I am having difficulty finishing the Logic Games on time while answering the questions correctly. What can I do?

Answer 1

One of the most important skills to succeed in Logic Games is learning how to take one step back in order to move two steps forward. What do I mean by this?

In Logic Games proper diagramming and setup is key. It is important to spend the neccesary time understanding the game and setting it up properly. Often times I find that the same students that are pressed for time on the LSAT are often also moving quicker then they should from setup to answering the questions.

When I tutor students I tell them to never forget "the pause". After you finish setting up the game and making inferences it is not yet time to move on to the questions. Take a minute (and a deep breath) and think about the game. Do I understand the game? Do I know which variables are the important movers and shakers in the game? Did I make all the neccesary inferences? Are there a limited number of templates/scenarios in this game?

I would recommend that students slow down and take a deep breath and ensure proper setup. For many games (although not all games) the key is almost know the answers by the time you arrive at the questions.

Over time, practicing proper setup will position you to complete the Logic Games section, quickly, efficiently, correctly, and with confidence.

Answer 2

There are a few key strategies I use when helping my students gain time on the logic games section of the test.

1. Use previous work. One of the biggest time savers on the lsat is the ability to both reference and modify past examples created, rather than starting from scratch with each problem. While referencing it is easy say for a simple could be true problem, learning to modify previous work is a skill built over time and can be honed. For example if you have a question that asks which of the following fully determines a problem. Look at each answer choice and see if you have any examples of this condition. If you do, see if you could swap any variables in your original order. If anything can be changed, eliminate that answer choice.
2. Learn to search for substitutable variables and groups. This can help immensely. For example if variables X and Y both have the sames rules applied to them and are substitutable and you see both variables listed as an answer choice, you can eliminate both. Or if you have a must be true question, and there is no local condition involving the substitute, you can eliminate any substitutable variable as an answer choice, as they don't have to be anywhere with the ability to swap with the other variable.
3. Learn which questions to skip. Working off of the idea of using other work, some problems simply require a lot. For example, do you really want to test every one in a global must be false question if you don't have any previous work to help. This strategy doesn't always help, but skipping and using work from problems past the time sink question speeds you up on average, as often times future work can either help you select the answer or make eliminations such that less has to be tested out manually.
4. Guessing strategy. Sometimes an inference is missed, or there is simply no way to eliminate more than a couple answer choices. In these situations it can help to slowly pick up an intuitive sense about which answers are more likely to be right so you can test them first. You don't necessarily have to be super accurate, but as long as you are better than random selection this helps save time. For example a substitutable variable or a variable with few conditions is more likely to be the answer in a could be true question. To illustrate how this can help save time, if you can eliminate 2 answer choices and have 3 possibilities left based on previous work, if you guess the correct answer to test you only have to test once, as compared to picking the wrong answer and having to test 2 answers.

Finally, while many others advise to do it completely untimed, I disagree heavily. The strategy is radically different when you can brute force every problem and have no time restriction. Instead when practicing I recomend setting a higher but reasonable time limit for yourself, say 50 minutes and increment down to the actual amount of time on the test as you begin to feel more comfortable and work faster.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

When you are new to Logic Games, you have a multitude of diagrams and deductions to learn. You are basically learning a new language. It is important to ignore all time considerations when you are first learning the Logic Games and to make your rules and deductions slowly and deliberately. You should shoot for accuracy at the beginning of your studies instead of speed. If you were just learning French, and I told you that you had to speak faster to be conversational, would that help? You need to learn the grammar and the vocabulary first and then speed up.

Other helpful considerations that will reduce the time you are spending on the section include learning the different types of logic games and the different ways to diagram them. I am available as a tutor to chat with you about these issues and help to get you to the highest score possible on the Logic Games and other sections of the LSAT.