The simple answer to the first part is a qualified NO. I’ve personally tutored or taught many students who reported back to me later that they didn’t think they did very well on the test and were considering canceling their scores. I’ve always counseled my students to wait it out. Not one actually did as bad as they thought (I had one end up with a 166 who was convinced they had screwed up the logic games section and was about to cancel her score).

The LSAT is an incredibly high-pressure event in your life. It’s perfectly normal to have doubts about your performance. Given the weight that your score has on getting into the law school of your choice, it’s perfectly reasonable to want your performance to be as close to perfect as it can be. With that said, you should have a little faith in yourself. Canceling your score essentially means that you’re going to have to start all of your stressful preparations over again without any guaranteed benefit when you retake the test next time.

Ok, but I’m crazy, so what impact does cancelation have on your LSDAS report to the schools your applying to? When your LSAT scores are sent all test sittings are listed. So, if you take the June 2008 test and cancel your score, it will be listed as a canceled score on your report sent to the schools you’re applying to. What impact that has depends on the admissions office. However, just as well if you keep the score and actually do end up scoring poorly, it might not hurt you as bad as you think. Many law schools today take the your highest score when considering you for admission. On the other hand, some end up averaging your scores. I highly recommend before you make any cancelation decision that you talk to admissions counselors at the law schools you’re considering applying to. They’ll let you know what their policy is regarding multiple scores and how a cancelation might affect your application.

If you do decide to cancel there are two ways to do so. The first is to blacken in the two score cancelation bubbles on your answer sheet when you finish taking the test. DO NOT DO THIS! Take the time after the test to really think about whether you want to cancel. You have (as of the 2007-2008 test season) six (6) calendar days to request the LSAC cancel your scores. You can do so by faxing a signed letter to the LSAC at 215.968.1277 with a statement that you want to cancel your scores, your full name, your LSAC account number, LSAT test date, and center name and number. You may also mail the same request to LSAC, Score Cancellation, 662 Penn Street, Box 2000-T, Newtown, PA 18940-0995.

So, when should I cancel my scores? Easy, if you walk out of the test half-way through, vomit on the proctor before finishing, or for some other reason just don’t actually finish the test (a whole section, not just a few questions) then cancelation might be a good idea. Otherwise, relax a bit.

Bottom line, you’re almost always better off keeping the score. If it turns out being as bad as you thought (not likely), you can always take the test again. If it turns out OK (what usually happens), you can focus all of your energy into that great personal statement, finishing the perfect application, and looking forward to your first year in law school.

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The first step in any game is to read the game and figure out what it is we’ll actually be asked to do. In this case we’re asked to put numbers in order to build a product code. The tricky part is the code will have five digits, but we’ll be using the numbers 0-4, so make sure you keep that in mind. 

Next we’ll need to figure out how we want to represent the game. Since we’re putting numbers in order, the best thing to do will be to make a diagram for with places 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th being the columns. I’m using the ordinal numbers 1st, 2nd, etc to avoid confusion with our inventory of 1, 2, etc. Remember, our diagram is always going to be the thing we’re placing the inventory into, and in this case we’re placing the digits 0-4 into order 1st-5th. It’s always best to make your diagram under the question column with the most room, so in this case I’ve made my diagram under the second column of questions and reserved the space under the first column of questions for my rules and deductions. We’ll put our inventory of digits 0-4 above the diagram a bit to remind us what we need to place.

Diagram and more after the jump.

Now we’re ready for our rules:

Rule 1. There doesn’t seem to be much to this rule and so it probably isn’t very easy to symbolize, so let’s boil it down. It’s telling us that we’re only going to use 0-4 and no other numbers, so I’ve shortened that to “0-4 only”. Remember even if it’s a simple rule like this, we want to write all of them out.

Rule 2. This one is similarly simple but gives us a very important piece of information: we’ll be using each number once and since we’ll be using each only once, that also means that we’ll have to use all of them as well. So I’ve written “0-4 only once each”

Rule 3. I’m not a fan of using algebraic notation (or anything looking like math) in a game, but in this case we’re given a rule that’s pretty explicitly mathematic, so we’ll have to compromise. The rule tells us that the 2nd digit must be exactly twice the value of the 1st. So I’ve got “2nd = 2 x 1st”.

Rule 4. Same issue as rule 3, I’d rather avoid mathematic notation, but again, we’re dealing with numbers here, so I’ve got “3rd < 5th”. If you get confused about less than vs. greater than just think of the sign like a mouth, the open part always wants to eat the bigger number, so this reads, “5th is greater than 3rd”

Rules are done.

Now, most importantly, double-check. Make sure you’ve got each rule written correctly and you understand how you’ve symbolized or shortened it.

Now we get to the deductions. Our deductions here revolve around rules 3 and 4. With a rule like rule 3 you want to make sure you always try to plug-in possible values to see if you can narrow things down a bit. If the 2nd digit has to be double the 1st we should try plugging in some possible values for the first and see what happens. If we start with 0 we’ll see that won’t work (double 0 is still 0), so that’s out. 1 doubles to 2, so that’s a possibility. 2 doubles to 4 and works. 3 doubles to 6, which is outside the values of our inventory, and we’ll have the same problem with 4. So we know that the only possible values for the 1st digit are 1 and 2, and the only possible values for the 2nd digit are 2 and 4, respectively. That certainly helps restrict things.

Likewise, rule 4 should allow us to restrict the game a bit further. Anytime something has to be less than or greater than another thing it immediately rules out some possibilities. We know that the 3rd must be less than the 5th. So, could the 3rd digit be 4? Well, if it was than the 5th digit would have to be greater than 4, which won’t work since 4 is the highest we go. Now we’ve ruled out 4 as a value for the 3rd digit. Similarly, could the 5th digit be 0? If we plug it in, than the 3rd would have to be less than zero, which while a pretty cool movie, isn’t one of the numbers in our inventory, so that’s out as well.

You’ll notice in my work shown below how I’ve laid everything out. I’ve got my deductions underneath my rules, jotted down, and I’ve got a #0. line in my diagram where I’ve put the things I know must be from my rules and deductions.With all that done, we’re ready to tackle the question.

Let’s start by drawing a new line for #1 in our diagram.

Question 1 asks us what must happen if the 5th digit is 1. First step is to put 1 under our 5th spot in our diagram. Now let’s start going through the rules. Rule 2 tells us we won’t be using 1 again. So we want to look first for any rules that deal with our inventory item (1 in this case), which there aren’t any, and next for rules that deal with our spot (5th). Bingo! Rule 4 tells us that 3rd<5th, so the only digit less than 1 is 0, so the 3rd digit must be 0.

Next we can look at our #0 line in the diagram. We see that the 1st column can only be 1 or 2. Well, 1 is taken by the 5th column so that leaves us with 2 for the 1st spot. With 2 in the first spot we know the 2nd spot must be 4 (rule 3 and our #0. line). Now the only thing inventory item left is 3 which will go in the 4th column.

Diagram finished, time to answer the question. We always check all the answer choices to ensure we didn’t make a mistake in our work, but with a fully completed diagram we know we’re probably in good shape. The only answer that matches with our diagram here is A, which is the credited response.

See, that wasn’t so bad.

I’ll post some more game questions and sample work in the coming weeks. My first full test guide should be up soon and will include in-depth instructions on how to approach any game. In the meantime, if you have questions about the LSAT or need help, contact us or check out the  forums!

Difficulty: Medium

6. Deirdre: Many philosophers have argued that the goal of every individual is to achieve happiness–that is, the satisfaction derived from fully living up to one’s potential. They have also claimed that happiness is elusive and can be achieved only after years of sustained effort. But these philosophers have been unduly pessimistic, since they have clearly exaggerated the difficulty of being happy. Simply walking along the seashore on a sunny afternoon causes many people to experience feelings of happiness.

Which one of the following most accurately describes a reasoning flaw in Deirdre’s argument?

(A) It dismisses a claim because of its source rather than because of its content.
(B) It fails to take into account that what brings someone happiness at one moment may not bring that person happiness at another time.
(C) It allows the key term “happiness” to shift in meaning illicitly in the course of the argument.
(D) It presumes, without providing justification, that happiness is, in fact, the goal of life.
(E) It makes a generalization based on the testimony of a group whose views have not been shown to be representative.

The question here is asking us to find what is wrong with this argument. The term “flaw” int he question is the key. Flaws in arguments usually revolve around weak assumptions, however this is not always the case.

The argument is trying to refute a claim that happiness is difficult to attain. The “happiness” the claim is based on is defined as fully living up to one’s potentiial. The argument uses an example of the happiness derived from walking along a beach as a counter-example. Obviously, these are two different ideas of what happiness is and would require a change in definition of happiness to actually work. So, we’ve got a shift in definition here.

Wouldn’t it be nice if every question brought up a nice relaxing walk on the beach?

This question at first probably looks a lot harder than it is since its subject is philosophy, the subjective bane of every LSAT-taker’s existence. However, as long as we keep our head on and remember we need to rely on our own answer to the question, looking for the choice that matches, we can get through it just fine since the flaw is pretty obvious.

Answer explanations after the jump.

A. The source of the claim is philosophers, the argument does not try to dismiss anything based on the source. So, nope.

B. Nope, while this may be true, oh so true, in real life, it doesn’t match what we’re looking for (different definitions). As well, if the argument had taken this into account it would have been even weaker than it already was, since this is an even more pessimistic view of happiness.

C.Bingo! If you don’t know what illicit means, don’t sweat it, the key thing here is of course “shift in meaning”.

D. This presumption is actually justified in the introduction of the argument, so this one is just plain wrong.

E. The representative nature of the person(s) walking on a beach is not the central issue (while philosophically it may be, I mean really, how do we know walking on a beach really makes anyone happy?). We’re still looking for the shift in meaning we identified before we got to the answer choices.

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Difficulty: Easy 

2. After replacing his old gas water heater with a new, pilotless, gas water heater that is rated as highly efficient, Jimmy’s gas bills increased.

Each of the following, if true, contributes to an explanation of the increase mentioned above EXCEPT:

(A) The new water heater uses a smaller percentage of the gas used by Jimmy’s household than did the old one.
(B) Shortly after the new water heater was installed, Jimmy’s uncle came to live with him, doubling the size of the household.
(C) After having done his laundry at a laundromat, Jimmy bought and started using a gas dryer when he replaced his water heater.
(D) Jimmy’s utility company raised the rates for gas consumption following installation of the new water heater.
(E) Unusually cold weather following installation of the new water heater resulted in heavy gas usage.

As always, our first task is to analyze the question. In this case the question is asking us to help explain the situation, or more accurately, we’re looking for what will help this argument make sense.

With EXCEPT/LEAST/NOT questions we always want to strike out EXCEPT/LEAST/NOT and instead treat the question like a yes/no question. 

Ok, so tackling the argument itself, we can see that what we need to be explaining away is the fact that Jimmy’s bill went up in spite of the fact that he installed a new, more efficient water heater. It might help to go ahead and think of some factors that would help, such as an increase in overall hot water use or an increase in the price of gas.With this question type we’ll need to think in a little bit more detail about each answer choice. A good question to ask ourselves for each of the answer choices would be, “could this help explain the increase?” 

Answer explanations after the jump.

A. Percentages, always be careful with percentages. This answer at first probably looks like a yes, but if we take it apart we see that using a smaller percentage of the overall gas used in the house doesn’t contribute to any explanation of how his bill went up. - N

B. The fact that the size of the household doubled doesn’t directly explain how his bill went up. However, this is a question asking if it could help explain it, so we’re allowed to make a small assumption if needed. In this case we could assume that doubling the size of the household might double the amount of gas-heated water used, thus helping explain the higher gas bill. - Y

C. An addition of a gas dryer is definitely going to account for some gas usage. So, we can say that it *could* explain the higher gas bill. - Y 

D. Raising the rates was one of the factors we thought up before we even got to the answers. Higher rates could definitely explain a higher bill in spite of lower usage. - Y 

E. Heavy gas usage is the key here. Obviously heavy usage could explain a higher bill, so this one is really a gimme. - Y

We have four yeses and one no,  so we know our odd-man-out is the right answer. Credited response is A 

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If you’re planning on taking the June test, now is the time to get registered. Spots fill up fast and you if you were planning on waiting until closer to the registration deadline (May 13, 2008 for standard registration) you may find that all the spots in your area are already gone. So, head on over to the LSAC website and sign-up now!