to 3 answer choices as contenders instead of 2, is this a major problem, and if so, how should I work to address this?

Thank you!

My answer here applies only to LR and RC.

What helped me with this problem is pre-phrasing. Spend time on the stimulus (or passage) to fully understand the argument. In particular, you'll need to identify the premises and conclusion. Then look at the question stem (what the question is asking). With your knowledge of the argument, pre-phrase an answer to the question. Once you get good at this your pre-phrase will often match an answer choice. Even if it doesn't, the work that you spent generating the pre-phrase will help you recognize which answers are contenders and which are losers. This can be time consuming at first, but once you get good at it, this process will actually save you a lot of time on the LSAT.

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi concrottrox11

Ideally most of the time you'll be able to narrow it down to 2-3 choices after just one pass. What's different for you between pass one and pass two? Once you get it down to those 2-3 choices, you'll have to narrow it down further using either specific tests based on the question type, or reviewing the conclusion and focusing in on the key issues. As Arizona Robin so helpfully explained above, prephrasing is your friend. It will help you eliminate things quicker and more efficiently. It really works well in any of the three test sections. Knowing what you are looking for is really the best way to increase both your speed and accuracy.

I'd make one more suggestion. If you are having trouble with confidence to eliminate choices, try and force the prephrase a bit more. Cover the answer choices until you've come up with your OWN idea of what the correct answer choice should do. Physically write it out. Obviously, this would be for untimed practice, and not during a timed practice section. But by forcing yourself to write out your prephrase, you'll be able to compare the answer choices to your ideas. It should help you narrow your answer choices faster and more accurately.

Hope that helps!